Panthers 3 - 2 Hurricanes
Final - 2OT
  for this game

Weiss lifts Florida past Carolina in SO

Feb 26, 2012 - 4:23 AM Raleigh, NC (Sports Network) - Stephen Weiss scored the game-winning goal in the third round of the shootout, as the Florida Panthers rallied to take a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center.

Weiss picked up the puck and went in on goal with speed. He made a quick move to his backhand and squeezed the puck through the pads of Hurricanes' netminder Justin Peters.

"Half the time, when I have something in mind, I talk myself out of it halfway down," Weiss said of his shootout routine. "I just do whatever comes to mind."

Jose Theodore stopped 2-of-3 shooters in the shootout and made 26 saves in to record the win.

Wojtek Wolski, who was acquired by the Panthers earlier on Saturday from the New York Rangers, and Tomas Fleischmann scored for Florida, which snapped a four-game losing streak and moved back into a first place tie with the Winnipeg Jets in the Southeast Division.

Justin Faulk and Jussi Jokinen scored and Peters made 42 saves in defeat for the Hurricanes, who have dropped three of their last four.

Trailing 2-0 after two periods, the Panthers scored two goals in the final six minutes of regulation to tie the game.

Holding the puck at the left point, Keaton Ellerby sent a pass down the boards to Kris Versteeg, who looked up and spotted Fleischmann for a one-timer from right circle to pull Florida within a goal.

The Panthers tied the game with just 1:47 left when Wolski collected the puck in the neutral zone, gained the zone on the right wing, cut to the middle and ripped a wrister from the slot that got through traffic and past Peters.

Skating with the man advantage, Carolina struck first with just 1:59 to play in the opening stanza. Eric Staal outworked two checkers in the right corner and found Faulk, who ripped a one-timer past Theodore.

Carolina extended its lead to 2-0 at 17:32 of the second period when Jeff Skinner corralled a loose disc behind the net, came around and sent a centering pass to Jokinen, who rammed it home from in close.

"Our guys are playing as hard as they can," Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller said, "As a coach, you can't ask much more than that. They're playing their hearts out."

Game Notes

Florida has taken all three meetings between the teams this season...Carolina fell to 6-6-2 this season when wearing its alternate black jersey...The Hurricanes converted 1-of-2 power play chances, while Florida went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.






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