Panthers conclude trek in San Jose
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Florida Panthers have struggled to score goals as of late, but that didn't stop head coach Kevin Dineen from praising his club after its latest setback.
The Panthers hope to wrap up a four-game road trip tonight with a .500 record as they visit the San Jose Sharks.
Florida has been held to a single goal in three of its last four games, all losses. The only game the Panthers have won in that span was a 3-1 triumph in Carolina on Tuesday that snapped a two-game slide. The club then saw its offense stall again in a 2-1 defeat at Los Angeles on Thursday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jose Theodore gave up both Kings goals on 26 shots and Sean Bergenheim scored in the second period for Florida, which held a 42-26 shot edge in a chippy game but failed to convert on six power play chances.
Dineen wasn't happy with how the Kings responded to the Panthers' play and felt his club was the better of the two on the ice.
"We thoroughly outplayed them," said Dineen. "They were trying to run around and chase us and hack us and slash us. When you are getting outplayed as badly as they were, that's the response. We walk out of here feeling very good about the way we played."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Florida, which still leads the Southeast Division, played without leading scorer Kris Versteeg due to a broken nose suffered on Tuesday versus the Hurricanes. He could return tonight and has 12 goals and 26 points on the year.
The Sharks halted a two-game slide with their seventh victory in 10 games on Thursday, a 4-3 shootout win over the Canadiens. Ryane Clowe tied the game with 1:26 left in regulation, scoring on a rebound before Joe Pavelski beat Montreal's Carey Price between the legs in the sixth round of the tiebreaker.
"We were trying to lose it in the third when we gave up the goal, but I'm glad we stuck with it," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jamie McGinn and Logan Couture also scored goals for the Sharks, while Antti Niemi made 29 saves. Niemi threw his right pad out to stop P.K. Subban on Montreal's last shootout chance.
San Jose, which won the opener of a four-game homestand, has lost three in a row to Florida, including a 3-2 overtime decision in the last meeting at HP Pavilion on March 13, 2010.
That win by the Panthers snapped their four-game slide in San Jose in which they were outscored 18-3 and shut out twice.