Eurolanche

Panthers top Avalanche

Shane Harper scored his first two NHL goals and the Florida Panthers defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 at BB&T Center on Saturday.

Jonathan Marchessault and Vincent Trocheck each had a goal and an assist, and Aaron Ekblad scored for the Panthers (3-1-1), who begin a four-game road trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. Roberto Luongo made 26 saves in his 439th career victory, eight behind Terry Sawchuk for fifth place on the NHL's all-time list.

Blake Comeau and Matt Duchene scored for the Avalanche (3-2-0), who do not play again until Friday. Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves.

Harper, who spent the past seven years in the minor leagues before making his NHL debut Oct. 13, broke a 1-1 tie at 17:02 of the second period when he redirected a pass from Greg McKegg on a 2-on-1. The play began off the faceoff in the Florida zone after McKegg lifted Duchene's stick to get the puck and raced past defenseman Nikita Zadorov at the blue line.

After Marchessault scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1 at 4:30 of the third period, Harper scored 41 seconds later when he one-timed Alex Petrovic's pass on another 2-on-1. Marchessault, who signed as a free agent on July 1, leads the Panthers with seven points in five games.

Florida scored three goals during a span of 2:26 in the third period.

Colorado opened the scoring at 7:38 of the first period when Comeau scored the first power-play goal against Florida this season after eight successful kills. Florida had been the only team in the NHL that hadn't allowed a power-play goal.

Comeau was in the slot when he tipped Tyson Barrie's shot from the point to beat Luongo on the blocker side.

Ekblad tied the score 1-1 at 1:32 of the second period with a power-play goal from a sharp angle when he one-timed Jaromir Jagr's saucer pass across the crease. Ekblad's shot quickly bounced off after hitting the post inside the net and he pointed at the net and banged his stick at the net to emphatically drive home the point it was a good goal.

The Panthers had a goal disallowed in the first period after a coach's challenge. Defenseman Jason Demers beat Varlamov with a slap shot from the point, but the goal was overturned after it was determined that Trocheck was offside when the Panthers gained the zone.

-- by Alain Poupart for NHL.com --