Goc Leads Panthers Past Canucks, 2-1

Marcel Goc had a goal and an assist as the Florida Panthers topped the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 Monday night. The loss kept Vancouver’s Alain Vigneault from earning the nod as the Western Conference coach for the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa. Instead, it will be San Jose’s Todd McLellan. The spot is determined by which team has the greatest points percentage in the Western Conference through Monday's games. Rangers coach John Tortorella wrapped up the Eastern Conference’s spot Friday.

Dmitry Kulikov also scored for the Panthers, who won for only the third time in nine games (3-4-2). Scott Clemmensen, making his second start in three games with Jose Theodore sidelined with a knee injury, made 25 saves in front of 16,712 at the BankAtlantic Center.

Clemmensen, who improved to 5-1-3 on the year, came up with his biggest save with under nine minutes left in the third period when he stopped Ryan Kesler’s deflected shot with his pad.

Dale Weise scored for Vancouver (26-14-3), which was coming off a 4-3 victory at Boston Saturday in a rematch of last season’s Stanley Cup Final. Roberto Luongo, who spent five seasons with Florida before being traded to Vancouver in June 2006, stopped 20 shots for the Canucks. Luongo came into the game with a 3-0-1 record and a 1.68 goals-against average against Florida since the trade.

Canucks defenseman Keith Ballard, another former Florida player, played in his 500th NHL game. The loss was Vancouver’s first in Sunrise since Oct. 20, 1999. The Canucks had gone 8-0-1 with two ties since then. While Florida held the League’s No. 1 power play scoreless in three chances, Goc scored the game-winner at 10:52 of the second period with the Panthers on the man advantage.

Goc, who returned to action last Thursday night after missing 22 games because of a concussion, put home a rebound in front of the net with a group of players in front of Luongo. He has 2 goals and 2 assists in his three games back.

Earlier in the second period, Kulikov tied the score at 1 when he picked up a rebound outside of the left circle and fired a slap shot that beat Luongo to the short side. Kulikov’s goal at 5:00 snapped Luongo’s shutout streak in regulation at 114:28. Luongo shut out Minnesota 3-0 on Jan. 4 after the Canucks lost a 3-2 shootout decision against San Jose two days earlier.

Two minutes after Kulikov’s goal, Jason Garrison had a breakaway with the Panthers short-handed, but Luongo made a pad save. The Panthers dominated throughout the second period, outshooting Vancouver 14-2. It tied for the fewest shots allowed in a period by the Panthers.