National Hockey League
Columbus 4, Florida 3
When: 3:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 27, 2016
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Referees: Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman
Linesmen: Shandor Alphonso, Brad Kovachik
Attendance: 15400

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Columbus Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky nearly lost the puck off his stick as he zoomed through the right circle on his shootout attempt.

"I damn near dumped the puck in the corner on a shootout," Dubinsky said. "I'm lucky I got it back, or I'd never hear the end of it."

Dubinsky did more than get it back.

His snap wrister was the only score by either team in the shootout, allowing the Blue Jackets to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Saturday in Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets came back from a 2-0 deficit midway through the second period to improve to 11-4-4 since Jan. 13.

Left winger Scott Hartnell, defenseman Seth Jones and left winger Brandon Saad scored for the Blue Jackets, while rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo finished with 28 saves.

"It's not the way you'd write it," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. We were fast asleep in the first period. But I'm proud of the guys how we kept coming and kept coming."

The Panthers got goals from center Aleksander Barkov, center Vincent Trocheck and right winger Logan Shaw, but had a four-game point streak (3-0-1) stopped.

Goaltender Roberto Luongo finished with 21 saves.

"We were really good the first half of the game, took control of the game," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "After that, we were a little sleepy. It didn't look like we had too much jump."

"It looked like we were going to get two points, then it looked like we'd get no points, and then we got one point. We'll take it."

Despite the loss, it was a banner day for the Panthers, who lead the NHL's Atlantic Division.

Shortly after the puck dropped, the Panthers announced the acquisition of three players to bolster the roster for Florida's first Stanley Cup playoff berth in four seasons.

The Panthers acquired center Jiri Hudler from the Calgary Flames, right winger Teddy Purcell from the Edmonton Oilers and defenseman Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings.

Florida gave up nothing but draft picks: a second-round pick this summer and a fourth-round in 2018 for Hudler; a third-round pick in 2016 for Purcell; and a sixth-round pick in 2017 for Kindl.

"It's a couple of guys we have to fit into our lineup for what we hope will be a long haul," Gallant said. "As well as we've played, we'd be pretty disappointed if we didn't do anything at the deadline."

It's unclear if any of the players will be in Florida's lineup on Sunday in St. Paul, Minn., against the Minnesota Wild.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead at 11:59 of the first period when Barkov redirected a centering pass from veteran left winger Jaromir Jagr and buried it behind Korpisalo.

Trocheck thought he had made it 2-0 earlier in the second, but the goal was disallowed when the Blue Jackets asked for a video review, and the call on the ice was overturned.

A few minutes later, he scored an irrefutable goal, sending a wrister through traffic and past Korpisalo for a 2-0 lead.

The Blue Jackets pulled to 2-1 only 36 seconds later when Hartnell scored his 20th goal of the season off a rebounding front.

At 3:07 of the third, Jones scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket - he was acquired in early January - on a fluffer shot from the top of the slot.

At 7:21, Saad gathered a loose puck in the slot and fired through traffic to give the Blue Jackets their first lead of the day.

But it didn't last long.

At 14:21, with the Panthers on the power play, Shaw was left alone in front of Korpisalo and shoveled home the rebound for his fifth goal of the season.

NOTES: The Panthers signed F Dryden Hunt to an entry-level contract, according to multiple reports. Hunt currently plays for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League. ... Blue Jackets D Michael Paliotta was recalled from AHL Lake Erie and made his Columbus debut. Immediately after the game he was sent back to Lake Erie after playing only 7:32. . ... Blue Jackets D Jack Johnson was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. He is out indefinitely.
Top Game Performances
 
Florida   Columbus
Jaromir Jagr 2 Points Scott Hartnell 2
Aleksander Barkov 1 Goals Scott Hartnell 1
Jaromir Jagr 2 Assists Alexander Wennberg 2
Logan Shaw 1 Power Play Goals Seth Jones 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Roberto Luongo .880 Save Percentage Joonas Korpisalo .903
Roberto Luongo 22 Saves Joonas Korpisalo 28
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Florida 31 3 1-6 3-4 13 31
Columbus 25 4 1-4 5-6 17 36
Upcoming Games
  • Columbus will play their next game on the road against NY Rangers. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .378 after a loss.
  • Florida will play their next game on the road against Minnesota. The Panthers have a W/L % of .657 after a win and .462 after a loss.