dddddddI feel like we were robbed of that. We had to wait a

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aleksander Barkov has put an extended scoring slump behind him, and that finally helped the Florida Panthers end a losing streak Saturday night.Barkov had a goal and an assist and has 11 points in his last 12 games, including four goals in the past six. Earlier in the season, Barkov slogged through a drought of 21 games without a goal.Those recent points hadnt done the Panthers much good, though, until the Canucks came to town. Aaron Ekblad gave Florida a three-goal lead early in the third period and the Panthers held on for a 4-2 victory over Vancouver to end a five-game slide.I couldnt score in (21) games, and then I scored finally. And now Im feeling more confident, Barkov said.The Panthers won their first home game under interim coach Tom Rowe. The win was the Panthers first in regulation since a victory over Ottawa on Nov. 19, a span of 11 games.I love that. A bunch of teams in our division lost so we gain ground on everybody in front of us, Rowe said.Vincent Trocheck scored his first goal in 18 games. Derek MacKenzie also scored for Florida. Roberto Luongo made 37 saves, and Jaromir Jagr recorded an assist and now has 1,883 points, four behind Mark Messier for second on the NHL career list.The play of Barkov seemed to lift the Panthers offense, which hadnt scored four goals since the Ottawa game.Hes playing the way we expected him to, Rowe said. Hes being Barkov. It removes a lot of pressure from other guys.Stress had been building for the Panthers. Theyre still reeling from an unexpected coaching change, with Rowe replacing Gerard Gallant in late November.It feels like theyre all must wins, Luongo said. Everybodys bunched up together. You want to look at it one game at a time.Daniel Sedin and Jack Skille scored in the third period for the Canucks. Jacob Markstrom stopped 38 shots.With the Panthers clinging to a 3-2 lead, Trocheck scored an empty-net goal with 47.1 seconds left.Trailing 3-0, the Canucks scored twice in the third.Skille took a shot from low in the right circle that got past Luongo on the glove side at 8:06 of the third. Skille has three goals in two games.A power-play goal by Sedin made the score 3-2. Troy Stecher shot from the point, and the puck hit Sedins stick and was redirected into the net at 11:45 of the third.We had our chances for sure, Sedin said. Luongo was good. But its still too late. Chasing being down 3-0, its tough. We made it tough on ourselves.The Panthers had stretched their lead to 3-0 at 1:05 of the third. Jagr took a shot from above the right circle that was blocked by Markstrom. Ekblad backhanded the rebound and beat Markstrom on the stick side.Barkov gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 2:22 in. Seth Griffith passed from behind the net to Barkov in front, who poked the puck past Markstrom. Barkov has points in 11 of his past 12 games.The Panthers went ahead 2-0 on MacKenzies goal. MacKenzie corralled a bouncing puck and pushed it into the net at 9:35 of the second. Paul Thompson recorded his first NHL point with the first assist on the goal.Canucks goalie Ryan Miller could return Sunday against the Capitals. He left Thursdays game with a lower-body injury.I wont know yet. Ryan will probably try to take some shots in the morning. Well get a read on him in the morning and then well make our decision, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said.Game notesCanucks D Erik Gudbranson, who was the first-round pick by the Panthers in 2010 and played for the Panthers for five years, received a video tribute and an ovation from the crowd in his first return since being traded to Vancouver last June. I definitely didnt expect that from them. I really appreciate it, Gudbranson said. ... G Thatcher Demko was called up from Utica of the AHL because Millers injury. ... C Jayson Megna was born in nearby Fort Lauderdale. ... Panthers D Keith Yandle played his 580th consecutive game, tying Johnny Wilson for the ninth longest stretch in the NHL. ... Jim Craig, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won a gold medal, attended the game.UP NEXT:Canucks: Visit the Washington Capitals on Sunday.Panthers: Visit the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.Moritz Wagner Jersey . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Authentic Lakers Jerseys . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. http://www.cheaplakersjerseyschina.com/ . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Anthony Davis Jersey . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. JaVale McGee Jersey . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera feels disrespected that the NFL schedule makers didnt allow the defending NFC Champions to open at home.He called it a pain in the ass to spend the entire offseason reliving the 24-10 Super Bowl 50 loss to Denver so the league could schedule a rematch at Denver to kick off the season.Forget the fact that youre the defending NFC champs and you deserve to open up at home in front of your home crowd on opening week, Rivera said on Friday, eight days after a 21-20 loss to the Broncos. Were going to make you guys relive it for five more months. Thats how I felt.So for the next five months Ive got to put up with it, deal with it, answer the questions and relive it constantly over and over and over. Honestly, it became a pain in the ass.The subject came up when Rivera was asked if there would be a moment before Sundays home opener against the San Francisco 49ers to honor last season in which Carolina had an NFL-best 15-1 record during the regular season and won the NFC Championship.That led to Rivera getting on his self-proclaimed soapbox about having to open at Denver.I struggled with that, Rivera said. I really did from Day 1. There are so many things they could have done to honor us and honor our team, our fans and our city thhat I thought this would have been a great opportunity to show it.ddddddddddddI feel like we were robbed of that. We had to wait a whole week to do it. You can tell, Im disappointed it didnt work out that way.Rivera said he will bring his grievance up at the annual league meetings, but he didnt sound optimistic that would do any good.But the scheduling is a whole different group of people, Rivera said. Theres not much we can do about it.Rivera didnt find any solace in the league giving Carolina 10 days to prepare for a San Francisco team coming off a Monday night game.He immediately pointed to Carolinas late-season Monday night game at Washington followed by a Saturday game against Atlanta. He also reference having to play at Seattle a week after playing at Oakland.The Panthers plan to spend the week practicing in California to avoid consecutive cross-country flights.I mean ... we asked for certain things to help us out, Rivera said. We didnt get any of it. Im disappointed. Lets be honest. Ive got a group of men in there that do the things that we ask the last five years, its been a battle to get to where we are ... sometimes I feel disrespected. ' ' '