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Florida 4, Carolina 2

Posted: Thursday December 05, 2002 12:53 AM

Carolina Hurricanes Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Raleigh-Durham

Florida Panthers Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Miami

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- With two straight games against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers did not like their chances of gaining just their second win in 11 games. But Olli Jokinen knew it was possible.

Jokinen posted his third career two-goal game and Roberto Luongo made 31 saves to lead the Panthers to a 4-2 victory over the Hurricanes in the opener of a home-and-home series.

Entering the contest winless in their last eight meetings with Carolina (0-6-2-0), the Panthers spotted the Hurricanes an early lead before netting three consecutive goals to take control.

Jokinen drew Florida even midway through the first period with his 13th goal of the season before Viktor Kozlov scored 29 seconds into the second to put the Panthers ahead.

Selected third overall by Los Angeles in the 1997 draft, Jokinen - one day shy of his 24th birthday - gave Florida a two-goal cushion less than four minutes later with a power-play tally.

The goal was Jokinen's 29th point of the campaign, tying his career high set last season.

"I'm getting a lot of points and that's my job for the team," Jokinen said. "I'm putting the points up. I was preparing to have a good year and so far everything is going in the right direction."

"I think getting some points early helped build his confidence," Florida coach Mike Keenan said. "He continues to have his confidence increased and get results. The combination of him preparing really well, I believe mentally more than anything else, as well as physically, but he was determined to come back once he made that decision that he was coming back."

Luongo allowed a power-play goal by Ron Francis 2:10 into the contest but was strong afterward, stopping 14 shots in the first period and all 12 he faced in the third.

"It's a big win," Luongo said. "The last couple of weeks have been pretty tough. The guys played a huge game for me when I was in there. It's good for me and my confidence. It's a lot of relief having this win."

"Roberto really was magnificent in the first period when we needed him," Keenan said. "We got into problems early. They scored a goal on a debatable situation. Then I thought he played real solid hockey for us. ...He stablized the team early and then we came back to win it."

Keenan was not the only coach to take notice of Luongo's performance.

"I thought their guy, Roberto Luongo, was the difference in the first period," Carolina's Paul Maurice said. "He made some great saves. We had a real solid first period."

Erik Cole also scored for Carolina, which had its three-game winning streak stopped.

With Florida defenseman Lance Ward serving a holding penalty early in the first, Francis deflected Glen Wesley's slap shot from the blue line past Luongo to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. The tally was Francis' 524th career goal, tying him with Bryan Trottier for 22nd place on the all-time list.

"I always admired Bryan as a player," Francis said of his former teammate in Pittsburgh. "He was tough to play against and he could do everything, win faceoffs, play a physical game and was strong offensively and defensively. I found out how good a player and person he was when we were teammates. It was a great pleasure to play alongside him."

Jokinen knotted the game at 11:12, taking Kristian Huselius' pass from the left side of the net and firing it into the top portion of the net.

Kozlov beat goaltender Arturs Irbe between the pads with a shot from low in the right faceoff circle early in the second to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead before Jokinen netted a power-play goal at 4:23 for his first two-goal effort since January 9 against Dallas.

Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh grabbed a loose puck in the left circle and fired a shot that rang off the right goalpost. Standing alone on the right side, Jokinen deposited the puck into an open net to put Florida ahead, 3-1.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Jokinen said. "I have not really seen that for me in the last couple of years. Both times it was an empty net. The first goal, I was trying to go upstairs on Irbe. On the second goal, one side of the net was open after the Ozolinsh shot off the goalpost."

Cole cut Carolina's deficit to one goal at 12:29, grabbing the puck after being struck by Rod Brind'Amour's shot and sliding it into the left side of the net for his fourth goal in three games.

But rookie Stephen Weiss' wrist shot from between the circles at 10:22 of the third regained a two-goal cushion for the Panthers, who improved their all-time home mark against Carolina to 7-7-7.

"You play teams in your division five times a year," Francis said. "You're going to win some and you're going to lose some. We don't take any team in our division very lightly. Florida is a good, young talented team and they play hard. Florida played hard tonight and we just didn't find a way to win the game."