SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Harri Sateri is making the most of his opportunity in net for the Florida Panthers.
Sateri made 26 saves for his fourth consecutive win while filling in for injured goalie James Reimer, and the Panthers beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Tuesday night.
The 28-year-old Sateri made his NHL debut on Jan. 20 and is quickly making his mark.
”My confidence is going up all the time when you get those wins and good games,” he said. ”I feel like I’ve been pretty consistent.”
This past Monday, Sateri was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week.
”This is a dream. I’ve been working for this all my life and now I’m here and I’m winning. It’s just awesome,” he said.
Sateri’s play could make the decision on who to start when Reimer returns a difficult one.
”It’s his net right now. He’s playing fantastic and the team’s got a lot of trust in him,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. ”That’s going to be a tough decision the coaches will have to make, but those are great decisions when you have that kind of depth.”
Aleksander Barkov scored twice for Florida, including the go-ahead goal late in the second period. Jamie McGinn also scored for the Panthers.
Markus Granlund scored for the Canucks, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 37 shots.
Barkov gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with 3:52 left in the second. He corralled a loose puck in the high slot, skated in and sent a backhand off Markstrom’s pad and into the net.
”Great pass by (Mark Pysyk) and I just happened to (have a) breakaway,” Barkov said. ”I got lucky. I put it in.”
Markstrom tried to be patient on the play.
”I waited as long as I could so he wouldn’t put it on my forehand and make me look stupid,” the goalie said. ”I thought I had it good but it trickled through my pad and glove.”
Barkov added an empty-net goal with 41.5 seconds left to make it 3-1.
Barkov has 14 points in his last 13 games and is tied for the team lead with Jonathan Huberdeau and Vincent Trocheck at 18 goals.
”We’re doing the small, little things pretty well right now,” Barkov said. ”Our goalie has been standing on his head all the time and giving us a chance to win.”
The Canucks tied it 1-all on a short-handed goal by Granlund, who grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in and put the puck between Sateri’s pads with 8:20 left in the second.
”I was kind of surprised that I was all by myself and I was able to take it in,” Granlund said.
McGinn put the Panthers ahead 1-0 on his power-play goal with 3:32 left in the first. McGinn pushed the puck from the right side to the center of the crease and it bounced off the blade of Vancouver defenseman Christopher Tanev and into the net.
”We had a lot of guys who were a half a step behind,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. ”We weren’t on our toes and we weren’t playing quick enough.”
NOTES: Reimer returned to practice Monday for the first time since injuring his groin on Jan. 23 in Dallas. His return is tentatively slated for Friday against Los Angeles, Boughner said. … D Ian McCoshen returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous nine games. … Canucks C Sam Gagner was back in the lineup after missing one game with an upper-body injury.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
Panthers: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday.
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