Roberto Luongo makes 31 saves, Canucks beat Panthers 3-0

Luongo, Canucks beat Panthers 3-0

SUNRISE, Fla. — Roberto Luongo made 31 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen scored second-period goals in the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

Ryan Kesler added a power-play goal in the third period for the Canucks, 3-3 on the first leg of an NHL-record 14-game trip. Henrik Sedin, second in the NHL in scoring, had an assist.

Luongo, making his second start in Florida since the Panthers traded him to Vancouver in June 2006, was the beneficiary of some luck, with the Panthers hitting five posts. Florida also wasted a 5-on-3 power play by being called for too many men on the ice.

The Panthers, who have lost five in a row, set a franchise with their 12th consecutive game with two goals or less. Florida has scored a total of 13 goals during that stretch.

Tomas Vokoun, making his 20th consecutive start for the Panthers, stopped 32 shots.

Vancouver center Rick Rypien hit the post with a backhander with the Canucks leading 1-0 in the second period.

Burrows opened the scoring 1:18 into the second period when he one-timed a feed from Henrik Sedin just before being wrestled to the ice by Florida captain Bryan McCabe.

Hansen, playing in his second game after a conditioning stint in the minors, added to the lead with a short-handed goal at 18:10. After Florida dumped the puck into the Vancouver zone, both Dennis Seidenberg and Steven Reinprecht overskated the puck to give Hansen a breakaway. Hansen beat Vokoun with a wrist shot over his left shoulder.

NOTES: Vancouver D Christian Ehrhoff played in his 400th career game. … Canucks RW Pavol Demitra missed his second consecutive game because of personal reasons. … Florida LW Rostislav Olesz, who sustained a broken finger in a loss at Carolina on Tuesday night, dressed but did not appear in the game other than serving a bench minor.

(This version CORRECTS Canucks 3, Panthers 0. SUBS lede to correct to Alex.)