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Jokinen scores twice to help Panthers top Flyers

Florida center becomes franchise career leader in goals, points

Olli Jokinen, Derian HatcherAP
Florida Panthers center Olli Jokinen, left, celebrates after scoring his second goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Panthers beat the Flyers, 4-3

SUNRISE, Fla. - On a night when Olli Jokinen became Florida’s career leader in goals and points, it was checking-line center Gregory Campbell who made the difference.

Jokinen scored twice to set the records before Campbell scored two consecutive goals to break a 2-all tie in the Panthers’ 4-3 victory over Philadelphia.

“It’s nice, but in the big picture it’s a team sport,” said Jokinen, who joined the Panthers in a trade with the New York Islanders in June of 2000. “I’ve been lucky enough to play with good linemates and be in position to play on specialty teams.”

Jokinen’s first goal was his 355th point with the Panthers and his second goal was his 158th. Both records previously belonged to Scott Mellanby.

“The main thing is the team getting wins and we keep building, and for me there’s no reason to look ahead or look back,” Jokinen said. “I’m just going to keep going and get this team to win. At the end of the day, those points and goals don’t mean anything if the team doesn’t go in the playoffs.”

For Campbell, a checking center, the two goals were his first of the season and only his 10th and 11th in 154 career games.

“I know what my responsibility on this team is, but I want to be a complete player,” Campbell said. “I work on shots and things after practice to become a better player.”

Richard Zednik and Bryan Allen each had two assists for the Panthers, who went 4-0 against the Flyers last season.

Joffrey Lupul, Jeff Carter and Lasse Kukkonen scored for the Flyers, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.

“We got beat to some loose pucks in front of our net and we just allowed them too much time with the puck in our end,” Flyers coach John Stevens said. “We haven’t been doing that to this point.”

The game began a season-long eight-game road trip for the Flyers.

Florida outshot the Flyers 42-23, including a 14-5 advantage in the second period.

“I thought we outplayed them in all three periods,” Panthers coach Jacques Martin said. “We created the most chances.”

Tomas Vokoun stopped 20 shots for Florida. Martin Biron made 38 saves for the Flyers.

Jokinen, who went scoreless on a recent three-game road trip, made it 1-0 2:35 into the game. He grabbed a long rebound between the faceoff circles and fired a wrist shot over Biron’s left glove.

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“For the last few weeks, the puck seemed to stick to my gear. Now it was bouncing in areas I didn’t want it to bounce and it was giving them second opportunities on a couple of the goals,” said Biron, who entered the game with a .952 save percentage. “Sometimes you’ve just got to battle through. It was one of those nights when the puck seemed to always find a spot and I was battling it.”

Jokinen made it 2-0 at 8:56 of the first on a power-play goal. He took a pass from Zednik and sent a wrist shot that beat Biron.

After the Flyers tied the game with goals on their first two shots of the second period, Campbell gave Florida the lead again at 14:16.

His long-distance wrist shot through the legs of defenseman Jason Smith handcuffed Biron and trickled under his blocker.

Campbell made it 4-2 at 1:59 of the third when he stole the puck in front of the Flyers’ net and sent a backhand off the post.

“I know this game’s always changing and I want to become a better player every day,” Campbell said. “It was nice that things could pay off for me tonight.”

Kukkonen cut the lead to one at 12:46 when his backhand pass from behind the net went off the stick of defenseman Ruslan Salei and then off the stick of Vokoun.

Notes: The Flyers had not allowed more than one goal in any of their previous 15 periods. ... Florida LW Stefan Meyer made his NHL debut. ... Flyers LW Ben Eager returned after missing three games with dizziness. ... LW David Booth (neck), D Mike Van Ryn (knee) and C Rostislav Olesz (wrist) missed the game for Florida because of injuries.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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