Mike Keenan got his first win in Florida without any help from Pavel Bure.
He might have to coach many more like it.
Roberto Luongo stopped 23 shots for his fourth shutout, helping the Panthers snap a four-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday. Kevyn Adams and rookie Kristian Huselius scored for Florida.
Keenan was hired Monday to replace Duane Sutter. General manager Bill Torrey was also fired after the team won just six of its first 26 games.
Keenan notched his 540th regular-season victory and is two shy of Billy Reay for fourth place on the career coaching list.
"We definitely showed a lot of passion," Keenan said. "It was a big night for everyone. (The players) responded very well to a very, very big change in their lives. They responded and accepted the responsibility well."
The Panthers played without the Bure brothers for the sixth straight game. Pavel Bure has missed six games with a mild concussion, and Valeri Bure has missed all but the first six games of the season with a right knee injury.
Pavel Bure is concerned about his concussion, sustained three weeks ago. He has not practiced or played since the Nov. 19 injury.
"I'm starting to have some fear about it," he said. "With a knee injury I could put on a brace and go try it, and it's not going to make it worse. But with this, you might try something and make it worse. It's frustrating, but there's nothing I can do."
For Florida to succeed, Luongo might have to be the star, as he was Wednesday.
Luongo won for the first time since Nov. 21 against Anaheim. That also was his last shutout and Florida's last victory. Four of his six wins this season have been shutouts, giving him 10 for his career.
Columbus lost its third in a row and was held scoreless for the fifth time this season.
DEVILS 2, CANADIENS 1: Patrik Elias scored his 14th goal and assisted on Brian Rafalski's game-winner 15 seconds into the third period to lift New Jersey to victory at Montreal.
Mike Ribeiro scored for the Canadiens.
AVALANCHE 4, RED WINGS 1: Milan Hejduk, Radim Vrbata, Steven Reinprecht and Rob Blake scored as Colorado won at Detroit in the first matchup of the season between the Western Conference powers.
The Avalanche extended their season-high unbeaten streak to six games. The Red Wings lost consecutive games in the regular season for the first time since January.
Sergei Fedorov scored for Detroit.
SENATORS 6, STARS 3: Martin Havlat had two second-period goals and an assist as Ottawa ended Dallas' four-game winning streak.
Daniel Alfredsson, Todd White, Mike Fisher and Radek Bonk added goals for the Senators. Marian Hossa had two assists and Alfredsson, one.
Mike Modano had two goals and Pat Verbeek one for Dallas, winless in its last six at home.
BLACKHAWKS 4, WILD 2: Michael Nylander had a goal and two assists to lead Chicago past Minnesota.
The Blackhawks earned their first victory at the United Center since November 11 and only its second in 12 games.
Alex Zhamnov, Eric Daze and Phil Housley added Chicago goals.
Lubomir Sekeras and Willie Mitchell scored for the Wild.
COYOTES 3, BLUES 0: Sean Burke made 27 saves for his 29th career shutout as Phoenix won its third in a row and sixth straight at home.
Paul Mara, Danny Markov and Ladislav Nagy scored for the Coyotes.
It was a bitter homecoming for Blues left wing Keith Tkachuk, the Coyotes' captain for seven years before his trade to St. Louis on March 13.
Tkachuk was booed during introductions and cheered when he turned the puck over and picked up six minutes in penalties.
OILERS 3, MIGHTY DUCKS 2 (OT): Steve Staios scored 1:21 into overtime to lift the Oilers past Anaheim.
Staios tapped Anson Carter's cross-ice pass into an open side of the goal for the defenseman's second goal of the season.
Mike Comrie and Scott Ferguson also scored for the Oilers. Jeff Friesen and Marty McInnis each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, 2-8-0-1 in their last 11 games.