The Florida Panthers preserved their playoff hopes thanks to much of their offense coming from unlikely sources.

Alexander Petrovic scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to lift the Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night.

Evgenii Dadonov and MacKenzie Weegar also scored to help the Panthers snap a three-game skid and pull five points behind idle New Jersey for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Florida has four games remaining John Lynch Jersey , one more than the Devils. Roberto Luongo stopped 26 shots.

Petrovic and Weegar entered the game with one goal each on the season.

”It doesn’t come too often, but everyone chips in a certain way and tonight we just found a way to get the two points,” Petrovic said. ”Just keeping this thing alive.”

On the go-ahead goal, Petrovic shot from the boards above the right circle and beat Darling with 7:58 left for his first goal since Feb. 14 against Vancouver. His second goal of the season couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Panthers host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

”We needed tonight’s win at all costs,” Luongo said. ”We got the job done, now we’ve got to get some rest tonight and another big game tomorrow.”

Derek Ryan and Trevor van Riemsdyk scored for Carolina, and Scott Darling finished with 32 saves.

”They knew they needed two points tonight and they were going for it,” van Riemsdyk said. ”They were desperate, and they found a way.”

Carolina had tied it 2-2 with 6:12 left in the second it caught Florida on a line change, and Ryan backhanded the puck past Luongo for his 15th.

The Hurricanes were eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday night and could have played the spoiler role.

”More than trying to ruin their season it’s us playing for pride for each other. That’s more important for me Brandon Parker Jersey ,” Ryan said. ”They dug deep when the pressure was on.”

The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead on a goal by van Riemsdyk 3:44 in. Luongo blocked a shot from in front by Brock McGinn but van Riemsdyk slapped in the rebound for his third.

The Panthers answered 19 seconds later when Weegar’s shot from the right circle went over Darling’s glove for his second of the season. Weegar’s last goal was on Oct. 20 against Pittsburgh.

”We’ve got to respond after they score, and we did just that. I’m happy I could contribute. It’s been a long time,” Weegar said.

Dadonov gave the Panthers ahead 2-1 on a power-play goal with 9.1 seconds left in the first. Aleksander Barkov passed over to Dadonov in the slot and he flipped the puck off Darling’s leg for his 27th.

NOTES: Barkov’s assist on Dadonov’s goal was his 50th, becoming the first Panthers player to hit that mark since Olli Jokinen had 52 in the 2006-07 season. … Panthers forwards Frank Vatrano and Denis Malgin returned after missing the previous game with injuries.Carolina recalled D Roland McKeown from AHL Charlotte on Sunday.

UP NEXT:

Hurricanes: At Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Panthers: Host Nashville on Tuesday night.

Russ Brandon abruptly resigned his dual role as president of the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres after being confronted by the teams' owners regarding an alleged inappropriate relationship with a female employee, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an internal matter, and owners Terry and Kim Pegula did not provide a reason for accepting Brandon's resignation in a statement they released Tuesday.

The relationship in question first became apparent to a number of team employees during the Sabres' visit to New York for a game against the Rangers on Jan. 18, the people said. The trip included the team hosting a fan event at a bar the day before the game.

Kim Pegula will take over Brandon's roles overseeing the Bills, Sabres and Pegula Sports Entertainment, the company which controls the owners' numerous holdings.

In a text to The AP, Brandon said he has contemplated stepping down from the job for some time Demarcus Robinson Jersey , and felt the timing was right after the conclusion of the NFL draft.

"My goal when the Pegulas purchased the franchise was to reach 20 years with the Bills, in which I achieved this past November," Brandon wrote.

"As grateful as I am for the amazing experience and the incredible people I've had the privilege to work with the past two decades, I am just as anxious for the professional opportunities that lie ahead," he added.

Brandon did not respond to follow-up questions regarding his relationship.

Brandon's departure comes after the Bills made a big splash in the first round of the draft by trading up to select both Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen with the seventh pick, and Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds with the 16th pick. The new additions join a Bills team that went 9-7 and ended a 17-year playoff drought last season.

On Saturday, the last-place Sabres earned a boost by winning the NHL draft lottery and the right to the No. 1 pick for the third time in franchise history.

"We have a tremendous amount of confidence in the strong leadership team we have built within each of these entities over the last several years," the statement from the Pegulas read.

"We are excited about the direction of our teams, especially after this past weekend's NFL draft and NHL lottery results. Our focus remains on building championship teams on and off the field for our fans and community."

Brandon most recently served as the Bills' managing partner, was the Sabres alternate on the NHL's board of governors and a member of the NFL's business ventures committee.

The timing of Brandon's exit comes at a time he was supposed to oversee the Bills' next big venture in determining their future home. Brandon was expected to lead the team's stadium search committee in deciding whether the Bills should continue playing at their current home or develop a new facility in downtown Buffalo.

He served in various roles with the Bills P.J. Williams Jersey , involving both marketing and football decisions during a two-year stint as general manager from 2008-09.

He also took the lead in negotiating the Bills' most recent lease five years ago, which played a critical role in securing the franchise's long-term future in Buffalo especially following Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson's death in March 2014.

The lease included a strict non-relocation clause that included a $400 million penalty the team would be forced to pay if it considered moving before 2020.

Brandon also oversaw the Bills' eventual sale to the Pegulas, who completed their $1.4 billion purchase of the franchise in October 2014.

The Pegulas retained Brandon and elevated him to the role of managing partner. The Pegulas thought so highly of Brandon, the Sabres were added to his responsibilities after the team reached a mutual agreement to part ways with Ted Black in July 2015.

Brandon's resignation continues a large turnover of Bills executives who served under Wilson. Bruce Popko is the senior holdover and now becomes the top executive as chief operating officer of Buffalo-based Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which oversees the Pegulas' numerous holdings.

Brandon grew up in nearby Syracuse, New York, and began making his mark in Buffalo shortly after being hired by the Bills in 1997 to serve as the team's business development and marketing director.

He began by spearheading a campaign to transform them into a regional team by expanding the franchise's fan base to offset Buffalo's dropping population base.

That process began in 2000, when the team shifted training camp to Brandon's alma mater, St. John Fisher College in suburban Rochester, to capitalize on the community's corporate and larger population base.

Later Jordan Mills Jersey , the Bills boosted their presence across southern Ontario by negotiating a deal to begin playing annual regular-season games in Toronto starting in 2008. The "Bills In Toronto" series lasted through 2013 before the deal was placed on hold the following year and then terminated by the Pegulas.

Toronto-based media giant, Rogers Communications, paid the Bills $78 million to essentially lease eight games (five regular season and three preseason) during the initial five-year agreement. The price was almost double what the Bills were projected to generate if those games were played at their home facility.

The series also spurred a large bump in season-ticket purchases from across the border. By 2015, the Bills estimated southern Ontario fans accounted for about 18 percent of their season-ticket sales, surpassing their support from Rochester.

Not everything succeeded under Brandon, who drew criticism for a number of decisions, including failing to build a winner during his two-year stint as the Bills GM when Wilson elected to promote from within the organization after Marv Levy stepped down following a two- Womens Oren Burks Jersey