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Panthers Wrap-Up: Lightning 6, Panthers 5 (OT)

Lightning storm back from two down and Panthers only able to take one point.

Saturday, 02.16.2013 / 6:26 PM
Glenn Odebralski  - FloridaPanthers.com
thu
2/14/2013
0-1
1 2 3 OT T
Panthers 0 0 0 0 0
Canadiens 0 0 0 1 1
FLA - NONE
MTL - R. Bourque (4)
  
   

SUNRISE, Fla. — Rene Bourque scored 2:10 into overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers 1-0 on Thursday night.

Bourque's winner came on a tip-in just in front of the net. The puck drifted in front of the crease and Shawn Matthias couldn't clear it for Florida. Instead, it bounced off goalie Jose Theodore's pad and Bourque poked it in..

FULL RECAP		  
"Tough game for us. We got outworked for a stretch and we finally decided to play a simple game. And things follow from there but obviously not enough for us to bring it home."
- Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen.
 
1. A Goaltending And Defensive Battle: After getting into an offensive slugfest against the Capitals as they combined for 11 goals on Tuesday, the defenses and netminders came to play. Through the opening two periods, it was a grinding game with few real offensive chances but when there were, both Jose Theodore and Carey Price came up with the big save. One of the bests of the opening 40 minutes came with the Canadiens on the rush and Brandon Prust receiving a drop pass through traffic. The forward gathered the pass, all alone in front of the crease and took a shot but only to be denied by Theodore's glove. The two teams combined for a total of 34 shots between them. Theodore was the much busier of the two as the Panthers could only muster six shots in the first and another seven in the second.

2. The Third: Whatever was said by the coaches during the second intermission seemed to wake up the teams as they both came out flying with several fantastic opportunities. One particular shift had the "Kid Line" buzzing all around as Jonathan Huberdeau, Drew Shore and Peter Mueller along with Brian Campbell and Dmitry Kulikov kept the Canadiens in their zone for a solid minute and came up with three or so huge scoring chances. Unfortunately the Cats couldn't find the score sheet. But neither could the visitors as the goaltenders were tested to a tune of 22 shots. 13 of them, half of their game shot total, came off the sticks of a Panther.

3. Unable To Come Up With Second Point: It's been like this of late for the Cats, find yourself tied after regulation and it's been an unfortunate end for three out of the four occasions over the last five games as they've all been on the wrong side of an overtime affair. In end-to-end action, the Panthers had some chances but couldn't get a puck on Price and the Canadiens would make them pay as 2012 third overall pick Alex Galchenyuk fought off Kulikov to get a weak shot on net off the rush. Rene Bourque was on the side of the net and knocked home the rebound, giving the Panthers their third overtime loss in the last five games (1-1-3). Florida has done well in picking up the points however as they have done that in six of the last seven (3-1-3). Unfortunately it's not been the full two points.
 
Memorable twitter posts from the game.

@SuperMarg513: Had a great time with @Nick_Lonewolf at @FlaPanthers game even if they lost. #HappyVDay

@_DaraRoss: a pretty well played game tonight. Disappointed we didn't get 2 pts. #JoseTheodore was unbelievable tonight! See you sat BB&T

@me_kimba: I leave the room for a minute... bullocks!!!! Love you still.

@KeepItBrief: That one stings @FlaPanthers

@FlaBoi6: Another Heartbreaking OT loss for the @FlaPanthers!! Great game though!!! Keep your heads up @tstracks @Guddy44 #GoPanthers #PantherFirLife

  
Memorable fan posts from the game.

Maggie Smith: Defensive battle but a tough loss!

Mark Johnson: That stinks. They played pretty well in the 3rd, but can't finish again!!!

Joao Paulo Violante: What's the problem with these guys??? Don't know how to play 4 on 4???

Sal Fiore: Great - ANOTHER loss .... At home in OT

Joshua Benchimol: Come on panthers wake up!!!!
 

3. It was the third time in franchise history that the Panthers and an opponent entered overtime deadlocked at zero and for the Cats to see the wrong end of a 1-0 score with an overtime winner. Two of those three occasions came against Montreal. The last/other time came on Nov. 17, 2011 in Montreal. The third occurance came on Feb. 15, 1997 on Long Island.

4. After not playing in overtime in their first eight games of the season, the Panthers have now gone past regulation in four of the last five games, going 1-1-3 along the way.

7. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was a hitting machine Thursday night as he finished with a game-high seven hits. That tied a career-high, also accomplishing that total on Jan. 20, 2012 against Chicago.
9. Despite the loss, the Panthers picked up another point on the season. They've collected points in six of their last seven games while collecting nine out of a possible 14 points along the way (3-1-3).

5. Rookie forward Drew Shore continues to pile up the shots as he led the way in that category with five. His 29 shots on the season have him tied for third in that category with Shawn Matthias, with only Tomas Fleischmann (39) and Tomas Kopecky (31) ahead on that count.
 
Carey Price
In a goaltending battle, this was going to the game-winning netminder and Price was just one better than Theodore in the end.
 26 Goals, 26 Saves, 1.000 SV%
  
 
It will be the third game of a four game home stand Saturday for the Panthers and it will be a special 3pm start as they take on cross-state rival Tampa Bay. The Lightning got off to a hot start of the season as they won six of their first seven games. They've cooled off considerably having lost their last six (0-5-1) including a 4-3 final against Washington on Thursday night. The offense is still near the top of the league, led by superstars Martin St Louis (4-15-19) and Steven Stamkos (7-11-18).

Author: Glenn Odebralski | FloridaPanthers.com

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