Cats Split Home and Home Series with Lightning

Horton Scores Lone Goal in 4-1 Loss in Tampa Bay

The Florida Panthers fought hard in a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Even with the loss, the Panthers are still eight points out of the eighth spot and are still mathematically in the playoff hunt with the Atlanta Thrashers losing to the Ottawa Senators.

Nathan Horton scored his 27th of the season on a deflection off a Jon Sim shot late in the second period. Jay Bouwmeester set up the goal with a rocket shot that bounced off of Burke and was quickly corralled by Sim.

Sim had a scoring chance with tenths of a second left in the second period that squeezed through the gap between Burke and the post, but the goal was ruled off after replays indicated time had expired.

Roberto Luongo stopped 26 shots and showed off his impressive shot stopping skills on the way. Luongo had a huge save early in the third period after Vaclav Prospal launched a shot to an open net. Luongo's outstretched glove caught the puck inches from the goal line, completing another amazing save by the sensational goaltender.

As he has all season long Joe Nieuwendyk was solid in the face-off circle winning 14. He currently holds third place with a 59.3 face-off percentage in the NHL.