Cats Fall In Finale

Kitchener, Ontario – In the final game of the 2008 rookie tournament at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium the Florida Panthers were blanked by the host Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 on Monday evening. The Panthers finished the three day tournament with a 1-2 mark and open the club’s main training camp at incredibleICE in Coral Springs on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m.

After a scoreless opening period, the Maple Leafs got on the scoreboard first when F Stefano Gialiati took a pass from F Darryl Boyce and found the back of the net at 5:56. The Leafs opened up a two-goal lead after D Juaj Mikus fired a shot through a screen that slipped past Cats G David Shantz.

In the third the Leafs added a couple of insurance tallies on a pair of goals from F Dale Mitchell. Shantz turned away 35 shots in the losing effort, Toronto G James Reimer made 24 saves.  The Maple Leafs went 1-9 on the power play, while the Panther failed to score on three power play opportunities.

Panthers prospects C Shawn Matthias (1-1-2), C David Brine (1-1-2) LW Mike Duco (1-1-2) all finished the tournament with two points.

Scoring Summary:
First Period:  None
Second Period: TOR PP Gialiati (Boyce, Mitchell) 5:56; TOR Mikus (Langdon, Rodgers) 14:20
Third Period: TOR: Mitchell (Rudisuela, Perry) 3:36; TOR Mitchell (Mikus, Boyce) 14:51

Shots:
Florida: 24
Toronto:  39

Power Play:
Florida: 0-3
Toronto:  1-9