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2
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2009 - The Panthers open the 2009-10 season with a bang in their first NHL Premiere game against the Blackhawks. Florida comes back on three different occasions with David Booth's goal with 2:21 left in the third forcing overtime. Ville Koistinen wins it for the Cats in the shootout, 4-3.
1999 - The Florida Panthers open the season with a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals at the National Car Rental Center. It is the second straight home season-opening win for the Cats since moving to Sunrise. Pavel Bure scores the first of his team-record 58 goals in the contest, returning from major reconstructive knee surgery.
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4
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2007 - Florida opens its 14th season. Brett McLean scores a goal in his first game as a Panther but the Cats fall to the NY Rangers in Madison Square Garden 5-2.
2001 - Florida opens its ninth NHL season on the road at Philadelphia.
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5
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2005 - The Panthers open their 12th NHL season against Southeast Division rival Atlanta.
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6
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| Todd Bertuzzi |
2006 - The Florida Panthers open their 13th NHL season against the Boston Bruins by scoring an opening night record 8 goals in the 8-3 victory at the BankAtlantic Center. Todd Bertuzzi had four points in his debut for the Cats.
2000 - The Panthers drop the puck on their eighth season, opening at home against Pavel Bure's old club, the Vancouver Canucks. The Panthers fell 4-3 in overtime on a goal by former Panther Ed Jovanovski.
1993 - Panthers play their first NHL regular-season game against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Scott Mellanby scores the franchise’s first goal at 12:31 of the second period en route to a 4-4 tie.
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7
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2005 - For the first time in their history, the Panthers record back-to-back shutouts to open the season. Oct. 5, the Cats shutout Atlanta 2-0, and on Oct. 7 the Cats shut out Tampa Bay 2-0.
2003 - Center Olli Jokinen is named captain of the Panthers. Jokinen is just the fifth captain in team history behind Brian Skrudland, Scott Mellanby and Paul Laus and Pavel Bure (who shared the captaincy in 2001-02).
1995 - The Panthers open the 1995-96 regular season against the defending Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils. |
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8
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"Rat Trick"
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1995 - Prior to a game versus the Calgary Flames at Miami Arena, a live rat dashes across the Panthers’ dressing room. Scott Mellanby one-times the rat with his stick, killing it as it hits the wall. Mellanby goes on to score two goals in the team’s 4-3 victory. Mellanby’s feat is dubbed a “Rat Trick” by John Vanbiesbrouck, and within weeks, fans begin tossing rubber rats onto the ice to celebrate Florida goals. |
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9
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2003 - Florida opens its 11th season against division rival Carolina at the Office Depot Center.
1998 - The Florida Panthers begin their sixth NHL campaign opening a new home, the Broward County Arena or National Car Rental Center. Rookies Mark Parrish (two goals & a +4) and Oleg Kvasha (two assists & a +4) lead the Panthers to a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
1993 - Panthers play to a then-NHL-record crowd of 27,227 as they face the Lightning in Tampa Bay’s Thunderdome (now Tropicana Field). |
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10
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2002 - The Panthers open their 10th season against cross-state rival Tampa Bay at Office Depot Center.
1998 - One night after christening the National Car Rental Center the Panthers traveled to Tennessee and defeated the Nashville Predators 1-0 in their inaugural NHL game. Ray Whitney scored the game winner for the Cats. |
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11
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2008 - Peter DeBoer earns his first NHL head coaching victory (second game, Oct 10 at Carolina) in a 3-2 win over Atlanta. Michael Frolik makes his NHL debut. |
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12
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1999 - Panthers right wing Pavel Bure records his 500th career NHL point with an assist on Lance Pitlick's game-winning goal at Montreal. The Cats win 2-1.
1993 - Panthers play franchise’s first home game, a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Miami Arena. |
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20
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2005 - The Panthers set a new franchise record with 28 shots on goal in the second period versus the Washington Capitals. |
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22
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2000 - Rookie goaltender Roberto Luongo gets his first shutout with Florida, before his first win, as the Cats tie the expansion Minnesota Wild 0-0 on the road in their first meeting. Luongo makes 20 saves in the shutout - the first of a team record five he would record on the season. |
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24
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2007 - Panthers captain Olli Jokinen sets two new franchise records as he records two goals against Philadelphia to record his 355th point and 158th goal as a Panther. |
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28
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2006 - The Florida Panthers enter a shootout with the Islanders that lasts 10 rounds, the longest shootout in Cats history.
1997 - Panthers allow the Los Angeles Kings only 12 shots on goal, establishing a franchise mark in a 2-2 tie at Miami Arena. |
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30
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2002 - Panthers spot the Blackhawks a team-record 12 power-play opportunities on which they allow only one goal, but still lose the game 4-1.
1998 - Rookie Mark Parrish becomes the first Panther in team history to record four goals in a game as the Panthers defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 on the road at the United Center. The game also establishes a team mark for power-play opportunities with 11, since matched three times, although the Cats convert on only three.
1996 - The Panthers defeat the Blackhawks 3-2 to extend their season-opening franchise-record unbeaten streak to 12 games (8-0-4). John Vanbiesbrouck extends his personal unbeaten streak to a team-record 10 and is named the NHL's Player of the Month for October with a 1.41 GAA and a .950 save percentage. |
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