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Panthers 3, Lightning 2, OT
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo had another great game against Tampa Bay. Olli Jokinen made sure it came in a victory.

Jokinen scored twice, including the game-winner with 1:45 left in overtime, and Luongo made 48 saves to help the Panthers beat the Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Luongo was within 4 minutes of his first shutout since he opened the season with consecutive blankings of Atlanta and the Lightning. But Brad Richards' goal, which appeared to hit off Florida's Chris Gratton, at 16:09 made it 2-1 and Luongo then allowed Ryan Craig's equalizer from the low slot with 48 seconds remaining.

"Tonight was an illustration of how good he can be," Panthers coach Jacques Martin said.

It was just the second time Tampa Bay had 50 shots in a game. Luongo made 50 saves in the Panthers' 2-1 win over the Lightning on Jan. 17, 2004.

"Give Luongo credit," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "He seems to have those games against us quite a bit."

Jokinen snapped Florida's three-game losing streak with his rebound goal from the left circle.

The Lightning had the first nine shots in the game, including five on a power play. Luongo kept it scoreless with strong saves on shots by Darryl Sydor and Vincent Lecavalier. Tampa Bay outshot the Panthers 18-8 in the first.

"Without him, we don't get any points tonight," Jokinen said. "Without him we don't have a chance tonight. He is a difference maker. He set the tone."

The Panthers went ahead 1-0 on Gratton's goal from the low right circle at 11:13 of the second. Luongo stopped 17 shots in the period, including two big saves on Richards.

"Two points is what we want right now, but we're not going to beat ourselves up," Richards said. "You walk away not down on yourself. You can win a lot of games if you play like that."

The Lightning continued their offensive dominance into the third, but Luongo stopped point-blank chances by Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis with 16 minutes left.

"I got into a nice rhythm against a very dangerous team," Luongo said. "I could tell I had good reaction and a good sense of the action."

Tampa Bay's Sean Burke turned aside a shot from Nathan Horton during a 2-on-1 midway through the third. He finished with 23 saves.

"You never want to settle and be happy with losing," Burke said. "But there are times when you come out of a game and consider yourself a little bit lucky you got anything. Being down 2-1 and the way he was playing with as little time as we had, that is a huge point for us."

Notes: Tampa Bay associate coach Craig Ramsay was behind the bench for the first time since undergoing prostate surgery on Jan. 6. ... Panthers C Gregory Campbell (concussion) did not play. He was hurt on Saturday night. Florida was also without LW Gary Roberts (knee), C Rostislav Olesz (shoulder) and C Stephen Weiss (wrist). ... The Lightning played their 500th home game. In those games, they have won 200, lost 244 (including 17 overtime losses) and tied 56. ... Florida D Jay Bouwmeester has not scored a goal in his past 99 games.


Three star selections
1st:   OLLI JOKINEN
2nd:   RYAN CRAIG
3rd:   ROBERTO LUONGO
Winning Goaltender
Roberto Luongo

Losing Goaltender
Sean Burke

 

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