Vokoun Stellar As Cats Win In Shootout

Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun stops a shot by Montreal Canadiens' Alex Kovalev in the overtime shootout during NHL hockey action in Montreal Tuesday Oct. 16, 2007. The Panthers won the game 2-1. (AP Photo/Ryan Remiorz, The Canadian Press)

After winning their last two games at home, the Panthers took to the road for a three-game road trip and started it with a bang. Tomas Vokoun held the Panthers in the game until the waning seconds where Nathan Horton tied the score at one.

They then finished the late surge as Jozef Stumpel scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Panthers the 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

Florida improves its record to 3-3-0 on the young season as they have won the last three.

MONTREAL (AP) - Nathan Horton's late goal earned Florida one point and Jozef Stumpel's shootout score secured another. Tomas Vokoun's strong play in goal was what gave the Panthers any chance at the two points and the win.

Horton tied the game with 10.2 seconds left in regulation and Stumpel scored the only shootout goal to give the Panthers a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

Vokoun made 36 saves and stopped shootout attempts by Chris Higgins, Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev.

"We were still in it because of our goalie," Horton said. "He played unbelievable and he gave us a chance to have that opportunity at the end."

Stumpel, Florida's third shooter, beat Cristobal Huet after Ville Peltonen and Horton had failed before him to give the Panthers the win.

"It's a team sport and sometimes you help your team, and sometimes your team helps you," Vokoun said.

Horton's tying goal came just seconds after Montreal killed a late penalty.

"It's nice to get two points when you didn't play very good," Horton said.

Kovalev got his second goal of the season on a power play 2:53 in and it nearly held up as the game's only score.

Huet, who made 24 saves, protected the one-goal lead for 56:56, falling just short of recording his first shutout since last Nov. 28, a 1-0 win over the Panthers. That game was decided on a shootout goal by Canadiens captain Saku Koivu following a scoreless tie through overtime.

"Obviously that's a little risky to keep it at 1-0," Huet said. "We outplayed them the whole game, pretty much. We had a lot of good scoring chances and we just couldn't find a way to beat Vokoun."

Game Highlights
Starting Lineups
Panthers		Canadiens
Jokinen	C	Koivu
Peltonen	LW	Higgins
Zednik	RW	Ryder
Bouwmeester	D	Komisarek
Allen	D	Markov
Vokoun	G	Huet
Quote of the Game
"We were still in it because of our goalie. He played unbelievable and he gave us a chance to have that opportunity at the end." - forward Nathan Horton on Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun
Stat of the Game
10.2 - The time remaining in the game for the Panthers to finally get on the board. It was enough as the Cats went on to win the game in the shootout.
3 Stars presented by Sziro Jewelry
1. Tomas Vokoun 2. Christopher Higgins 3. Alex Kovalev

 

"I think I'll have to stay in the room the next couple of days to make sure I'll be able to play in Toronto," Jokinen said.

With Florida defenseman Mike Van Ryn off for holding, Kovalev picked up a rebound to the left of the net and moved the puck to his forehand before flipping a shot over Vokoun's right pad.

Huet made a sensational glove save on Richard Zednik's backhand 8:20 into the second.

The game was nearly the third straight 1-0 result between the teams at the Bell Centre. Jay Bouwmeester scored the only goal in the Panthers' 1-0 win in Montreal on Feb. 13.

Patrick Carpentier was introduced before the game as the new No. 10 driver for Gillett Evernham Motorsports, the NASCAR team recently purchased by Canadiens owner George Gillett.

Carpentier was presented with a personalized Canadiens jersey by Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur, whose No. 10 was retired by Montreal.

Notes: Jokinen remains tied with Scott Mellanby for the franchise's career points lead with 354. Jokinen's 156 goals with Florida ranks second, one behind Mellanby's team record. ... Alex Auld, now with Phoenix, recorded the shutout loss for Florida last season, and veteran Ed Belfour posted his only shutout of the season - 76th of his career - in the Panthers' win. ... Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau sat LW Guillaume Latendresse and C Steve Begin. Rookie C Mikhail Grabovski and LW Garth Murray dressed in their place.