Panthers Suffer Late Loss To Leafs

Florida Panthers center Stephen Weiss, center, battles for position with Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen Bryan McCabe, left, and Ian white, right, in front of goaltender Vesa Toskala during first-period NHL action in Toronto, Canada, on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Frank Gunn,The Canadian Press)

By Dave Joseph for floridapanthers.com

And it started with such promise.
 
Despite a 2-0 lead Thursday evening after one period at the Air Canada Centre, the Panthers couldn’t hold off the beleaguered Maple Leafs, who stormed back to win 3-2 on a goal by Nik Antropov with 28 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Just minutes after a shot by Jay Bouwmeester rolled through the Maple Leaf crease with under a minute to play, Pavel Kubina took a shot on Panther goalie Craig Anderson. Anderson made the save, but the rebound came out to Antropov, who slapped the puck into an open net.
 
The action in the final minute came after Jozef Stumpel got tied up with Leaf forward Ian White along the boards in the Panthers end. White dropped his gloves and, in GM and coach Jacques Martin’s words, “mugged” Stumpel. But there was no whistle and no penalty called on White.
 
“He wanted to fight me,” said Stumpel, referring to White. “He got both of his gloves off. I thought here we’re going to have a power play. That’s always a power play.”
 
Bouwmeester’s shot, which rolled through the crease, might have been deflected slightly by Maple Leaf goalie Vesa Toskala. “But I think it was going wide anyway,” said Bouwmeester.
 
“It was frustrating at times,” Martin said. “There were a lot of non calls. There’s not much you can do about that. The guy (White) mugged our guy.”
 
Panther captain Olli Jokinen thought the fact play wasn’t stopped during the Stumpel-White altercation cost the Panthers at least a point.
 
Looking for their first four-game winning streak since March 3, and playing without goalie Tomas Vokoun who was nursing a mild ankle sprain, the Panthers, who got off to a sluggish start Tuesday in Montreal, jumped on the fragile Maple Leafs.
 
With the Leafs’ Andrew Wozniewski in the penalty box for elbowing, the Panthers skated into the offensive zone. Nathan Horton sent a cross-ice pass to Stephen Weiss, who found Rostislav Olesz in front of the Leafs’ net for a 1-0 lead at 5:59.
 

Game Highlights
Starting Lineups
Panthers		Leafs
Jokinen	C	Steen
Peltonen	LW	Kilger
Zednik	RW	Antropov
Bouwmeester	D	Gill
Allen	D	Wozniewski
Anderson	G	Toskala
Photogallery
Panthers vs Leafs
Quote of the Game
"I think we came out and played well the first 20 minutes. We got a two-goal lead, but they bounced back." - Panthers captain Olli Jokinen
Stat of the Game
Olli Jokinen played in his 301st consecutive game, passing former Panthers defenseman Robert Svehla for the most consecutive games played.
3 Stars presented by Sziro Jewelry
1. Vesa Toskala  2. Nathan Horton  3. Nik Antropov

 
“I think we came out and played well the first 20 minutes,” Jokinen said. “We got a two-goal lead but they bounced back.”
 
The Leafs got energized in the second period when, just :24 seconds in, Mats Sundin took a shot from the right boards that ricocheted to the opposite board and right to Jason Blake. With Anderson unable to get to his feet after diving for Sundin’s shot, Blake fired the puck into the Panther net.
 
The Leafs then tied the game after the Panthers got into penalty trouble for having too many men on the ice and a questionable slashing penalty on Bryan Allen. During a 5-on-3 at 6:49, McCabe, who had been crushed in the local press for firing a puck into his own net Monday, took a one-timer between the top of the faceoff circles that sailed past Anderson.
 
After 40 minutes, the game was tied 2-2 despite a late, second period flurry by the Leafs, who spent nearly two minutes in the Panthers zone and with Brett McLean without a stick. Anderson made several big saves, including one on Alex Steen when he reached back with his stick to stop a sure goal.
 
The Panthers flew to Ottawa after the game to prepare for Saturday’s game against the Senators.
 
NOTES
 
Vokoun, who had stopped 105 of the 110 shots he faced in the Panthers three consecutive victories, was sidelined Thursday with a minor ankle sprain. The goalie said Thursday afternoon he hoped to play Saturday in Ottawa…Olli Jokinen played in his 301st consecutive game, eclipsing the record of 300 set by Robert Svehla…