Big Victory For Cats

Panthers defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (4) congratulates goalie Tomas Vokoun, after the Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-3 in Sunrise, Fla. Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008. Vokoun made 43 saves for Florida. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

By Dave Joseph for floridapanthers.com

If every night for the Panthers could be like Tuesday.

Nathan Horton tied a franchise record with four assists, Tanner Glass scored his first NHL goal, and Tomas Vokoun made 43 saves as the Panthers kicked off a four-game homestand by defeating the Eastern Conference-leading Senators 5-3 at BankAtlantic Center.

How big was the victory?

“It’s a big confidence booster,” said Gregory Campbell, who scored his fourth goal of the season.

“A big two points for us,” said Horton, who also hit the post in the waning seconds of the second period.

“A great effort,” said GM and coach Jacques Martin. “We kept coming at them.”

After being outshot 14-4 in the first 12 minutes, the Panthers fired 36 shots at Senator goalie Ray Emery while also getting goals from Stephen Weiss (9th), David Booth (14th) and Jay Bouwmeester (9th). The Panthers also made up ground in the Southeast Division as both Carolina and Atlanta lost.

“We played hard tonight, everyone bought into the system,” Campbell said. “I don’t think it was one specific thing. It’s a testament to the guys in here that we can have this kind of success when we’re battling.”

Stephen Weiss, who had a goal, one assist, was a plus-2 and won nine of 12 faceoffs, said; “We definitely needed this win tonight. It was a good team effort. We didn’t have any lapses.”

In fact, added Radek Dvorak; “The last 20 minutes I think we dictated the play.”

“It was nice to play with a three goal lead (in the third period),” he added. “It was a nice mental break for us.”

The Senators, who had lost their previous two games, stormed at the Panthers early and had two power plays inside the opening 10 minutes. But Vokoun made big saves on Wade Redden and Daniel Alfredsson early to keep the game scoreless.

Game Highlights
Starting Lineups
Panthers		Senators
Matthias	C	Fisher
Jokinen	LW	McAmmond
Zednik	RW	Neil
Cullimore	D	Volchenkov
Salei	D	Phillips
Vokoun	G	Emery
Post-Game Video
Jacques Martin  Nathan Horton   Tanner Glass
PhotoGallery
Panthers vs Senators
Hero's Cape
Tanner Glass
Quote of the Game
"It's been awhile. I've been waiting 22 games now for it but it's a dream come true. It's great to get the monkey off the back for sure."  -Rookie Tanner Glass on scoring his first NHL goal.
Stat of the Game
Horton dishes out the assists. Nathan Horton set up four of the Panthers five goals, tying a single game record for assists.
3 Stars Presented by Szrio Jewelry
1. Nathan Horton 2. Tanner Glass 3. David Booth

Vokoun’s work was rewarded with 2:15 remaining in the first period when David Booth skated across the Senator’s blue line and stopped hard after losing the puck in his skates while being tied up by Andrej Meszaros. Daniel Alfredsson couldn’t get the puck as he skated by, but Jay Bouwmeester, trailing the play, picked up the loose puck and wristed it past goalie Ray Emery for a 1-0 Panther lead.

That lead was short-lived because just 13 seconds into the second period, Dean McAmmond beat Vokoun to the short side on a shot taken near the goal line.

The Panthers moved back in front at 6:42 of the second period when Tanner Glass took a nice pass from Nathan Horton (who beat Wade Redden in the Panther zone) and beat Emery to the stick side to record his first NHL goal in his 22nd career game.

“Great pass by Horty,” Glass said.

But, once again, the Senators came back to tie the game at two just 3:13 later when Mike Fisher circled from the corner, turned, and fired a quick shot at goal that Chris Neil redirected past Vokoun.

The Panthers turned the game around at that point. With just 1:28 remaining in the second period and the Panthers on a 4-on-3 power play, Weiss beat Emery to the far side with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle to make it 3-2. Then, just 1:08 into the third period, Booth scored his 14th of the season on a 3-on-2 break with reunited linemates Horton and Weiss to make it 4-2. Campbell and Mike Fisher closed out the scoring.

Horton’s four assists tied a record shared by Olli Jokinen, Scott Mellanby, Ray Whitney and Juraj Kolnik. Horton, a plus-four, not only played with Booth and Weiss but took shifts with Glass and Campbell. Martin moved Horton after playing with Jokinen and Shawn Matthias the previous game.

“I tried switching Nathan up and brought him back with the Weiss line and we got a great performance tonight,” Martin said.

The Panthers, four points out of first in the Southeast, will play host Thursday to Edmonton before the All-Star break. They return next week to play host to Buffalo and Vancouver before embarking on a five-game road trip.

“We have one more game before the All-Star break and we have to make sure we have another 60 minute effort,” Dvorak said.

NOTES
Cory Murphy played his first game since suffering a shoulder injury Nov. 13 (30 games). “It’s great to be back,” said Murphy, after playing 15:28…With Murphy in the lineup, Anthony Stewart was a healthy scratch…Jozef Stumpel, who has missed the past six games with a shoulder injury, skated with the team Tuesday morning and said he was optimistic he’d be back soon. Stumpel said he injured himself when he went into the boards with his shoulder against Atlanta. “It’s getting better,” Stumpel said. “It’s still a little sore, but, hopefully, I’ll be back pretty soon. If not Thursday (against Edmonton), after the All-Star break, I’m sure.”…