GAME THREAD: NHL: FLORIDA (2-3) at MONTREAL (2-2)

NHL: FLORIDA at MONTREAL

<div class="pre">NHL END OF OT 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
FLORIDA 0 0 1 0 1
MONTREAL 1 0 0 0 1 END OF OT

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: MON - (PP) ALEXEI KOVALEV 2 (ROMAN HAMRLIK, MICHAEL RYDER)
2:53
2ND PRD: NONE
3RD PRD: FLA - NATHAN HORTON 4 (CORY MURPHY, STEPHEN WEISS) 19:49
OT: NONE

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
FLA 4 9 9 3 25
MON 15 11 6 5 37

GOALIES: FLA - TOMAS VOKOUN
MON - CRISTOBAL HUET</div>

 

NHL: FLORIDA at MONTREAL

<div class="pre">------------------------------------------
Florida 0 0 1 0 --1
Montreal 1 0 0 0 --1
------------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Montreal, Alexei Kovalev 2 (power play)
(Roman Hamrlik, Michael Ryder)2:53. Penalties: M Van Ryn, Fla
(holding), 1:13; R Zednik, Fla (holding stick), 9:28; R Salei, Fla
(tripping), 19:24.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: A Kostitsyn, Mon (holding), 3:34; M
Dandenault, Mon (hooking), 5:31; R Zednik, Fla (slashing), 6:11; T
Kostopoulos, Mon (major fighting), 16:53; N Welch, Fla (major
fighting), 16:53.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Florida, Nathan Horton 4 (Cory Murphy,
Stephen Weiss),19:49. Penalties: N Horton, Fla (slashing), 5:50; M
Komisarek, Mon (slashing), 17:46.

OVERTIME -- Scoring: None.

Shots on goal:
--------------------------------------------
Florida 4 9 9 3 --25
Montreal 15 11 6 5 --37
--------------------------------------------

Goalies : Florida, Tomas Vokoun (37 shots, 36 saves). Montreal,
Cristobal Huet (25 shots, 24 saves). Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Marc
Joannette. Linesmen: Jean Morin, Lonnie Cameron.</div>

 

NHL: FLORIDA at MONTREAL

<div class="pre">NHL FINAL IN SHOOTOUT 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
FLORIDA 0 0 1 0 (1) 2
MONTREAL 1 0 0 0 (0) 1 FINAL IN SHOOTOUT

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: MON - (PP) ALEXEI KOVALEV 2 (ROMAN HAMRLIK, MICHAEL RYDER)
2:53
2ND PRD: NONE
3RD PRD: FLA - NATHAN HORTON 4 (CORY MURPHY, STEPHEN WEISS) 19:49
OT: NONE
SO: MTL - CHRIS HIGGINS (MISSED), SAKU KOIVU (MISSED),
ALEXEI KOVALEV (MISSED)
FLA - VILLE PELTONEN (MISSED), NATHAN HORTON (MISSED),
JOZEF STUMPEL (GOAL)

POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: FLA - 0 OF 3, MON - 1 OF 5.

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
FLA 4 9 9 3 25
MON 15 11 6 5 37

GOALIES: FLA - TOMAS VOKOUN
MON - CRISTOBAL HUET

OFFICIALS: REF - GREG KIMMERLY, MARC JOANNETTE
LIN - JEAN MORIN, LONNIE CAMERON

ATT: 21,273</div>

 

NHL: FLORIDA at MONTREAL

<div class="pre">------------------------------------------------
Florida 0 0 1 0 (1) --2
Montreal 1 0 0 0 (0) --1
------------------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Montreal, Alexei Kovalev 2 (power play)
(Roman Hamrlik, Michael Ryder)2:53. Penalties: M Van Ryn, Fla
(holding), 1:13; R Zednik, Fla (holding stick), 9:28; R Salei, Fla
(tripping), 19:24.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: A Kostitsyn, Mon (holding), 3:34; M
Dandenault, Mon (hooking), 5:31; R Zednik, Fla (slashing), 6:11; T
Kostopoulos, Mon (major fighting), 16:53; N Welch, Fla (major
fighting), 16:53.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Florida, Nathan Horton 4 (Cory Murphy,
Stephen Weiss),19:49. Penalties: N Horton, Fla (slashing), 5:50; M
Komisarek, Mon (slashing), 17:46.

OVERTIME -- Scoring: None.

SHOOTOUT -- Montreal, Chris Higgins (missed), Saku
Koivu (missed), Alexei Kovalev (missed). Florida, Ville Peltonen
(missed), Nathan Horton (missed), Jozef Stumpel (goal).

Shots on goal:
--------------------------------------------
Florida 4 9 9 3 --25
Montreal 15 11 6 5 --37
--------------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: Florida - 0 of 3, Montreal - 1 of 5. Goalies :
Florida, Tomas Vokoun (37 shots, 36 saves; record: 3-2-0). Montreal,
Cristobal Huet (25 shots, 24 saves; record: 1-1-2). A: 21,273.
Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Marc Joannette. Linesmen: Jean Morin, Lonnie
Cameron.</div>

 

NHL: FLORIDA at MONTREAL

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NHL
FLORIDA 2
MONTREAL 1</div>

 

MONTREAL (Ticker) -- The Florida Panthers were 11 seconds awayfrom leaving Montreal with no points. Instead, they left withtwo.


Jozef Stumpel's goal in the shootout capped the Panthers'comeback as they posted a 2-1 triumph over the MontrealCanadiens on Tuesday.


With the loss, the Canadiens still are winless in front of theirhome fans at the Bell Centre this season in two attempts.

After the first five shooters were denied, Stumpel ended theshootout - and the game - by deking goaltender Cristobal Huetand scoring on his backhand.


Huet was just 11 seconds away from his 14th career shutout asMontreal had outplayed Florida for the majority of the contest.However, the Panthers' offense came alive on the power play inthe final minute.


Nathan Horton capped a late flurry of shots by sending ablistering wrister past a sprawling Huet with just 11 ticksremaining in the game. It was Horton's fourth tally of theseason and third on the power play.


It would have been Huet's first shutout since November 28, 2006,which was a 1-0 victory over the Panthers. He finished withjust 22 saves in that one.


Alexei Kovalev's second goal of the campaign also came on thepower play for Montreal at 2:53 of the first. With Panthersdefenseman Mike Van Ryn serving a holding penalty, the Canadienswent on the attack.


Kovalev pounced on a rebound after netminder Tomas Vokoun denieda slap shot from the left point by blue-liner Roman Hamrlik.Cradling the puck on his blade, Kovalev flipped it over theglove of a crouching Vokoun near the left goalpost to giveMontreal a 1-0 advantage.


Huet came up big midway through the middle session on abreakaway by former Canadien Richard Zednik, who had justreturned to the ice from the penalty box, on the Panthers' bestopportunity to pull even.


Zednik gathered a loose puck just outside the offensive zone andbroke in, only to be read perfectly by Huet, who smothered hisattempt to preserve the lead.


On the other end of the rink, Vokoun saw a lot more action andkept the Panthers in the game the entire night, finishing with37 saves.


Vokoun denied Montreal during a 4-on-4 segment around the13-minute mark of the second, when he stopped captain Saku Koivuand defenseman Francis Bouillon from point-blank range. Thenine-year veteran also denied Christopher Higgins on a breakawayopportunity early in the third.


Vokoun also came up big in the shootout, making excellent saveson Higgins, Koivu and Kovalev.

 

NHL: FLORIDA at MONTREAL

<div class="pre">------------------------------------------------
Florida 0 0 1 0 (1) --2
Montreal 1 0 0 0 (0) --1
------------------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Montreal, Alexei Kovalev 2 (power play)
(Roman Hamrlik, Michael Ryder)2:53. Penalties: M Van Ryn, Fla
(holding), 1:13; R Zednik, Fla (holding stick), 9:28; R Salei, Fla
(tripping), 19:24.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: A Kostitsyn, Mon (holding), 3:34; M
Dandenault, Mon (hooking), 5:31; R Zednik, Fla (slashing), 6:11; T
Kostopoulos, Mon (major fighting), 16:53; N Welch, Fla (major
fighting), 16:53.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Florida, Nathan Horton 4 (Cory Murphy,
Stephen Weiss),19:49. Penalties: N Horton, Fla (slashing), 5:50; M
Komisarek, Mon (slashing), 17:46.

OVERTIME -- Scoring: None.

SHOOTOUT -- Montreal, Chris Higgins (saved), Saku Koivu
(saved), Alexei Kovalev (saved). Florida, Ville Peltonen (saved),
Nathan Horton (saved), Jozef Stumpel (goal).

Shots on goal:
--------------------------------------------
Florida 4 9 9 3 --25
Montreal 15 11 6 5 --37
--------------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: Florida - 0 of 3, Montreal - 1 of 5. Goalies :
Florida, Tomas Vokoun (37 shots, 36 saves; record: 3-2-0). Montreal,
Cristobal Huet (25 shots, 24 saves; record: 1-1-2). A: 21,273.
Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Marc Joannette. Linesmen: Jean Morin, Lonnie
Cameron.</div>

 

NHL: FLORIDA at MONTREAL

<div class="pre">-----------------------------------------------------
FLORIDA 0 0 1 0 (1) --2
MONTREAL 1 0 0 0 (0) --1
-----------------------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Montreal, Alexei Kovalev 2 (power play)
(Roman Hamrlik, Michael Ryder)2:53. Penalties: M Van Ryn, Fla
(holding), 1:13; R Zednik, Fla (holding stick), 9:28; R Salei, Fla
(tripping), 19:24.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: A Kostitsyn, Mon (holding), 3:34; M
Dandenault, Mon (hooking), 5:31; R Zednik, Fla (slashing), 6:11; T
Kostopoulos, Mon (major fighting), 16:53; N Welch, Fla (major
fighting), 16:53.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Florida, Nathan Horton 4 (Cory Murphy,
Stephen Weiss),19:49. Penalties: N Horton, Fla (slashing), 5:50; M
Komisarek, Mon (slashing), 17:46.

OVERTIME -- Scoring: None.

SHOOTOUT -- Montreal, Chris Higgins (saved), Saku Koivu
(saved), Alexei Kovalev (saved). Florida, Ville Peltonen (saved),
Nathan Horton (saved), Jozef Stumpel (goal).

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------------
FLORIDA 4 9 9 3 --25
MONTREAL 15 11 6 5 --37
---------------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: FLA - 0 of 3, MON - 1 of 5. Goalies : Florida,
Tomas Vokoun (37 shots, 36 saves; record: 3-2-0). Montreal, Cristobal
Huet (25 shots, 24 saves; record: 1-1-2). A: 21,273. Referees: Greg
Kimmerly, Marc Joannette. Linesmen: Jean Morin, Lonnie Cameron.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

FLORIDA MONTREAL
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
D Booth 0 0 even 1 S Koivu 0 0 even 3
G Campbell 0 0 even 0 T Plekanec 0 0 even 2
O Jokinen 0 0 +1 4 B Smolinski 0 0 even 1
R Dvorak 0 0 even 2 C Higgins 0 0 even 5
J Stumpel 0 0 even 0 M Dandenault 0 0 -1 0
N Horton 1 0 +1 2 A Kovalev 1 0 even 2
V Peltonen 0 0 even 0 K Chipchura 0 0 -1 0
R Zednik 0 0 even 3 M Streit 0 0 even 3
C Murphy 0 1 +1 2 R Hamrlik 0 1 even 2
R Salei 0 0 +1 2 A Kostitsyn 0 0 even 5
M Van Ryn 0 0 even 1 F Bouillon 0 0 even 1
N Welch 0 0 even 0 M Grabovski 0 0 even 2
J Bouwmeester 0 0 even 3 G Murray 0 0 even 0
B Allen 0 0 even 0 T Kostopoulos 0 0 even 0
B McLean 0 0 even 1 P Brisebois 0 0 -1 2
A Stewart 0 0 even 0 M Ryder 0 1 even 4
R Olesz 0 0 +1 2 A Markov 0 0 -1 4
S Weiss 0 1 +1 2 M Komisarek 0 0 -1 1
B Mezei HEALTHY S Begin HEALTHY
J Gorges HEALTHY
G Latendresse HEALTHY</div>

 

MONTREAL (Ticker) -- The Florida Panthers were 11 seconds awayfrom leaving Montreal with no points. Instead, they left withtwo.


Jozef Stumpel's goal in the shootout capped the Panthers'comeback as they posted a 2-1 triumph over the MontrealCanadiens on Tuesday.


With the loss, the Canadiens still are winless in front of theirhome fans at the Bell Centre this season in two attempts.

After the first five shooters were denied, Stumpel ended theshootout - and the game - by deking goaltender Cristobal Huetand scoring on his backhand.


"It was pretty interesting when I was coming on and I didn'tknow what I was going to do," Stumpel said. "As soon as a fakedmy shot, (Huet) kind of went down, so I switched to my backhandand tried to stuff it in. He left some space there and I wasable to put it in right there."


Huet, who made 24 saves, was just 11 seconds away from his 14thcareer shutout as Montreal had outplayed Florida for themajority of the contest. However, the Panthers' offense camealive on the power play in the final minute.


Nathan Horton capped a late flurry of shots by sending ablistering wrister past a sprawling Huet with just 11 ticksremaining in the game. It was Horton's fourth tally of theseason and third on the power play.


"It wasn't a great game, but we pushed until the end and we gota bounce and we tied the game up," Horton said. "It was nice tobe on the power play, but we needed a goal really bad. Like Isaid, we got a lucky bounce and it came to me. It was a nicepass by Murph (Cory Murphy). He kind of set the whole play upand I had an empty net."


It would have been Huet's first shutout since November 28, 2006,which was a 1-0 victory over the Panthers.


"It was a pain to lose like this, but some game, we'll win likethat," Huet said. "I tried to focus on what I had to do, andthere wasn't much to do for me. I wished we could have scored afew more, but some nights are like that."


Alexei Kovalev's second goal of the campaign also came on thepower play for Montreal at 2:53 of the first. With Panthersdefenseman Mike Van Ryn serving a holding penalty, the Canadienswent on the attack.


Kovalev pounced on a rebound after netminder Tomas Vokoun denieda slap shot from the left point by blue-liner Roman Hamrlik.Cradling the puck on his blade, Kovalev flipped it over theglove of a crouching Vokoun near the left goalpost to giveMontreal a 1-0 advantage.


"When we need to take a shot, we aren't taking it when we have achance," Kovalev said. "We maybe pass it or take the extrastep. We have to start shooting and hitting a defenseman orsomebody in front of the net.


"That was our best effort so far of the five games we've played.We had 60 minutes of effort. Hopefully, we'll keep it the sameway the rest of the season and be smarter on our chances andbury them."


Huet came up big midway through the middle session on abreakaway by former Canadien Richard Zednik, who had justreturned to the ice from the penalty box, on the Panthers' bestopportunity to pull even.


Zednik gathered a loose puck just outside the offensive zone andbroke in, only to be read perfectly by Huet, who smothered hisattempt to preserve the lead.


On the other end of the rink, Vokoun saw a lot more action andkept the Panthers in the game the entire night, finishing with36 saves.


Vokoun denied Montreal during a 4-on-4 segment around the13-minute mark of the second, when he stopped captain Saku Koivuand defenseman Francis Bouillon from point-blank range. Thenine-year veteran also denied Christopher Higgins on a breakawayopportunity early in the third.


"Sometimes you almost have to know what they are going to dobefore they do it," Vokoun said. "Everything is so fast andthere's traffic. It's a huge two points for us. We'vestruggled on the road, so it doesn't matter how you get it. Weplayed pretty good in New York (on Opening Night) and we lostpartially because of me, and today we partly won because of me."

Vokoun also came up big in the shootout, making excellent saveson Higgins, Koivu and Kovalev.