Ryan Malone scored the game-winning goal late in
the third period, as the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied to edge the Florida
Panthers, 3-2, in a battle between these two Southeast Division foes at St.
Pete Times Forum.
Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos each had a goal and an assist for the
Lightning, who have won two in a row after dropping the first three games of
the season. Vincent Lecavalier had a pair of assists, while Antero Niittymaki
stopped 31-of-33 shots for the victors.
Radek Dvorak and Nathan Horton had one goal apiece for the Panthers, who have
lost four straight since a season-opening victory against Chicago. Tomas
Vokoun turned aside 28-of-31 shots in defeat.
Down 2-1, St. Louis' tied things up with his power-play goal at the 7:17 mark
of the third. St. Louis' slapper from the left circle found the back of the
net.
Malone's score with 6:31 remaining put the Lightning ahead 3-2. After
Niittymaki made a great save, Stamkos led a rush the other way and slapped a
shot on net. The disc deflected off Vokoun and settled near the post. Malone
charged in from the point and chipped the puck into the net.
Florida hit the crossbar in the final minutes but couldn't score a goal to tie
the contest.
The Panthers drew first blood with a short-handed goal at the 8:10 mark of the
first period. Dvorak charged down the right side of the ice to lead a 2-on-1
break for Florida. Kamil Kreps slid a pass to Dvorak, who fired a shot into
an empty half of the net.
Tampa Bay lit the lamp on the power play with 1:28 left in the first to tie
things up. Lecavalier controlled the disc at the bottom of the right circle
before sliding a pass to St. Louis, whose shot from the point was deflected by
Stamkos and into the net.
Horton's power-play goal at the 6:33 mark of the second put Florida ahead 2-1.
Stephen Weiss' shot in front of the net hit off Niittymaki and set up a
rebound for Horton, who chipped the disc into the back of the net.
Game Notes
These teams split six games last season. The Lightning, though, are 11-5-2 as
the host in this series since February of the 2003-04 campaign...Tampa Bay
plays at Ottawa on Thursday, while Florida host Philadelphia on Friday.
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