Tampa Bay Lightning edge past Florida Panthers 2-1
Dominic Moore lit the lamp with the lone goal of the shootout, as the Tampa Bay Lightning held on for a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers, at BankAtlantic Centre on Friday night.
An excited Moore said after the game, “I thought it could go either way, to be honest. To me it felt like all one follow through. The skate was right there. Maybe it’s one of those things, if the call on the ice was different; the review would have been
different. I think it was the right call, but I’m biased.”
Steve Downie also scored a goal for Tampa Bay, who have won three consecutive contests all via the shootout. Dan Ellis turned aside 29 shots for his first victory since 26 December.
"We always find different ways to make it happen," said Tampa Bay head coach Guy Boucher.
Cory Stillman found the net for the Panthers, who have dropped three straight contests, all beyond regulation time to finish their home-stand with a 3-0-3 record. Tomas Vokoun made 20 saves in the loss.
Panthers Head Coach Peter DeBoer praised Dan Ellis inspired performance for Tampa Bay. He said, "You got to tip your cap to their goaltender, he made some big saves. Our guy made some big saves. We had the better chances."
Stillman broke the deadlock to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead, just 50 seconds into the first period. It all happened when the Panthers won a face-off to the right of Ellis. Jason Garrison snapped a wrist shot from the left point and Ellis was not able to
shut the rebound. Stillman pulled the puck away from the scramble and ripped a backhander over the goalie.
However, Tampa Bay tied the game at 1-1 with six minutes left in the first session. Steven Stamkos got a return pass from Martin St. Louis, who rushed down the slot and slipped the puck to a trailing Downie, who knocked the puck into an empty net.
In overtime, Ellis blocked Dennis Wideman’s one-timer with his pad. He then turned away Mike Santorelli, Michael Frolik and Stephen Weiss to begin the round.
“I thought he played great,” Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher said about Ellis. “He stayed poised under pressure and he gave the rest of the team poise, too.”
Finally, Moore scored the decisive goal of the game to seal the win at 2-1, as he used backhand-forehand move to dish the puck past Vokoun. The goal was confirmed after a video review to determine if Moore scored on a rebound.
Vincent Lecavalier was awarded a penalty shot when he was tripped from behind by Bryan Allen with one minute left in extra session. But, Vokoun stopped his shot.
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