Florida Panthers News

“We just need to get a little more traffic and keep shooting, because they're going to go in.'But it's tough. We've got to stay out of the box because we can't score from the box.”

The Atlanta Thrashers' 20-year-old goalie, Ondrej Pavelec, stopped 37 of 38 shots in just his fourth NHL game Friday night, but the Panthers helped him shine.

'He played well, but every goalie in this league is capable of making saves when there's no traffic and he sees the puck,' said Panthers center Olli Jokinen, whose team was given Saturday off. 'That was missing again.

'It shows in the penalties. We had one power play. If you don't go to the net or go to areas where the other teams have to take a penalty, you're not going to get calls. That's how it is, and that's how it has always been.' Read more

“I probably haven't faced anyone with that much speed in awhile”

Being a man without a team this past summer was a wake-up call for Jassen Cullimore. via Palm Beach Post

“The doctor doesn't feel it's as bad as the last time”

The Flyers need to look no further than Eric Lindros' retirement on Thursday to realize the impact head injuries can have on a career. via CourierPostOnline

Rookie goalie Ondrej Pavelec stopped 36 shots, Ilya Kovalchuk scored his eighth goal in his last four games and the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Friday night. via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Thrashers will aim for their first three-game winning streak of the season when they visit the Florida Panthers tonight at BankAtlantic Center. via Edmonton Sun

GOALIE SWITCH? No surprise, but Tomas Vokoun started in net for the Panthers on Friday night against the Sabres. via Miami.com

“Same thing has happened to me where refs have been in there and I've gotten popped”

Defenseman Steve Montador moved from right wing back to his natural position for Wednesday's game against the Lightning and is expected to stay there until Bryan Allen returns.

Allen, who suffered two cuts on his face from a punch in the teams' matchup Monday, didn't make the trip and is questionable for Friday's home game against Atlanta, coach Jacques Martin said.

Martin said moving Montador and recalling right wing Anthony Stewart from AHL Rochester was the next-best option once it was determined Rochester defenseman Jassen Cullimore hadn't fully recovered from a knee injury Friday. Read more

“Nobody is saying he can't play this year”

Though the Senators had a league-best 24 points heading into Tuesday night's games -- and showed no signs of slowing down -- don't look for coach John Paddock to lay off his players. via Detroit News

“To me that's an area where we have to protect players better”

Bryan Allen wasn't even at practice. Cory Murphy was busy icing his leg. And Noah Welch's road to recovery from shoulder surgery is just beginning.

Not quite in shambles, the Panthers' defense may have to make some adjustments for tonight's game against Tampa Bay.

Murphy is confident he'll play after getting 'kind of banged up in the middle' against the Lightning's Chris Gratton, but Allen didn't make the trip with the team.

Allen received stitches below his right eye and didn't return to Monday night's game after being punched by Lightning center Nick Tarnasky during the second period. Read more

“We have to find a way to do it consistently and find a way to do it quick, because when you lose too much ground, it's so hard to get it back”

This was an important division game. Against the team leading the Southeast. Played on a Saturday night. It doesn't get better than that.

Standing in the visitors' dressing room inside RBC Center, goalie Tomas Vokoun pointed out all of this after Florida's 4-2 loss at Carolina, and then said he couldn't understand why the Panthers didn't work hard.

'We're not consistently doing that enough to be successful on an every-night basis,' Vokoun said. 'We are whatever we feel like that day, and that's just not winning hockey. If you want to be in the playoffs, you have to be a whole lot better than that. Read more

It was understandable if not even expected when Tomas Vokoun lit into his teammates after last weekend's loss at Nashville. via Palm Beach Post

The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to put the brakes on a five-game losing streak when they visit the Florida Panthers this evening at BankAtlantic Center in the opener of a home-and-home series. via KCOY-TV Santa Maria

“I'm not going to have my reputation ruined.”

Matt Cullen had a power-play goal and an assist, Cory Stillman also scored with the man advantage and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Saturday night.

Chad LaRose and Trevor Letowski also scored, and Jeff Hamilton and Rod Brind'Amour each had two assists for the Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes, who entered with the league's fifth-best power play.

Carolina snapped Florida's two-game winning streak and avoided its second two-game losing streak by avenging a two-goal loss to the Panthers three days earlier. Read more

“We had a good start, but we can't corners here”

It's been a recurring theme for the Sabres - start strong, let in a bad goal, fight like heck to get back in the game. via Union-Sun & Journal

“I don't know why people are talking about what happened last year”

It's the storyline that won't go away. The Hurricanes are back in South Florida to play the Panthers tonight, and what do the Panthers want to talk about? Diving. via Blogs.newsobserver.com

Richard Zednik scored twice and Tomas Vokoun made 26 saves to help the Florida Panthers beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Friday night.

Radek Dvorak and Olli Jokinen also scored for the Panthers, who won for only the second time in seven road games.

Jochen Hecht and Thomas Vanek scored for Buffalo, which has lost five of its last seven including an overtime loss to Boston on Thursday.

Vokoun, making his sixth straight start, made several solid stops in the first period before the Panthers were able to erupt for three second-period goals on 17 shots. Read more

John Madden and Zach Parise scored less than two minutes apart late in the third period as the Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, at the Prudential Center. via KIRO-TV Seattle

The Buffalo Sabres will try to rebound from a tough loss tonight, as they welcome the Florida Panthers to HSBC Arena. via KMTR Eugene

Richard Zednik scored the go-ahead goal and the Florida Panthers scored four times in the final period to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Wednesday night.

Trailing 1-0 coming into the final period, the Panthers scored three goals in a 5:12 stretch. It started when Florida tied the score at 2 with 5:49 remaining on Jay Bouwmeester's first goal of the season. Bouwmeester's shot from the top of the left circle got past goalie Cam Ward.

Zednik's goal came during a 5-on-3 power play. He took a pass from Olli Jokinen between the circles and skated in on Ward. Zednik's shot beat Ward on the stick side at 17:41 and gave Florida a 3-2 lead. Read more

“It's nothing I expected this early”

Dan Ellis will make his second-consecutive start in goal tonight as the Predators host the Florida Panthers at the Sommet Center at 7 p.m.. He will face former Predator netminder Tomas Vokoun, who is making ... via The Tennessean