First Period:
Leland Irving got his first career NHL start and Olli Jokinen scored a goal in his return to Sunrise as the Cats and the Flames finish up the first 20 minutes in a 1-1 tie.
Jokinen took the first shot on goal of the evening about 30 seconds in with an easily saved backhander.
About 4 minutes in the Panthers went on the power play when Rene Bourque hooked Stephen Weiss, but the Cats were unimpressive on the man advantage, as Calgary cleared the puck out four times over the two minutes.
Sean Bergenheim welcomed Irving to the NHL with his fifth goal of the season with a tap in of a loose puck off of a Shawn Matthias rebound. Matthias and Mikael Samuelsson were awarded assists on the play.
Calgary tied it up three minutes later on Olli Jokinen’s 10th goal of the season, unassisted.
Second Period:
The second period was marked by five penalties, a five-on-three for each team, and a total of 25 combined shots on goal.
Tim Jackman skated hard into the Panthers zone, but was unable to stop his momentum from carrying into Jose Theodore. Before the penalty ended, Scott Hannan was called for tripping Tomas Fleischmann, resulting in a five-on-three for about 30 seconds.
Although the Panthers kept consistent pressure on the Calgary net, they were unable to convert.
Later in the period, Shawn Matthias tripped Blake Comeau and Marco Sturm hooked Jay Bouwmeester resulting on a five-on-three for the Flames for about one minute and 30 seconds, but the Panthers were up to the task, and effectively put a stop to the Calgary threat.
Brendan Morrison slashed Shawn Matthias about a minute before the end of the period, and the third will start with Florida a man up.
Third Period:
The period saw Sean Bergenheim score his second goal of the night and Rene Bourque scoring his 11th goal of the season.
After the period opening power play for the Panthers ended without incident, Kris Versteeg was called for slashing Roman Horak. Just 15 seconds into Calgary’s fourth penalty of the night, Rene Bourque put it through Theodore’s five hole for his 11th of the season with assists from Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay.
After Dmitry Kulikov was tripped by Tanguay, Florida went back on the advantage. Fleischmann and Versteeg traded chances on the net, but the Panthers couldn’t solve Irving until there were four minutes left in the game.
Sean Bergenheim scored his second of the evening and sixth on the season while falling down in front of the net with assists from Shawn Matthias and Mikael Samuelsson.
Jack Skille skated hard into the boards with about three minutes left in regulation, and looks to have injured his left shoulder.
Overtime:
After trading chances on the four-on-four, Kris Versteeg and Jarome Iginla had words and even traded a few shots. This resulted in the two being sent to the penalty box with less than two minutes left in overtime.
The teams skated three-on-three for the last two minutes, and there were a lot of chances for both sides, but a shootout was needed to “settle the score,” literally.
Shootout:
Shawn Matthias went first, but Irving kick saved the puck with his right pad.
Alex Tanguay put the Flames up, 1-0 with a double move on Theodore, scoring on the goaltenders left side.
Sean Bergenheim shot over the net for the Panthers in round two, but Olli Jokinen couldn’t put the game away for the Flames, as he went 5-hole on Theodore, but the 5-hole closed too quickly.
In the third round, and needing a goal to continue, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov scored on Irving’s right, keeping the Panthers alive.
Rene Bourque couldn’t close the deal, trying to go right side but being kick saved by Theodore.
The fourth round started with Stephen Weiss successfully stuffing the puck into the rookie’s 5-hole. Lee Stempniak needed a goal to tie, but Theodore closed the door on Calgary, stuffing him with a kick save. Panthers win, 3-2.
Hits: Flames, 29-22
Blocked Shots: Panthers, 14-12
Faceoffs: Flames, 32-30
Shots: Panthers, 41-26
Score: Florida 3, Calgary 2