Stillman, Olesz each score 2 goals, Vokoun stops 44 shots in Panthers’ 5-2 win over Lightning
By Sarah Larimer, APSaturday, January 16, 2010
Panthers beat Lightning 5-2
SUNRISE, Fla. — Cory Stillman and Rostislav Olesz each scored two goals to lift the Florida Panthers to a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
Bryan Allen also scored, and Tomas Vokoun made 47 saves in the second game of the home-and-home series. On Thursday night in Tampa, the Panthers beat the Lightning 3-2.
Alex Tanguay and Andrej Meszaros scored for Tampa Bay.
Lightning goalie Antero Niittymaki stopped 13 shots through two periods. He was replaced in the third period by Dustin Tokarski, who made five saves in his NHL debut.
The Panthers went up 4-2 when Olesz scored at 5:02 in the second period, then stretched their lead with a power-play goal. Olesz picked up a rebound off Niittymaki’s pads and tipped in the puck to make it 5-2 at 12:36 in the second.
Meszaros scored on a shot from just inside the blue line that trickled through Vokoun’s pads to tie it at 2 with 3:29 left in the first period. But Florida countered less than a minute later, when Allen scored with a slap shot to make it 3-2 with 2:57 left. Stillman had an assist on Allen’s goal, the defenseman’s third of the season.
Tanguay closed the gap to 2-1 with 8:16 left in the first period. He took a pass from Vincent Lecavalier and beat Vokoun for the 200th goal of his NHL career. It was Lecavalier’s 400th career assist.
Stillman opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 4:07 in the first period. Steven Reinprecht fed the puck to Stillman, who was near the right side of the crease. His wrist shot gave the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.
Stillman’s second goal of the night, which came on Florida’s third shot, made it 2-0 at 10:28 in the first period.
NOTES: The Panthers accepted donations from fans for the victims of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake in Haiti. … Reinprecht skated in his 600th NHL game.
Tags: Florida, Haiti, Men's Hockey, North America, Professional Hockey, Sunrise, Tampa, United States