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Vokoun, Panthers best Luongo, Canucks in shootout

Feb 2, 2008 - 5:26 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Most of the fans in attendance probably still wish Roberto Luongo was the Florida Panthers' goaltender. But for at least one night, they were glad to have All-Star Tomas Vokoun in the crease instead.

In Luongo's first appearance at the BankAtlantic Center since being traded from Florida, Vokoun stole the show as the Panthers edged the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3, in a shootout Friday night.

Nathan Horton scored a goal in regulation before notching the lone tally in the bonus format for Florida, which avoided a three-game skid.

Daniel and All-Star Henrik Sedin each scored a goal and set up another and rookie Mason Raymond also tallied for Vancouver, which has lost three straight contests and nine of its last 11 games.

After Vokoun denied Taylor Pyatt, Horton beat Luongo to the stick side with a wrist shot to give the Panthers the advantage after one round of the shootout.

"I think (Luongo) thought I was going glove side, like I used to in practice, because the blocker side was open," Horton said.

"He was patient," Luongo said. "He's a sniper and he can pick a corner. That's what he did."

It was all the help Vokoun needed. He stopped defenseman Alexander Edler's attempt in the second round, and Daniel Sedin lost control of the puck and failed to get off a shot on Vancouver's final chance.

Vokoun, who made 29 saves, forced the shootout by denying Markus Naslund's penalty shot with 47 seconds left in overtime. Naslund was looking to sneak the puck past Vokoun on the glove side, but the netminder turned him away with a pad save.

"It's do or die. It's overtime, so it's sudden death," Vokoun said. "I just try to stay with the player. Shootouts are fun to win but tough to lose. It's always great when you win."

"Vokoun made a lot of great saves," Florida coach Jacques Martin said. "We were able to battle back and earn the shootout."

Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault was hoping his captain would prevent the game from reaching the bonus format.

"Markus had an opportunity to be a hero if he would have scored on that penalty shot, but it wasn't to be," Vigneault said.

Luongo, who spent five seasons with Florida, turned aside 40 shots against his former team.

"It's an unacceptable loss," Luongo said. "They're all tough. This one's not any tougher than the one (Thursday at Tampa Bay). We had chances to win and we couldn't get another goal."

The Panthers appeared ready to re-sign Luongo in the summer of 2006, but then-general manager Mike Keenan inexplicably traded the rising star to the Canucks for Todd Bertuzzi, defenseman Bryan Allen and goaltender Alex Auld.

With Vancouver, Luongo has emerged as one of the NHL's best netminders. He has been named to the Western Conference All-Star team in both of his seasons with the Canucks and was a finalist for the Vezina and Hart Trophies last campaign.

Stephen Weiss, who was stopped by Luongo in the second round of the shootout, tied the contest at 3-3 with 6:14 remaining in the third period. Weiss unleashed a slap shot from the right faceoff circle that sailed over Luongo's shoulder.

"It was a big night. A good crowd and a lot of emotion in the building," Weiss said. "It was a fun night. You could just sense we were going to have a big game."

The Canucks started the scoring when Daniel Sedin netted a power-play goal with nine seconds left in the opening session. He took a pass from brother Henrik at the edge of the crease and fought off a defender before depositing the puck past Vokoun.

Horton tied the contest at 1-1 at 5:04 of the second period, when his wrist shot from the right circle went between the pads of Luongo.

Vancouver regained the lead with 6:57 remaining in the period as Naslund grabbed the rebound off Daniel Sedin's shot and backhanded a pass to Henrik Sedin in the slot. The Swedish center converted the feed for his 11th goal of the campaign.

Jozef Stumpel notched his seventh goal of the season 89 seconds later during a power play off a nice feed from captain Olli Jokinen to knot the game at 2-2.

Raymond put the Canucks back in front at 1:42 of the third with his fifth goal off an outlet pass from fellow rookie Jason Jaffray.