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Lightning try to solve Panthers in Sunrise

Jan 21, 2011 - 4:06 PM (Sports Network) - The Lightning are hoping to earn their first division title since 2004, but an inability to beat the last-place Panthers could hold them back.

Tampa Bay hopes to avoid a third straight setback to Florida, which will try to wrap a six-game homestand this evening at BankAtlantic Center with 10 of the possible 12 points.

The Lightning have 61 points on the season, one ahead of the Capitals for the top spot in the Southeast Division, and are 8-4-1 against the division this year. However, that includes a pair of losses to the Panthers, who have just 46 points on the season.

Florida posted a 6-0 home victory over Tampa Bay back on Oct. 16, getting 29 saves from Tomas Vokoun as well as two goals and an assist by David Booth. The Panthers later visited the Lightning on Nov. 27 and left town with a 4-3 shootout victory, their fifth in the last seven meetings overall.

The Lightning have also dropped three of four in Sunrise, but while they have struggled versus the Panthers, they have had little problem with the division- rival Thrashers. Tampa Bay visited Atlanta last night and took a 3-2 shootout decision, its 10th straight versus the Thrashers overall. Five of those wins have come this year.

Steven Stamkos scored twice for a second game in a row, upping his league- leading total to 37. He has six goals in his last four games, while his 65 points are now just one shy of injured Penguins center Sidney Crosby for the most in the league.

While Stamkos has six goals and 11 points in 13 career games versus the Panthers, the rising star now has 15 goals and 10 assists in 17 games versus Atlanta.

"It's just something that has worked out throughout my career so far, getting goals and points against these guys," said Stamkos. "We play them a lot so we're familiar with them, but we have two totally different teams this year then in the past."

Dominic Moore scored the winner in the fourth round of the tiebreaker and Dwayne Roloson made 27 saves as Tampa won for the second straight time in a shootout after dropping four of six overall.

It is unknown if the 41-year-old Roloson will start on consecutive nights or if the Lightning will go with Dan Ellis. Roloson is 6-5-1 with a 2.62 goals- against average versus Florida, while Ellis is 3-1-1 with a 2.76 GAA.

Though the Panthers have lost two straight, both have come beyond regulation to give the club a 3-0-2 mark on its six-game homestand. Still, Florida has blown leads in each of the past two games, yielding the game-tying goal on Wednesday to Columbus with 52.7 seconds left in the third before the Blue Jackets' R.J. Umberger secured his team's 3-2 victory on a goal with 54 ticks left in overtime.

"This is a repeat of a lot of other nights," Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer said. "We get the lead, have some opportunities to extend it, we don't, and the other team pushes back."

David Booth and Cory Stillman notched the goals for the Panthers, who have lost five of eight.

Vokoun posted 35 saves and is 11-7-1 with a tie and 2.69 GAA in his career versus the Lightning.

Vokoun may have a depleted defense in front of him tonight. Captain Bryan McCabe is already sidelined due to a broken jaw, while Dmitry Kulikov suffered a rib injury versus the Blue Jackets that will keep him out of tonight's game. Fellow blueliner Jason Garrison is also questionable due to a nagging groin ailment, so the Panthers recalled Joe Callahan from Rochester of the American Hockey League.