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Stumpel helps Panthers take down Canadiens in shootout

Oct 17, 2007 - 3:26 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- The Florida Panthers were 11 seconds away from leaving Montreal with no points. Instead, they left with two.

Jozef Stumpel's goal in the shootout capped the Panthers' comeback as they posted a 2-1 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

With the loss, the Canadiens still are winless in front of their home fans at the Bell Centre this season in two attempts.

After the first five shooters were denied, Stumpel ended the shootout - and the game - by deking goaltender Cristobal Huet and scoring on his backhand.

"It was pretty interesting when I was coming on and I didn't know what I was going to do," Stumpel said. "As soon as a faked my shot, (Huet) kind of went down, so I switched to my backhand and tried to stuff it in. He left some space there and I was able to put it in right there."

Huet, who made 24 saves, was just 11 seconds away from his 14th career shutout as Montreal had outplayed Florida for the majority of the contest. However, the Panthers' offense came alive on the power play in the final minute.

Nathan Horton capped a late flurry of shots by sending a blistering wrister past a sprawling Huet with just 11 ticks remaining in the game. It was Horton's fourth tally of the season and third on the power play.

"It wasn't a great game, but we pushed until the end and we got a bounce and we tied the game up," Horton said. "It was nice to be on the power play, but we needed a goal really bad. Like I said, we got a lucky bounce and it came to me. It was a nice pass by Murph (Cory Murphy). He kind of set the whole play up and I had an empty net."

It would have been Huet's first shutout since November 28, 2006, which was a 1-0 victory over the Panthers.

"It was a pain to lose like this, but some game, we'll win like that," Huet said. "I tried to focus on what I had to do, and there wasn't much to do for me. I wished we could have scored a few more, but some nights are like that."

Alexei Kovalev's second goal of the campaign also came on the power play for Montreal at 2:53 of the first. With Panthers defenseman Mike Van Ryn serving a holding penalty, the Canadiens went on the attack.

Kovalev pounced on a rebound after netminder Tomas Vokoun denied a slap shot from the left point by blue-liner Roman Hamrlik. Cradling the puck on his blade, Kovalev flipped it over the glove of a crouching Vokoun near the left goalpost to give Montreal a 1-0 advantage.

"When we need to take a shot, we aren't taking it when we have a chance," Kovalev said. "We maybe pass it or take the extra step. We have to start shooting and hitting a defenseman or somebody in front of the net.

"That was our best effort so far of the five games we've played. We had 60 minutes of effort. Hopefully, we'll keep it the same way the rest of the season and be smarter on our chances and bury them."

Huet came up big midway through the middle session on a breakaway by former Canadien Richard Zednik, who had just returned to the ice from the penalty box, on the Panthers' best opportunity to pull even.

Zednik gathered a loose puck just outside the offensive zone and broke in, only to be read perfectly by Huet, who smothered his attempt to preserve the lead.

On the other end of the rink, Vokoun saw a lot more action and kept the Panthers in the game the entire night, finishing with 36 saves.

Vokoun denied Montreal during a 4-on-4 segment around the 13-minute mark of the second, when he stopped captain Saku Koivu and defenseman Francis Bouillon from point-blank range. The nine-year veteran also denied Christopher Higgins on a breakaway opportunity early in the third.

"Sometimes you almost have to know what they are going to do before they do it," Vokoun said. "Everything is so fast and there's traffic. It's a huge two points for us. We've struggled on the road, so it doesn't matter how you get it. We played pretty good in New York (on Opening Night) and we lost partially because of me, and today we partly won because of me."

Vokoun also came up big in the shootout, making excellent saves on Higgins, Koivu and Kovalev.