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Vokoun looks to extend former team's struggles

Oct 27, 2007 - 1:53 PM Florida (4-6-0) at Nashville (3-6-0) 8:00 pm EDT

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) - When Tomas Vokoun takes the ice for the first time on Saturday, he will be donning a road uniform for the first time in the Sommet Center.

Vokoun and the Florida Panthers play their first road game in a week when they face the struggling Nashville Predators.

Having spent all but one game of his career prior to this season with the Predators, Vokoun was part of a mass exodus of quality talent - including left wing Paul Kariya and center Peter Forsberg - that were either traded or left the team via free agency. The 31-year-old Czech netminder was dealt to Florida for three draft picks.

While the last three games have been a bit rough - 10 goals allowed - Vokoun's presence in net gives Florida something it lacked after trading Roberto Luongo to the Vancouver Canucks before the start of last season.

Nashville is not as fortunate as regular goaltender Chris Mason has started out 2-6-0 with a 3.73 goals-against average - a drastic turn from his 24-11-0 record with a 2.38 GAA last season. He may be fighting for his job with backup netminder Dan Ellis, who was in goal for the Predators' 3-0 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday.