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Anderson, Panthers shut out Lightning

Nov 13, 2008 - 4:56 AM By Rick Menning PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Craig Anderson is making a strong case to be the No. 1 goaltender for the Florida Panthers.

Three days after posting a 44-save victory, Anderson faced less work but received a similar result, recording his first shutout of the season in the Panthers' 4-0 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.

The sixth-year backup netminder made 24 saves to improve to 3-1-1 this campaign. Making his second straight start in place of Tomas Vokoun, Anderson turned aside four shots in the first period, nine in the second and 11 in the third en route to his fifth career shutout.

"I stayed composed, stayed involved," Anderson said. "The guys in front of me made my job a lot easier. They were blocking shots and keeping their players off stride in our end."

Vokoun has lost each of his last four starts and is just 3-7-0 on the season.

"(Anderson) deserves to be in there. He's had two outstanding games in a row," Florida coach Peter DeBoer said. "We need wins right now, and Craig is hot."

Gregory Campbell registered his second career multi-goal effort and defenseman Bryan McCabe scored his first goal with his new team to pace Florida's attack.

"I knew it would only be a matter of time," said Campbell, who entered without a goal in nine games this season. "You battle around the net and good things happen."

Anderson, who put forth an impressive performance in Florida's 3-1 win over Anaheim in his previous start on Sunday, also turned aside 42 shots in a 3-1 win over Ottawa on October 22.

"Once we got the lead, I was able to settle in and get in a good rhythm," Anderson said. "I'm in a good groove right now, and that's because of the way the team is playing in front of me."

McCabe, who recently missed 10 games with a back injury, got the Panthers on the board with 3:27 remaining in the opening period.

The veteran blue-liner, who was acquired from Toronto in the offseason, blasted a one-timer from inside the blue line just over goaltender Mike Smith's glove for a 1-0 advantage.

"It was nice to get that one," McCabe said. "As a team, we wanted to build on what we started in Anaheim, and it was good to be a part of that effort tonight. We're headed in the right direction."

Just 88 seconds into the middle session, the Panthers doubled their lead when Nathan Horton gained control of the puck behind the net, curled between the faceoff circles and beat Smith with a wrist shot on the first power-play opportunity of the game.

Florida, which won three of the four meetings between the teams at BankAtlantic Center last season, converted again with the man advantage as Campbell scored his first goal of the season on a deflection from in front of the crease at 10:25.

Campbell, who also collected an assist on McCabe's tally, added a tip-in goal with 3:32 left in the third to cap the scoring. Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester notched an assist on each of Campbell's tallies.

"It's a confidence-booster for me and for the team," Campbell said. "I hung around in front of the net tonight, and I had the poise to finish off a couple of shots."

Smith made 27 saves for the Lightning, who fell to 1-3-1 in their last five.

"We've got to do a better job of grinding it out," Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis said. "It's frustrating. We've got to grind more."

Lightning coach Barry Melrose also was frustrated by the setback.

"We've got to manufacture goals somehow," Melrose said. "Obviously, there are a lot of things we need to fix. We had been working not to lose two in a row, and we did, so that makes it a troubling loss."