Cats Win in Shootout

If you'd only caught the start of the game, you'd be shocked to see that this one went to a shootout, but it certainly did.

Florida was all over the Oilers from the start, playing aggressive and pushing the Oilers back into their own zone constantly. The relentless attack led to an early 8-0 shot advantage for the Cats and 1-0 lead off a goal from Janis Sprukts. By the final minutes of the opening frame, shots were a ridiculously lopsided 16-1.

Tonight's game saw Chris Beckford-Tseu getting the start, and despite the inconsistent play in front of him, he stayed sharp and did his job.

Physical play was rampant in this game as guys worked to make an impression, and the Cats picked up three fighting majors - two coming from Mike Duco. Both times Duco dropped the gloves, he went with Theo Peckham, the 6'2", 223 pound defenseman, and while Duco didn't come away on top, he held his own in the latter fight and helped bring the Panthers back into the game.

The Oilers' Guillaume Lefebvre picked up a double minor when he went after the agitator early in the second in between Duco's two fights, and late in the second, Lefebvre was mixing it up with Tanner Glass as Glass rushed to defend his teammate from a heavy hit.

It's only pre-season, but it's nice to see the guys sticking up for one another for a change.

So, scoring opened on the Sprukts goal with an assist going to Stefan Meyer and the Panthers forced the Oilers' netminder, Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers to play a great game to keep them in it, but he proved equal to the task.

As the period wound down, the Panthers took a couple of penalties in succession, pushing themselves down to a 5-on-3 and they hung on only long enough to to kill one of the two penalties before falling victim to the Oilers' power play.

The second period was statistically close, Edmonton outshooting the Panthers 10-8, but the two sides were both sloppy and the high-level of play from Florida had started to wane. The teams split chances, but the opportunities came in bunches to either side, as did penalties.

Shawn Matthias would give the Panthers the lead a little less than halfway through the period as he moved around the rear of the net to push the puck past Deslauriers, but only a couple minutes later, Matthias found himself stuck in the penalty box as the Oilers evened up the score on a power play.

Edmonton tilted the game in their direction after the goal and the Panthers simply hung on for the remainder of the second until the Glass/Lefebvre fight left Edmonton stuck with an extra two minutes that helped to take the wind out of the Oilers' sails.

More penalties came in the third, but shots were locked down to 4-5 in favour of the Oilers in the frame and not a minute into the overtime period, Richard Zednik got called for hooking. On the penalty kill, Keith Ballard stepped hard into Ales Hemsky, and Sheldon Souray immediately went after the small defenseman and ultimately leaving the game with misconducts and an instigator. The play saw a bit more than a minute of 3-on-3 overtime hockey, and at its conclusion, a Panther power play that would last until the clock wound down. No goals were scored and it was on to the shootout.

Nathan Horton shot first for the Panthers with a beautiful shot that was roofed over Deslauriers, but Hemsky followed with a goal of his own. Ville Peltonen skated next and this time, Deslauriers slammed the door and forced Ville to put the puck right into his glove. Rob Schremp then had the chance to give Edmonton their first glimpse of a lead in the game, and after a deke, he'd put the puck behind Beckford-Tseu and put the pressure on Cory Stillman.

Stillman wasted no time coming in and undressing the 24-year-old netminder and sliding the puck through the five-hole. The goal left Florida's chance for a win on Beckford-Tseu's shoulders, but Horcoff approached and missed the net. Deslauriers stopped Zednik's shot and Pisani missed the net, and then newly acquired Bryan McCabe skated in as the Cats' fifth shooter. The puck found the net, and gave the Panthers another shot at the win. Dustin Penner's attempt was turned aside by Beckford-Tseu, and the Panthers skated away with a 3-2 victory.

Last night's game was radio only, but I still think it's a safe bet to say that the group that played last night in Calgary played a much better, well-rounded and consistent hockey game than this group tonight. That said, this team went up with some of the Oilers' best players and ultimately came out on top.

The team that played in Calgary will get the nod tomorrow night as the Panthers again play the Oilers, and Brynäs is in action tomorrow as well, so check back sometime before the Panthers game tomorrow night for the final score from Sweden.