October 21, 200619 yr (nhl.com) Panthers @ Atlanta Tonight October 21, 2006 Florida remained perfect at home with a 3-2 win over Philadelphia on Friday night and will look for their first road win of the season tonight at Atlanta. Olli Jokinen snapped a 2-2 tie with 1:43 remaining in the second period and Ed Belfour finished with 25 saves to give the Panthers' their best home start since 1995-96 when they reached the Stanley Cup finals. "This is a good win. The Flyers are a gritty team," Panthers coach Jacques Martin said. "We had a good start and Eddie was really strong." Belfour, second on the all-time wins list, got his first in three starts with Florida and 458th of his career. The 41-year-old netminder is 9-3-1 with a 1.83 GAA in 13 career starts against the Thrashers but may want to forget his last start against them. Joe Nieuwendyk may return for this contest from a groin injury that has kept him out for five games. The 40-year-old center has two goals and an assist, all in a season-opening 8-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Oct. 6. Another injured Panther, Todd Bertuzzi, missed Friday's game with back spasms and is expected to be a game-time decision Saturday. He has six assists and seven points in seven games. The Atlanta Thrashers will try to continue the best start in franchise history at the expense of a team they've dominated at home. Atlanta (5-1-1) goes for its eighth straight win at Philips Arena over the Florida Panthers when they meet Saturday night in the start of a home-and-home series between the top two teams in the Southeast Division. Overall, Marian Hossa leads Atlanta with seven goals - including five on the power play - and 11 points. He scored twice and added an assist in regulation before netting the game-winner in the shootout in a 4-3 win over Washington on Thursday. "We never quit. That's what is big about this team," said Hossa. "We showed a lot of character and got a big two points." Another reason for Atlanta's good start has been goaltender Kari Lehtonen. He's started all seven games, has a 1.81 goals-against average and is tied with San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov for the league lead with two shutouts. Lehtonen is 4-0 with a 2.21 GAA at home in his career against Florida, including the shutout win earlier this month. The teams will meet again on Monday night at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. should be a fun one...first road win maybe? Maybe Neiuwendyk, Bert, and Auld will be in the lineup...(fantasy points!) Atlanta=my 2nd favorite team...EXCEPT 8 NIGHTS PER YEAR! THIS IS NIGHT #2!
October 21, 200619 yr Author well, i was able to bench Bert and Neuwy...but Nieuwendyk >>>>Parise however, Cheechoo > Bert and Alfredson > Bert
October 21, 200619 yr Author Indian:Road win? That's crazy talk. Bart: No, it's true. Indian: No, I know, that's my brother, Crazy Talk. We're all a little worried about him. gotta love Simpsons Quotes! hey, anyone know if the thrashers still have Keith Adams singing the national anthem
October 21, 200619 yr Author interesting, nieuwendyk, stumpel and Olez on the front line is this game on tv? no tv...doesn't matter to me, i only get radio!
October 21, 200619 yr Author ok so this game isnt on tv? correct Dan Kamal is so much better to listen to than Goldie...and i like Goldie... oh, and Jeff Odgers is very interesting on commentary bench minor? this is Havlud's 400th game and the Thrashers 500th game
October 21, 200619 yr The game is on TV if you have NHL Center Ice on DirecTV. I'm watching it on the Thrashers feed. Channel 764
October 22, 200619 yr Author please please plaease no here we go again 2-0 i got chills just now...Odgers: "Florida Panthers...top powerplay in the league" good chills i should say
October 22, 200619 yr Author kovalchuck empty netter game over 4-2 your final...what a suprise we lose on the road
October 22, 200619 yr We're going to go 41-41 this year. Win every game at home, lose every game on the road.
October 22, 200619 yr Just lie to the team and tell them they're at the BAC or something. This is ridiculous.
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