Game Notes: Cats had an abundance of jump early, surprising considering this was the opener, but settled into a defensive posture – and hardly an effective one – in the second frame. Shots ended 28-13 in favor of Florida; that’s right: Tomas Vokoun was all over 10 of 13 shots he saw…a complete fluke. Christopher Higgins has himself some special hands and terrific on-ice vision among traffic. Marty Reasoner scored both goals for Florida (10:41 TOI…astounding) as Steve Bernier picked up dual assists – the Panthers debut for both. SOG leaders for the Cats (3): Higgins, Dmitry Kulikov, Rostislav Olesz (on his 25th birthday). Michael Frolik (0p), David Booth (1a), and Stephen Weiss (0p) were all -2 and collectively attempted 4 SOG. Dennis Wideman led all Panthers in icetime with 24 minutes; at the other end, a rather spunky Darcy Hordichuk closed with 5:09. Video of Reasoner’s second goal (powered by a double-shifting Booth). Edmonton scorers: Dustin Penner, Ryan Jones, and Shawn Horcoff (perhaps…). First-overall 2010 draft pick Taylor Hall notched his first career point (an assist). Nikolai Khabibulin (26 saves) improved to 2-0 on the young season. Florida was the final club to start the year; only Southeast team without a point in standings. Check out The Copper And Blue for more from OilersNation. Next game: Monday at Vancouver, 10pm; live chat right here at 9:30.
Thoughts on the game?