This certainly wasn’t a stat anyone had predicted in September: Florida is now 3-0 after the third-period buzzer. It’s not nearly a large enough sample size to start planning parades, but like the open-ended defenses of yesteryear, perhaps the Cats have finally slammed shut the overtime-hex coffin for good. Perhaps.
Seeing as my eyes only caught about 15 minutes of last night’s 4-3 OT victory over Colorado, I can’t speak to the overall look or pace of the game, only that Florida appeared to get the plays and resulting offense they needed in a very timely manner. With the Avs clinging to a one-goal lead on an early third-period score by Matt Duchene, David Booth knotted things up at 3 apiece, eventually forcing the overtime period. Stephen Weiss nailed his second goal of the evening to end the night in good spirits.
Most importantly, it was finally the Weiss-Booth duo who combined to provide the necessary offense; far too often the Cats have had to dig deep within the lines for an odd goal here or there. For one night at least, the stars shone on Sunrise. Reasonable to expect it to continue? A tough call, especially in the absence of Florida’s Fountain of Youth, Radek Dvorak.
Quickly: Congrats to Bill Thomas, who opened the scoring with his first of the season. Assists: Booth, Darcy Hordichuk, Evgeny Dadonov, Bryan McCabe, Steven Reinprecht, Michael Frolik. Defenseman Jason Garrison eked out Weiss to lead Florida in TOI (22:19). McCabe and Dmitry Kulikov each finished +2. Frolik collected 4 SOG. Duchene, John-Michael Liles, and Ryan O’Reilly scored for Colorado. Tomas Vokoun made 20 saves, while former Panther Craig Anderson stopped 19. More from the patient folks at Mile High Hockey here.
Next up: Â Washington on Thursday; Live Game Chat at 6:30.