Czech-mate!
Radek Dvorak scored twice in a 3:05 span of the first period and fellow Czech star Tomas Vokoun made 27 saves for his 39th career shutout in the Florida Panthers' 3-0 victory over Calgary on Thursday night.
Vokoun made 17 saves in the third period. He's 13-4-4 against Calgary with a 1.88 goals-against average.
''This is my fourth year in Florida and this is one of the best games I've seen us play,'' Vokoun said. ''We were playing exactly how we wanted and it was a great effort from everybody.''
Shawn Matthias added a goal midway through the third period for Florida, which opened the season with one-goal losses in Edmonton and Vancouver.
''It's nice to get the first win out of the way, it's always the toughest one. Now we can sleep well tonight,'' Matthias said.
Dvorak beat Miikka Kiprusoff off a rebound at 4:20 of the first period and scored again on a slap shot at 7:25. Marty Reasoner assisted on both goals.
On the first goal, Reasoner shook off rookie Flames center Mikael Backlund and whipping a backhand toward the net. Kiprusoff kicked out his pad to make the stop, but Dvorak swept in the rebound.
''Reasoner made a nice play taking both guys to the net and I had no one on the other side, so I decided to take the shot and I don't think Kipper saw that puck at all,'' Dvorak said.
On the line's next shift, Dvorak darted down the wing and, as he crossed the blue line, released a strong shot that clanged in off the goal post. Kiprusoff had no chance on the goal, with Flames defensemen Steve Staios and T.J. Brodie as well as a Panthers forward blocking his line of sight.
''After the first 5 minutes of the first period and until the end of the second, our compete level wasn't there,'' Flames forward Alex Tanguay said. ''We were second to the puck, they seemed to be winning every battle. When you don't play with the puck, it's tough to win.''
Calgary's top line of Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen and Tanguay has failed to score a point this season.
''We're a better team then what we've shown in two out of three games,'' Tanguay said. ''In order for us to be in the playoffs, we'll have to show some consistency.''
NOTES: The Flames also were shut out in their season-opening loss in Edmonton. ... Florida will face Tamnpa Bay at home on Saturday night. ... Kiprusoff finished with 15 saves. ... Florida' too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty in the second period ended a stretch of over 117 minutes without a penalty. ... Florida is 5 for 5 on the penalty kill in its first three games.
