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Sunday, Oct. 22 6:00pm ET
Panthers continue their worst-ever start | |||||
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Expansion teams are expected to struggle on offense. Teams that feature playmakers like Pavel Bure are not. On Sunday night, the expansion Minnesota Wild lived up to expectations, while the frustrations of the Florida Panthers continued, as the teams skated to a 0-0 tie. It was the NHL's first scoreless tie since Detroit and St. Louis did it on April 1 last season. Minnesota goalie Jamie McLennan stopped 24 shots to keep Florida (0-2-2-2) winless. Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo made 20 saves. "I didn't think I'd get my first shutout before I got my first win this year," Luongo said. The expansion Wild (1-5-2-0) spent seven of the third period's final 11 minutes killing penalties, but were able to keep Florida's offense at bay for the first shutout in team history. It was the second time Minnesota has been blanked. "This was a good, hard-fought point," McLennan said. "Any time you can shut down Bure and (Ray) Whitney, you'll take it. The whole team deserves credit." Florida killed a two-minute penalty in overtime to preserve the tie. The Panthers, off to the worst start in franchise history, were outshot 5-0 in overtime. "That was a huge power play, and our guys and our goaltender did a great job," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "It's a real tough position for the goaltender to be in with the pressure and the focus on him, and the young guy came through big." The Panthers were dominant everywhere but the scoreboard in the opening period, holding Minnesota without a shot on goal for the game's first 18 minutes and to two in the frame. Despite having to kill three penalties, Florida controlled both ends of the ice and had the period's best scoring opportunity. Skating short-handed, Bure picked off an errant Minnesota pass in the neutral zone and came in on a breakaway. Bure made a quick move to the left and came across the front of the goal looking to tuck a backhand shot under McLennan, but the goalie smothered the puck with a diving glove save. "It would have been a different story if I would have scored that one right away," Bure said. "I tried to deke him and a defenseman pushed me with his stick just a little bit, so I lost the puck." Florida killed two more Minnesota power plays, and held the Wild to five shots on goal in the second period. The game's most frightening moment came near the midway point of the third when Minnesota's Maxim Sushinsky and Florida's Mike Wilson got tangled up chasing a loose puck. Both collided with the end boards head first, then had to be helped off by trainers after laying motionless on the ice for more than a minute. Sushinsky was given a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for boarding. Wilson separated his right shoulder on the play and did not return. "I don't know when the players are going to wake up and start playing the game with some poise and some intelligence," Murray said. "That's the dumbest play, and it's happened too many times over the years. In a headfirst situation, the guy could have been paralyzed." Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire had a team representative check the replay and said Sushinsky did not deserve a penalty. Game notesSunday's game marked only the third time in six games this season that the Panthers held their opponent without a goal in the opening two minutes. ... Minnesota goalie Manny Fernandez was scratched from the lineup for the third consecutive game Sunday. Fernandez, who sprained his ankle in practice, was replaced in the lineup by Zac Bierk. ... Florida defenseman Lance Pitlick, a native Minnesotan, missed his only chance to play in his home state this season when he injured his hand in a fight with Colorado's Aaron Miller on Friday night. ... The Wild drew 18,064, their sixth sellout in as many games. Minnesota is averaging 18,217 per game this season, putting the Wild on pace to break the attendance record for an expansion team. The Atlanta Thrashers hold the mark after averaging 17,205 per game last season. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Florida Clubhouse Minnesota Clubhouse RECAPS Florida 0 Minnesota 0 AUDIO/VIDEO   Maxim Sushinsky and Mike Wilson go head-first into the boards.avi: 1106 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||