Perhaps the Florida Panthers should spend more time playing the teams from Canada because the Panthers are red hot in the land of the frozen tundra. Friday night the Panthers picked up their 3rd straight road victory with a thrilling 3-2 shootout victory over the Calgary Flames.

Tomas Vokoun looked good in his return between the pipes, helping to lead the Panthers to victory. Calgary got on the board first, 16 mins into the 1st period, but Florida would answer back 2 mins later to tie the game at 1-1. The 2nd period would be much the same with Florida scoring an early goal 1:45 into the period, and Calgary answering 1:42 later to re-tie the game at 2-2.

After outshooting Calgary 22-18 through the first 2 periods, Florida was pinned back in the 3rd period and forced to play ferocious defense to keep the game tied. Calgary outshot the Panthers 17-4 in the 3rd, but Vokoun was equal to the task stopping all 17 shots. Overtime could not produce a winner so the game went to a shootout.

In the shootout Vokoun remained solid in net. After Calgary’s first shooter missed, Vokoun would save the next two, giving Florida’s Stephen Weiss the opportunity to win the game on the Panthers’ 3rd shot, which he cooly slotted home for the win.

The Panthers continue to get contributions from all over as they carry on minus key players who have been lost to injury. Kamil Kreps scored his first goal in 22 games (shorthanded) to tie the game in the 1st period, and Jay Bouwmeester scored Florida’s 2nd goal, while Weiss had the game winner in the shootout.

With the win Florida improved to 7-1-2 in their last 10 games and have propelled themselves to 2nd place in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast division. The Panthers are on a 3 game win streak and have lost only once in the month of December. They will now have Saturday off before finishing their Canadian road trip against Vancouver.