Cats Prospects Handed First Loss of Rookie Tournament

TORONTO, ON - The Florida Panthers prospects lost their first game of the 2006 Toronto rookie tournament on Saturday, dropping a 5-1 decision to the Montreal Canadiens (1-1) rookie squad. The Panthers (1-1) who will not play on Sunday, face the host Toronto Maple Leafs at 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 11.

The Canadiens prospects jumped out to an early two-goal lead in the first period receiving tallies from LW Sergei Kostitsyn and RW Matthew D'Agostini. Kostitsyn goal came on the power play, while D'Agostini picked up a shorthanded tally. For the second consecutive night, the opening period was a penalty-plagued affair with the two clubs combining for 26 minutes in penalties.

In the middle frame, the Habs prospects picked up another pair of goals to stretch their lead to 4-0. C Mathieu Aubin scored on the power play at 1:09, while C Benjamin Maxwell fired a sharp angle past Florida G David Shantz at 17:23.

RW Dan Collins put the Panthers prospects on the scoreboard when he took a pass from C Stefan Meyer and lifted a shot past the Montreal netminder Cedrick Desjardins at 4:14. Montreal LW Guillaume Latendresse closed out the scoring for the evening, finding the back of the net at 10:03.

Shantz suffered the lose making 22 saves on 27 shots, while Desjardins earned the win turning away 30 shots. The Cats outshot the Habs 31-27 for the game.

In other rookie tournament action, the host Leafs (1-0) take on York University (0-1) in the late game on Saturday night.

SCORING SUMMARY:

FIRST:

MTL: Kostitsyn (Grabovski, Aubin) 2:12 PP; MTL D'Agostini (Latendresse, Chipchura) SH.

SECOND:

MTL Aubin (Maxwell, Kostitsyn) 1:09 PP; MTL Maxwell (White, Stewart) 17:23.

THIRD:

FLA Collins (Meyer, Booth) 4:14 PP; MTL Latendresse (Chipchura, D'Agostini) 10:03 PP.