VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Alexander Mogilny scored 8:43 into the third period, lifting the Vancouver Canucks into a 4-4 tie with the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Robert Svehla scored his second goal of the game with 14:04 left in regulation to give the Panthers a 4-3 edge, but Mogilny answered with his 18th of the season just under three minutes later. From the left point, Russ Courtnall fed a pass into the slot to a cutting Mogilny, who whipped a wrist shot past John Vanbiesbrouck's right pad.
"The effort was clear out there, we're still having some problems in our own end, but we had some workhorses tonight," Vancouver coach Tom Renney said. "It was one of those games when it was fun to coach, the guys went hard right to the end. This type of game builds confidence."
Vancouver had a power play for the first 1:56 of overtime after Florida's Terry Carkner took a slashing penalty with four seconds left in regulation. But the Canucks were unable to test Vanbiesbrouck.
Mike Sillinger had a pair of goals and Esa Tikkanen also scored for Vancouver, which is 2-2-1 in its past five games. Kirk McLean made 24 saves.
"It was a real entertaining game out there, a battle, hard fought to the end and we'll take the tie," said Sillinger, who has seven goals and two assists in his last six games. "It was definitely the kind of character-builder this team needed heading into the All-Star break."
David Nemirovsky and Rob Niedermayer also tallied for Florida, which is 2-1-1 on its five-game road trip. The Panthers went 0 for five on the power play and are 1-for-19 with the man advantage over their last five contests.
"It was pretty exciting, up and down, both teams played hard," Florida coach Doug MacLean said. "The referee made some key calls that changed the tempo, but I think those went on both teams. It was entertaining, great plays on both sides and, despite the tie, a good effort from our guys -- one of the better ones in a while."
Mark Fitzpatrick started in goal for Florida, but was forced to leave 6:44 into the third period after colliding with Vancouver's Scott Walker. Fitzpatrick, who was clearly dazed, needed eight stitches to close a cut on his right ear and suffered a slight concussion.
"It's the hardest hit I can remember. I blacked out for awhile. I wasn't clear enough in my mind to keep playing so I took myself out," Fitzpatrick said. "I remember I had my glove on the puck and everything went blank after that. The next thing I remember I was in the dressing room with (goaltending coach) Billy Smith looking at me. People say (Walker) could've stopped, but I don't know, I didn't even see him coming."
"Nobody could really tell. It looked like Scotty was charging down the ice after a loose puck and got there right when Fitzpatrick got there," Sillinger said. "I don't think Scotty tried to hurt him."
MacLean had a different idea.
"(Walker) didn't even attempt to get out of the way, he went straight for him," MacLean said. "The puck was definitely in the glove, Walker wasn't playing it and our guy gets knocked out as a result."
Sillinger's second goal of the game came on a penalty shot 5:06 into the third period and lifted the Canucks into a 3-3 tie. The penalty shot was awarded when Svehla closed his hand on the puck in the crease.
It was the first successful penalty shot for Vancouver since Pavel Bure beat Winnipeg's Rick Tabaracci on Feb. 28, 1992.
Niedermayer opened the scoring with his seventh goal 4:09 into the game, but Tikkanen's eighth goal, a power-play tally with 9:06 left in the period, tied it.
Svehla's first of the game, with 3:57 to go in the period, made it 2-1. Sillinger tied it at 9:35 of the second period.
Nemirovsky fought off a check from Markus Naslund and deflected home Brian Skrudland's pass with 1:42 remaining in the second period, giving Florida a 3-2 edge.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Robert Svehla
2. Mike Sillinger
3. Russ Courtnall
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