On the ice for the first time since the first two-point game of his young career, Dmitry Kulikov said his performance was past due.

Kulikov recorded his first goal of the season against the Washington Capitals and goaltender Jose Theodore on Saturday, a slap shot that put the Panthers up 2-1 before they fell 7-4.

``It makes me feel more a part of the team to score my first goal,'' said Kulikov, a rookie from Lipetsk, Russia. Kulikov assisted on a Cory Stillman tip-in in the third period for his second point.

Kulikov -- the 14th pick in June's draft -- was in danger of being dropped to the juniors during the first nine games of the season. He said when a player knows he won't be sent down, there is a tendency to lose focus or intensity -- a trap he fell into.

``It's always tough when a player doesn't get his chances during the first nine games. Then you make it [on the team] after nine games and you can kind of relax and lose your confidence. . . . That's what happened to me. Actually, those last two or three games I didn't feel that comfortable on the ice,'' he said.

And what became of the puck from his first score? ``I'm sure someone took it from the ice but I haven't seen it yet,'' he said.

Later, a Panthers staffer told Kulikov the puck was being framed for him.

Last year, Kulikov had 12 goals and 50 assists in 57 games for Drummondville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

TALKING DEFENSE

Panthers coach Pete DeBoer addressed the return to practice of several injured players for Thursday's game against the Boston Bruins and his team's perceived defensive deficiencies.

``I think defensively we've been pretty good the past five or six games,'' DeBoer said. ``I don't think that's been an issue.''

The Panthers gave up four goals in the third period Saturday, losing a lead and eventually losing 7-4 to the Capitals.

Postgame Saturday, backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen was critical of the team's defensive play, saying he was ``not sure how it gets so bad sometimes.''

Help arrived Monday, with Radek Dvorak (knee) and Kamil Kreps (foot) both returning to the ice. Gregory Campbell visited with doctors Sunday to see if the slap shot he took to the face Saturday caused in anything more serious than two broken teeth. DeBoer said tests for a fracture were negative.

``I anticipate all those guys will be back by Wednesday,'' DeBoer said.

``It'll be nice to have that experience back, for sure.''

MOORE STRUGGLES

Center Dominic Moore returned to the ice for practice Monday sporting a scarred nose. He skated on Sunday and was surprised to find it difficult to breathe.

Moore was still having issues breathing Monday after nasal surgery two weeks ago sidelined him.

Moore described his breathing as ``not good'' following the one-hour practice. ``We really just have to wait for the swelling to go down, and take it from there,'' Moore said.

Doctors aren't done probing Moore's proboscis. ``They still have some stuff they'll have to get back in later and scrape out,'' he said.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@