It's hard to fathom David Booth getting off to a better start for the Florida Panthers.

One day he scores the first goal of the season. The next night, he scores the first goal on home ice.

On Saturday, Booth's third goal of the young season was the biggest yet, as his follow on a rebound sent the Panthers to a 3-2 overtime victory in their home opener against the Atlanta Thrashers at BankAtlantic Center.

This was Florida's 10th home opener since moving from Miami Arena.

''Getting shots off, going to the net, that's where you're going to score goals,'' said Booth, who scored Florida's opening goal in Friday's loss at Carolina. ``I got lucky it went in. It's fun playing right now.''

Booth's first goal Saturday tied the score after Atlanta took a 1-0 lead on Slava Kozlov's goal midway through the first period on a power play. Two minutes later, the Florida crowd got to hear the horn for the first time this season when Booth took a pass deep in the slot and rifled it past goalie Kari Lehtonen.

As is custom, the Florida crowd chanted Booth's name in long drawn out tones. Now in his third season with the Panthers, Booth knows Florida's fans aren't booing him when they call his name.

''I had no idea he was this good,'' said coach Pete DeBoer, who got his first NHL victory. ``The speed, the energy and enthusiasm he has every night. He's been invaluable for us. . . . He's a great player. Guys like that are almost the heartbeat of your team. They get over the boards and can almost change the momentum with their energy and work ethic. Those guys are easy to coach.''

The Panthers didn't get off to a great start, as Keith Ballard took a tripping penalty 10 seconds into the game and Brett McLean following with a hooking call 33 seconds later. That put Florida in a 5-on-3 situation for 1:27.

But goalie Tomas Vokoun pushed back a barrage of shots and the Panthers killed off the penalty.

''That wasn't the way we wanted to start,'' Ballard said. ``The three guys who were out there were awesome. If we got behind the 8-ball right there, it would have been pretty tough to come back. We found a way to win. We're going to have to win tight games like these.''

The Panthers were tied at the first intermission, although new linemates Stephen Weiss and Richard Zednik would change that seconds into the third. The two got off on a 2-on-1 break up the ice, with Weiss flashing toward the net.

Zednik, who had the second assist on Booth's first goal, slipped the puck to Weiss, who put it between Lehtonen's skates for a 2-1 lead.

''He put it right on my tape. Those are the easy ones,'' said Weiss, who played with Booth on Florida's top line last season. ``I hope to get more of them.''

Atlanta tied it on Jason Williams' goal off a Ron Hainsey feed with 3:03 left in the second period. The two teams played a scoreless third, although the Panthers were the more active team, throwing 18 shots at Lehtonen in the period.

Florida looked dominant again, with Atlanta failing to get a scoring chance in overtime much less challenge Vokoun with a shot. Florida got three more shots on Lehtonen before Booth crashed in, finding the loose puck the goalie couldn't corral.

''I think we took over in the third period and carried that into overtime,'' Weiss said. ``It was a funny play; get a shot to the net, a bounce for us and Booth is there to put it in. Huge win, we just have to make sure we carry it over into next week.''

When Booth scored, he was engulfed by teammates, and DeBoer celebrated his milestone victory with his assistant coaches on the bench. It took the Panthers longer than expected to dispose of the Thrashers, but victory was sweet when it finally came.

''This was big for our team confidence,'' Booth said.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

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.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@