"It's early in

the season, but general manager Dale Tallon just might have something good brewing with the Florida Panthers.

The man who is said to have had the Midas touch in Chicago has put together an upstart team that gave the Blackhawks problems in a game Thursday the Panthers declared an early measuring stick.

After jumping out to a two-goal lead, the Hawks needed a goal by Patrick Kane in the shootout to

defeat the Panthers 3-2 at the BankAtlantic Center.

''They played fast; they're a quick team,'' Kane said. ''They were pretty good in transition. They obviously had some players who had been [with the Hawks] before and probably wanted to prove to us that they still deserve to be here or wanted to show us what we're missing."