"Perhaps lost in the shambles of Saturday night's 6-3 debacle defeat to the surging Lightning was the surprising and brief NHL debut of Panthers goaltender Brian Foster.

It also happened to be Foster's 25th birthday, certainly an evening he would never forget.

"I was a little nervous but not as much as I expected,'' said Foster, who stopped the only shot he faced in 4:52 of relief of a besieged Scott Clemmensen at the end of the second period before Clemmensen was reinserted to start the third.

"My first NHL experience, I'll never forget my 25th birthday. So far so good.''"