Toronto Springs Comeback Special against the Cats in Sunrise
I bet a few people don’t think me so crazy now.
Maybe if I had been GM we’d have won the game against Toronto yesterday… 
I would have gone in hard to acquire Niklas Hagman, at a heavy cost if necessary and he would not have been a two-goal scorer in this game as a consequence.
Yeah, I know. Wishful thinking at best. But you have to admit he’d have been a nice addition to this club that finds it so hard to score goals.
Sure, the Panthers did get four on the board against the defensively challenged Maple Leafs, but that was to be expected. That the Cats would surrender six however, was probably not according to anyone’s plan.
After going two-goals up in the opening exchanges, one could have been forgiven for thinking this contest was as good as over. However, the Ontarians had other plans on the night.
After expensive signing Phil Kessel found the net in the first period it was game-on and a wild contest was ready to unwind before us.
Kessel and Hagman were the offensive juggernauts that the Panthers defense couldn’t handle in this game. Both scored two goals to help Toronto claim both points and secure Florida’s first regulation loss since Washington.
Dmitry Kulikov kept the Panthers in the lead with his two goals on the night, but, immediately after the 4-3 go-ahead-goal by Dmitry; the Leafs came back and equalized.
This quick answer seemed to tip the balance ultimately in Toronto’s direction and they ran out 6-4 winners, with the last goal scored in an open net.
Panthers GM Randy Sexton had said on FSN Florida prior to the commencement of the final period that “the team that wants it the most will win it”. It was apparent on this night that the team that wanted it the most was the visitors.
Apart from stellar individual performances above all from Dmitry Kulikov, Nathan Horton, and Steve MacIntyre—in the enforcer department, the Cats looked rather tame for most of this contest.
Especially on the blue-line.
The defenders that had been so unyielding of late did not impress and ultimately could not handle Kessel, Hagman & Co. Keith Ballard and Jordan Leopold in particular had games to forget.
Perhaps it was a Thanksgiving hangover, but whatever it was, the Panthers will have no time to ponder upon this loss for too long. It’s off to Nashville tonight for a tricky game against another in-form team: the Predators.
We can expect to see Scott Clemmensen in goal for this game. After his solid performance in Detroit he deserves another start and Vokoun could certainly do with some rest after a hectic schedule.
It will be important to bounce straight back and win tonight’s game.
Florida remain in thirteenth spot in the East and lost vital points against most teams above us last night, and that’s not even mentioning Toronto behind us in fourteenth—who are starting to string together some impressive performances and points.
Nevertheless, one game doesn’t determine a season and the Cats will need to find their way back to their stingy away-game tactics tonight.
It is obvious this style of playing suits this team much better than the more expansive home-game tactics—that regularly comes back to bite us in the .
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Completely agree with your assessment. Count me among those who were ready for the blowout on Friday night. When they made it 2-0, I looked at my buddy. He said he wanted the win. I said I wanted the blowout, because I didn’t trust them in a close game at home. Ugh. I wish I was wrong.
So many things wrong with this team, especially after tonight’s game in Nashville. It’s hard to be optimistic about, well, anything. Aside from MacIntyre’s work as an enforcer, there just isn’t anything consistent. Horton has had a pretty good season, IMO, but he needs something difficult to qualify to get over the hump.
I still maintain that the premiere issue for this team is the acquisition of a legitimate scoring threat.
Getting uglier by the day. The home losses are really starting to wear on the diehard fans of this franchise. And, when they’re gone, well, will the last person to leave please turn off the lights?
@drscruf
Thanks for the comment!
Indeed you are right, whoever we might consider that goal scoring threat should be, we definitely need one right now…
The injury to Booth, and quite frankly I’m not holding my breath when it comes to his return anytime soon – that was a serious knock he got,really highlights that missing component on this team. And while Horton has been playing well of late, he’s still not scoring as regularly as we’d want. He looks more comfortable in the playmaker role – which considering his skillset is, in my mind, strange to put it mildly.
We have a quality goaltender in Vokoun, but can’t rely on him doing all the dirty work for this team each and every night.
The defense looked like it was shaping up well, but the last two games show work still needs to be done here as well.
The special-teams are hurting us right now. Sure we can score two goals against the worst PK in the league (Toronto), but certainly not on a consistent basis.
If a new signing is needed, and the two of us at least seem to be in agreement that it is;then it must be someone that can not only score 5-on-5, but also on the powerplay.