Some Florida Updates in Georgia
Having been bit by the injury bug of late, the Florida Panthers are starting to experience some hardship along the winding path of playoff hockey. As the teams get more desperate in that race, the checks get harder and the injuries more prone to occur. Now is when a team’s depth is usually challenged. That has been the case for the Panthers on this latest five game road trip, which will be closed out tonight in Atlanta, Georgia.
Two players that are definitely out of the line-up are: David Booth and Nick Boynton.
David was hit hard a couple of time by Washington’s defenseman Mike Green, in the previous game, and will be out with an upper-body injury. He’ll then be listed day-to-day and might be back for the pivotal Pittsburgh game on Thursday.
Boynton will perhaps also be back in the fold for that game. He was sent home after an alleged breach of discipline, after the NY Rangers fixture. Quite what happened has not been fully revealed, but it seems Nick may have confronted Head Coach Pete DeBoer as to why he was sat out in the second half of the game. Whatever was said, and how it was said, it was enough for DeBoer and GM Jacques Martin to discipline Boynton by sending him home to South Florida. Pete has said the Panthers will meet with Nick tomorrow and “go from there”.
Cory Stillman and Tomas Vokoun however, may be ready to return today, already.
Stillman who has been out since the morning skate at Madison Square Garden on Feb 26th with a bruised foot, looks like he might be ready to return: “If Cory makes as much progress today to (Tuesday) as he did from (Sunday) to today, I’m pretty sure he’ll play. We still have to give him another 24 hours to make sure,” Pete DeBoer said yesterday. With Booth definitely sidelined it seems like a sure thing that Cory will be starting the game tonight.
Vokoun meanwhile is doing better after an ear infection had sidelined him for the previous four games on the road trip. He joined the team yesterday, after driving from Washington to Atlanta. Coach Pete DeBoer said: “I want to see how Tomas feels after the skate today. […] When he wakes up tomorrow morning we’ll make a decision.”
At time of writing, no decision has yet been made, but with Craig Anderson rebounding well against Washington (after the big loss to New Jersey), I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in goal today too. There’s no point in rushing Tomas unless he’s fully fit to play. Craig is a capable back-up goalie who’ll be ready to play if needed.
Whoever is in goal, he’ll have an active night tonight, as he’ll face the hottest player in the NHL at the moment: Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk was named the NHL’s No. 1 star of February; after scoring 13 goals and getting a total of 21 points during that previous month. Atlanta will however be without veteran puck-moving defenseman Niclas Hävelid, who was dealt to the New Jersey Devils yesterday. Rookie defenseman Anssi Salmela went in the other direction.
