Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

Florida Panthers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, 3/21/09. Faceoff battle.

Saturday’s game versus the Columbus Blue Jackets was an action packed contest and looking at pictures from after the game – you can’t help but wonder how the Cats ever managed to lose this game. So many spurned opportunities…

Nonetheless, here are ten action pictures from the game.

Nick Tarnasky drives at net and sets the stage for the first goal.

Rostislav Olesz is first to the free puck in the crease and puts his stick to it - and Florida are up: 1-0!

Board-battles and hussle-tussle hockey.

Richard Zednik makes a wrap-around attempt on Mason who makes the the pad save.

Tomas Vokoun blocks a Columbus shot and keeps the Panthers' slender 1-0 lead intact, throughout the second period.

Getting close...

...gettin' closer (but not close enough).

How can it be so hard to score??

Tomas Vokoun pokes away a Blue Jackets attempt around the net and the defense is close by in support. However, a late collapse by that same defense would spoil the day for the Cats and a 1-0 lead with three minutes remaining is reversed to a 1-3 mishap of giant playoff proportions.

After having, temporarily, been hooked off from the playoff race; the Panthers are right back in the mix again. Beating Toronto, to sweep that series for the first time in franchise history, 3 goals to 1, the Cats could also count on crucial help from GM Jacques Martin’s former club in Ottawa. The Senators, who beat Buffalo in their last game, handed another defeat to the drunk-punch Montréal centennial celebrators. Ottawa won 5-4 and handed Florida another lifeline.

The Florida Panthers remain in ninth, but are now a mere point behind both Carolina and Montréal, whilst trailing Rangers two. The Cats have the same amount of games remaining as the NY Rangers and Canadiens, but one in hand on the Hurricanes. To add to the equation is that the Panthers will play both Carolina (Monday) and Buffalo (Wednesday) in crunch games that could very well decide the playoff fate of Florida. The Sabres are now four points to our rear, but have one game in hand on us – and could still get back in to the chase from their current jettisoned position in tenth.

Last night’s home fixture against the Maple Leafs was, despite what coach Peter DeBoer may have claimed to the contrary, a must win game. Lose that match and they would effectively have lost sight of the other teams ahead of them. That did however not happen and Florida swept away the visiting Ontarians once again. It was the Toronto native Stephen Weiss that, once more, proved to be the vital difference between the two sides.

Stephen Weiss is having a record point year and has developed into a key player for the Panthers, especially against his native Toronto. He has 8 points in 4 games against the Maple Leafs.

The Panthers started slowly, but when Radek Dvorak was erroneously put in the box for holding; the Cats woke up with a vengeance. None more so than Weiss, who took the puck past the Toronto defense with a speed and guile – that left the Maple Leafs defenders sprawling on the ice. He finished off the move with a backhand in the top corner behind the unaided goalie Martin Gerber.

The visitors came back at the end of the period however and punished Richard Zednik further for an undisciplined high sticking retaliation – to a clean hit from Jason Blake. Mikhail Grobovski was left all alone between three Panther players in the deep slot area (however that is possible!?) and made no mistake; ushering in the tying goal, just two minutes before the break.

Florida came out flying in the second period and looked determined to take the game to the visitors. And that they did. Richard Zednik made amends for his lapse in judgment in the first period and slotted home the leading goal, 6:21 in to the period. He displayed the coolness of a clinical goalscorer and found a tiny passage beneath Gerber – and the puck obliged him by merrily trickling in over the line.

The home side now had their tails up and 1:27 after Zednik’s goal, Radek Dvorak danced around scrambling defensemen to feed Ville Peltonen, who meanwhile had camped out just to the left of the crease, and Ville unperturbedly collected the puck with his skate, stickhandled his way past a dizzied Jeff Finger and somehow found a hole by the post to beautifully slot home the 3-1 goal. Martin Gerber couldn’t have been happy to let that goal in and after that he played much better and didn’t let any more pucks pass him by.

Tomas Vokoun on the other end had a quietly solid game, not letting up any rebounds and making some big saves in the third when the Maple Leafs pressed forward. Overall this was a well performed game by the Panthers, but in truth, this was also a game you would expect them to win. Toronto is in the midst of experimenting with youngsters and rebuilding for next year. If Florida couldn’t win this game, let’s face it, they would have no right to claim a playoff berth in the first place.

Nonetheless, it was a crucial victory and hopefully one that finally instills some sense of calm and confidence in to the squad. Yet, we are still on the outside looking in and there are no let-ups. The games will be coming increasingly hard and frequently at the players and they need to be, or get themselves in-to, playoff mode – already. The stretch will be a tough one for all teams involved in this race and any slip-up could ultimately come back to haunt the clubs at end of regular season.

Next for the Panthers is a rare visit by the Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow. Columbus is equally in a playoff chase, but find themselves in a very enviable position at the moment. This because they have been playing some very good hockey of late and it looks increasingly like the Blue Jackets will be making a first playoff appearance in franchise history this spring.

It will in other words be a tricky game for the Panthers, but we have done well against Western opposition so far and hopefully that can continue on Saturday. It should be a good game anyway!

The playoff race, both in the Eastern and Western Conferences, has been tightening up after the All Star break. Many teams are involved and have a realistic shot at making the post-regular season games.

Especially in the West. All teams in fact have a realistic shot at making the playoffs there!

It is no secret that the Western Conference is the stronger of the two half’s of the NHL; dominating inter-conference play since 2005/6. Only two western teams are below .500 versus eastern opposition (St. Louis and Anaheim). No surprise then that the Western Conferences’ teams have generally more points on the lower half of the table than its Eastern counterparts – and that the playoff race is much more congested.

Every point is pivotal for these clubs and one win could potentially catapult a team up the standings – while a loss could consequently set lose a freefall down the table.

Yesterday two games of playoff importance were played in the west. Phoenix went to Detroit to try and avoid a fifth straight loss, while the Red Wings were also digging deep to try and find some form. Propelled by another Marian Hossa show, the home team ended up on top (winning 5-4) after a late goal from Nicklas Lidstrom on the power-play. Former Panther Olli Jokinen has been called upon lately by the Coyotes to lead by example; but for a fifth game in a row he failed to come up with any goods to help the struggling franchises cause. Now why is it, that he has never played a playoff game in his career, I wonder?

A pitched battle was in the meantime being contested in Minnesota between the Wild and Ducks. While Anaheim has seen some much sought after wins of late, they came up with nothing against a defensively dogged home side. Niklas Backstrom came up big between the pipes, denying the swirling Ducks any goals from 34 shots. Minnesota meanwhile scored three to win the match three-nothing.

Vancouver Canucks snapped a long losing streak the day before yesterday when they made Florida a great favor by defeating Carolina 4-3 in a rare home-ice victory. Yesterday they also announced a trade with Anaheim; receiving D Nathan McIver while giving up RW Mike Brown.

So, Vancouver are back in playoff contention and Edmonton will hope to make a similar bounce back; after losing 2-10 at home to Buffalo immediately after the All-Star break then won one (against Minnesota 3-1) and now have another two consecutive defeats (vs. Nashville 1-2 and Chicago 1-3).

The in-form team of the moment is Dallas Stars; who now have racked up five straight triumphs. This impressive streak started before the All Star break, when the Stars visited Sunrise and beat the Panthers in an imposing 4-1 fashion. They followed up this with wins against Atlanta 2-0, Detroit 4-2, Columbus 7-3 and Calgary 3-1. Early season difficulties and off-ice controversy (Sean Avery) has been overcome and the Stars are looking sharp at the moment!

Otherwise the only teams with consecutive wins or defeats, outside the top four – which look set for playoff qualification, is Nashville with two wins (against Edmonton and Phoenix, both won 2-1) and Columbus – with two defeats (again Dallas 3-7 and St. Louis 2-4).

Here is the Western Conference Standings at this time, but expect changes to occur on a daily basis…

Columbus Blue Jackets, infamously known among Hockey fans high and wide as the only team in the league to never have made the playoffs, are experiencing a resurgence of hope. Of course they have had much less chances than most, seeing as they were awarded the NHL franchise only in the year 2000, but this could be the season that this agonizing stigma is finally erased.

Columbus is currently holding on to that valuable 8th spot in the Western Conference, following yesterday’s 4-3 victory against the Colorado Avalanche. The win was the Jackets third win – in as many tries against the Avs. Three was obviously the lucky number of the night for the Union Blue, as they scored three goals in the third – in just under 3 minutes of play.

The Ohio based club has now managed to put together an excellent team, with both star quality and nice depth. Rick Nash is the Captain and face of the franchise; again nominated for the All Star game later this month, and tops the scoring chart with 39 points (17 goals + 22 assists). Former free agent and Panther, Kristian Huselius, was the game winner against Colorado and has 28 points on the season (13+15). Columbus has another seven players above or just below the 20 point mark, making for good secondary scoring.

The exclamation point in bold however, goes to rookie goalie Steve Mason – who has the Rookie of the Year award all but in his hands – after racking up impressive goalie stats and sitting proudly atop those number in the NHL so far. In addition to this comes a youngster like Nikita Filatov; who will have many productive NHL seasons in him, if all continues to go well. There is now – real hope – of a bright future for this team.

One thing that might be lacking to the mix is veteran leadership of the kind that brings success in a hard, tight, playoff series. It has therefore come as no surprise that the club is looking around the league for reinforcements. TFP reported last week that the Blue Jackets organization was willing to add to the player roster and salary; leading to some transfer rumors emerging. Most of them have so far centered on the struggling Canadian franchises Ottawa and Toronto. Whilst they are struggling in the Eastern Conference, they do have some decent players; whether, as speculation would have it, it is Jason Spezza, Nik Antropov or someone else they have in mind – there are some possible steals to be made here.

Acquiring some new, yet proven players, to fill out the Jackets in Colombus, may be a good way to try and take the club a further step forward. But, first things first, and that playoff spot must first be subjugated. The form is good, if not to say immense even, and next up is a two game road trip – including the New Jersey Devils. Panther fans will be hoping for a Blue Jacket triumph, and if the statistics are anything to go after, Columbus should have a pretty good chance to come out on top of proceedings. The Ohioans have a 7-1-1 record against teams from the Eastern Conference; the second best among Western Conference teams, only San Jose has done better 8-1-0 (and we remember very well where that lone loss came from don’t we…)

The Columbus club has also successfully turned their Nationwide Arena in to a fort, winning 12-6-1 and outscoring opponents 53-48. In their last road trip, the longest for the season, they also managed to win 4-2-0; outscoring the opposing teams 15-9. The reason why the Blue Jackets are not higher up the standing is the slow start to the season. Much of that could however be attributed to being a consequence of making numerous trades in the pre-season. Now that the team has had time to gel, they seem to be firing on all cylinders and the race up the standings seems to have just started for the New Jackets of the 08/09 season.