Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

Dmitry Kulikov has been given the chance to stay with the Panthers and continue his development on the big stage. He impressed during his initial nine game tryout with the team—and now get’s to celebrate his 19th birthday in Dallas; whilst preparing for his eleventh match tonight in the NHL.

Not bad for someone recently picked 14th in this summer’s draft…

And well, hopefully the young man will get more than the salad for his birthday—when the guys take him out to celebrate in Texas. But, no Vodka obviously, which I presume would have been the main course in Russia for such a salute.

Dmitry is continuing to live his expressed dream by playing in the NHL with the Cats. Hopefully he’ll do that for a long time yet.

Kulikov is an exciting prospect that is likely to only get better with time. He’s already quite competent however and is regularly clocking 18 to 19 minutes of game time. In addition he’s already on the first powerplay unit and clearly has the ability to become something quite special for Florida.

Dmitry Kulikov defends the crease. The young Russian has already become a staple in the Florida team, playing important minutes and will celebrate his 19th birthday with the team in Dallas.

A couple of other young players getting a chance to shine; is the recent call-ups of Kenndal McArdle and Michal Repik.

Both played well, albeit not for very long in the last match against the Senators. McArdle in particular has earned his coaches praise for the abundance of energy, speed and grit he provided. Not to mention the fight.

Whilst clocking only a paltry 4+ minutes, thus he sat more in the penalty box than he saw action on the ice, Kenndal can be expected to see some more opportunities to impress against the Stars tonight.

Kenndal McArdle attacking the net vs. the Sens. McArdle played a good game, despite not clocking many minutes, and will likely be given more ice-time in Dallas tonight.

To add to Repik and McArdle, the Panthers have also recalled C Jeff Taffe from the Rochester Americans of the AHL. The reason is that Dominic Moore will require nasal surgery to repair that broken nose of his that the Flyers gave him.

Having impressed for Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate last season, Taffe has started equally well in Rochester this term. In nine games he has 7 points (4 goals + 3 assists) and also has a team high of 27 shots on goal for the Amerks.

It’s going to be a tough game tonight against a Dallas team—that has gotten off to a good start this season. However, things must start bouncing our way sooner or later, right?

If the Cats can limit those turnovers out of the zone, play hard and shoot more frequently: then this could be an interesting game.

Maybe a couple of tricky away games might be exactly what the doctored ordered to turn things around.

After some whining of late, I’m trying to stay positive, OK, so pass me that salad and let’s stuff it to those Texan’s tonight!

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…

It was a Mike Ribeiro hat trick and a second period stellar show from Dallas – which had the Floridians wheeling back and seeing stars. They were outfought and outworked on the night, by a plucky Texan side – which were looking forward to a Bahamian vacation under the mango trees. This stimulus no doubt spurred the cowboys on, as they dismantled the hosts piece by piece.

It may have started well for Florida, with a rare Karlis Skrastins goal on a Panther breakaway; pouncing to tuck in Kamil Kreps rebound shot. But, the Stars were not to be denied.

Prolific goal scorer Mike Modano, evened up the score on a nice power-play move in the second period. Mike Ribeiro then got his first of the night; with merely seconds remaining before the buzzer called an end to the period. It was a lucky redirection which handed him an open net to claim the lead for the Texan visitors.

The goal may have been fortunate, but Dallas deserved the go ahead score on the board.

Having been out- fought, worked and skated, in the second period, the Panthers desperately tried to get something to show for their own considerable efforts in the third. But, in their push forward the Cats forgot about Mike Ribeiro, who needed no further encouragement when the puck dropped nicely for him in the neutral zone – behind the Panther defense, and effortlessly he tucked away the puck behind Vokoun’s top right mantelpiece. It was a devastating blow.

To the Panthers credit they never gave up and tried to stage another spectacular comeback, as seen recently in other games when trailing. The Dallas players battled hard however, and wouldn’t give the Cats any free chances or room to maneuver in. Instead it was Mike Ribeiro who could celebrate his first NHL hattrick; by slotting home the closing 4-1 goal in an open net: A well-earned victory for the Stars.

It felt like this simply was one of those games were you have to applaud the opponents. The defeat wasn’t due to a lack of trying or effort. The Panthers did what they could to get a claw in, but on the night it was Dallas who had more gas left in the tank.

Now follows a few days to recover for most players, as we head in to the All Star break. Jay Bouwmeester and Michael Frolik will spend that time in Montreal and no doubt wear the Panther colors with pride. Both of them have had a stand-out season respectively and are well-merited for the honor.

Yesterday however, it was Dallas’ binary-Mike-stars that outshone the Panthers. Marty Turco also played well in goal; negating Florida’s dump and chase pucks with his sweeping stickhandling and absorbing saves. Veteran Star Modano summed up the night well when he said: “I felt like we pushed them back on their heels.” They did. And not because the Panther didn’t try or work hard throughout the game, but because Dallas worked even harder and wouldn’t budge once they got a grip on the Panthers.

So, we concede defeat in this battle, but now have time to lick the wounds and again come back strong and make that final post-All Star-push for the playoffs. Florida is still in the driver’s seat, with fewer games played than the competition, and matters are still firmly in our own hands. And let’s face it; if we have to lose games, and all teams do, it is better to lose to a Western Conference team – than to our Eastern rivals.

Rarely ever has that cliché been more applicable than when describing the current Panther schedule. After five days of rest from game day situations, the Cats suit up for a Philadelphia side that will be projected to come out flying, if you’ll excuse the pun. But, fact is that this Philly side is arguably the most aggressive in the NHL and has no problem taking plenty of penalties during a game. So, getting the Florida power-play clicking and not being dragged in to this style of play – will be paramount to achieve victory tonight.

Part of Philadelphia’s success with this forceful style of tactics is due their excellent man-disadvantage stats, topping the league with 13 shorthanded goals, and simply that the tradeoff between aggression and penalties seems to be in the Flyers advantage. They take more penalties, yes, but the aggressive play rattles the opponents and creates scoring chances – literally on the fly. The fact that they are on a losing streak at the moment is only likely to make the visitors come even harder at the South Floridian hosts. After the Tampa Bay loss yesterday, captain Mike Richards called on his team to respond today. So the Panthers better be ready for a battle – because they’ll probably be sent to the wars tonight…

No time to rest for the wicked however, tomorrow it’s off across the state to archrivals Tampa Bay Lightning. Another very tough and physical game is to be expected at the St. Pete’s Times Forum. Having lost our last two games against the Bolts, nothing can be taken for granted here. The Lightning have been experiencing some mixed fortunes of late; beating Philadelphia 4-1 yesterday, but losing 1-7 in San Jose. However, sparks regularly fly when these two Floridian rivals clash and tomorrow is unlikely to be an exception to that rule.

Question is if the Panthers are up for two such grueling games in as many days; especially after those “cushy” five days off from hard-hitting game rhythm.

Florida’s Head Coach Pete DeBoer said he has tried to counter those qualms by orchestrating a high tempo skating session yesterday, pressing his players physically and preparing them mentally for the upcoming Philadelphia challenge. Hopefully this will be enough so we don’t have to witness a repeat of the post-Christmas run of defeats; following a similar spell with a couple of days off from competitive Hockey.

And as if these two mammoth games weren’t enough…

On Monday, Florida entertains fellow playoff hopefuls Buffalo Sabres, at the Bank Atlantic Center. The Sabres snapped their losing streak against Dallas yesterday and it’s likely to have fed their confidence with some much needed reassurance. They staged a remarkable comeback late in that game (they were 3 goals down at one time) and finally overcame the Stars deep in to the penalty shootout rounds, winning 5-4. Buffalo are a quick-skating team and so the Panthers can’t exhibit any stiff- or limpness, from the Flyers or Lightning games, if they are to keep up with the blistering pace the Sabres like to set out from the beginning.

Overall, it seems like the Cats have again been the victims of a very harsh NHL schedule; the only light at the end of this tumultuous twister – is that fact the worst part of that schedule will be done by Monday. Of course, we still have to contend a tricky Dallas team next Wednesday, but the key games will be the ones played prior to this – and especially that Buffalo game on Monday. Then there’ll be some well-deserved relief for all Panther players – except Jay Bouwmeester and Michael Frolik obviously; who’ll both make appearances at Montreal’s All Star weekend.

All in all there are some exhilarating times ahead for Panthers’ fans as the playoff battle comes alive and intensifies – in the upcoming days and weeks…