Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

What can you say after the Panthers lost yet another big playoff game on home ice, this time against the Washington Capitals? What can be said that I haven’t already said in the last few post? Fact is; this is not good enough. Hell, it’s not even near good enough!

I’m not sure what irks me the most; the appalling sub-standard effort, the no (that’s zero!) shots on goal in the third period, or the mounting feeling that the club is yet again set to disappoint.

Yes, sure, the team is still deeply involved the playoff chase and even have the luxury of having fate squarely in its own hands; being just one point behind the Hurricanes in eighth spot and with one game in hand on the Carolinians. But, the abysmal Florida play and overall effort of late, does not install any greater sense of confidence that that will be enough in the end. Does it?

Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau, who was left fuming after his team’s 5-1 loss to Atlanta on Monday, said; “To hold them to zero shots in the third period and 19 in their building in a game that they had to win was quite a testament.” Yes it was… A testament both of the good defensive display that the Capitals mounted and the pitiful offense that the Panthers meagerly tried to assemble from nothing… But in the end the scant Floridian efforts turned to dust and trickled away – and it was probably what they deserved for this horrendous showing.

And as far as I know there aren’t that many Irishmen or players of Irish descent on the team either, so blaming St. Patrick’s Day – or any less solid liquids than the ice – doesn’t bounce any better than the puck is currently doing for the Panthers. Neither can I find any other, more hockey-related, excuses that I can tolerate; yes Horton is still injured and missed – but that happens to all teams – and McCabe was back for this game to quarterback the deteriorating powerplay. Although that didn’t help all too much… In fact the Cats gave up a crucial shorthanded goal instead and that goal seemed to deflate the Panthers all too quickly on this day.

Now coach Peter DeBoer’s leadership skills will be tested and he’ll be expected to change the current mindset of his charges. This should be desperation-time, not relaxation-time, and the players obviously need to be reminded of their on-ice responsibilities.

I would hope, and not be surprised, if Pete decides to try and instill some sense of desperation by shaking things up in the line-up. Nick Boynton and Anthony Stewart, healthy scratches against Washington, could be back in and perhaps one of the top six forwards will be rested against Toronto. That might implant some fire back into the forward’s bellies. Based on performances it should probably be Richard Zednik (or Cory Stillman that has been equally poor of late) that is rested, but then again ‘Z’ has a good track record against the Maple Leafs this season; so your guess is as good as mine. Something needs to be done anyway.

David Booth on the fly. David is one of the few Panthers that has been playing well of late; racking up the points, although he and the Cats were left off the board on Tuesday against the Capitals.

It’s about time the Panthers started to capitalize on a very favorable schedule. All through February up to the deadline they had a terrible schedule; being pitted against all the top teams – while those teams were still motivated to win their games. Yet, it is ironic that when the tide finally turned, so did Florida’s on-ice fortunes – they took a nosedive in the wrong direction…

Since the trade deadline the Cats have been in action 5 times, of which 3 games were against direct playoff rivals, and they only managed to pick up 4 out of a possible 10 points. That’s not only below .500, but worse is that in those three crunch playoff-type-games, Florida picked up 1 out of a possible 6 points. And since losing to direct rivals has a dual effect, not only do we lose two points – but the rivals gain two points, it’s actually more like losing 10 decisive playoff points.

The game versus Tampa Bay on Saturday was actually a step forward in the right direction. There is no doubt that Florida deserved to win that game on effort alone and the team played some 50 solid minutes of hockey before being hit with a double sucker punch in the last seven. And as we know from experience the Panthers need to avoid a shootout at all costs, and when that was unavoidable; so was the defeat.

Of course there can be no sugarcoating; a last gasp collapse as against the Bolts is both inexcusable, but also more importantly, a terrible blow to our collective playoff hopes. It is now the second time in a row that the Cats have collapsed when two goals up entering the third (also against Pittsburgh) and then wound up losing the ensuing shootout.

This ill must be cured and so does the ailing power-play. The Panthers need to start moving more; feet, mind, stick and puck to have any success. Screen the goalie and drive the pucks on goal for deflections or rebounds; it’s really not that hard – it’s just takes a lot of effort!

Getting Bryan McCabe back to the line-up will surely help a lot in this respect and he’s penned in for a performance against the Caps tonight. Question is who’ll be the healthy scratch amongst the back six?

My guess is Nick Boynton, despite him being our – quite possibly – best defender since his return to the line-up three games ago. Having Rostislav Olesz back amid the forwards is also a healthy sign and it was good seeing him being physical against the Lightning on Saturday after such a long time off from hockey due to his hernia surgery. With some more games under his belt, he should be able to help contribute on the top lines if needed. Meanwhile, Nathan Horton won’t be back on this current home stand and it remains uncertain when he’ll be up to playing again.

So, looking ahead at this current home-stand, we face Washington tonight, Toronto on Thursday, Columbus on Saturday and then that vital game versus Carolina next Monday. Then follows a three game road trip to Buffalo, Philadelphia and Dallas – before returning home.

With the playoff race being as tight as it is, I think it’s a fair assessment that the Panthers should need to collect at least 7 point from this current five game home-stand. That means we would need to win 3 out of the next 4 games. That certainly doesn’t seem impossible, but if we lose tonight that will obviously be all the more difficult. Hence, tonight’s game is a very important one for Florida!

Good news is that it’s not only the Cats that have been stumbling of late. Despite only picking up a point over the weekend we still didn’t lose pace with our playoff rivals; although both the Rangers and Penguins picked up W’s on Monday. Washington meanwhile seems to be in a day-to-day based form, losing yesterday in Atlanta, 1-5, after winning their previous three games.

In that fixture, the stellar offensive defenseman Mike Green was out with the flu, Jose Theodore in goal had a torrid game and was hooked after letting in four goals. Rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov got the chance for the remainder of the game and made four saves and let one in. He’s expected to get the nod today in South Florida.

Superstar Alex Ovechkin meanwhile was in search of his 50th goal of the season, but was outshone by Atlanta’s goalie Kari Lehtonen – who made 49 saves – of which 10 were on shots from Ovechkin. Alex was so furious after the game he refused to talk to reporters.

The win was all the more extraordinary for the Thrashers as they did it without their captain Ilya Kovalchuk, who missed his second straight game with an undisclosed upper body injury. Atlanta got a franchise high six consecutive victories with this latest triumph and now make sure a pumped up Capitals team will be coming to South Florida in search of revenge… Gee, thanks Thrashers!

Yet, having beaten the Caps 6-2 on their own home ice in the previous meeting, that was always going to be the case anyway.

The Panthers need only worry about themselves and their own effort. If they play to full ability, with heaps of desperation for measure, there is no reason to believe they can’t beat the Capital team again. It will however, require 60 minutes of hockey and hard work – not 40, 50, 55 or even 59 – 60! – get that Cats?

Prevailing in the playoff race is all about grit, hard work and determination – and the Panthers desperately need to clench those jaws and go for the jugular; to get back in from the chasing pack. Ninth is not good enough, not this year!

Last night’s match in Buffalo was a crucial playoff game for both the Sabres and the Panthers. The home side clearly acknowledged the enormity of this contest, the players describing it as the most important game of the season for the club, but the South Floridian visitors didn’t have the same kind of urgency it seems; and you can’t help but wonder why?

Why didn’t the Panthers show up with the Sabres’ hunger and levels of desperation?

Because they didn’t, we now find ourselves back in ninth position, with Buffalo breathing down our necks in tenth. The other teams involved in the playoff race have all upped their respective plays and levels of desperation – and have as consequences gone on winning sprees that the Cats have been unable to match. Going .500 is not going to get us in the playoffs; that’s one thing that is for sure!

Sure, the injuries to McCabe and Horton especially have hurt the club. But then again, that’s exactly why I, and many with me, thought GM Jacques Martin should have gone out more aggressively in search for another top six forward. We are obviously light in the forward compartment – why else would rookie Michal Repik have been recalled for such an important game?

Not that I have anything against Repik, quite the opposite, he’s a very promising sniper that will have a good chance of breaking in to the Panther roster next season already. He also had a good game; scoring the only goal for the Panthers – his second in only five appearances.

Yet, we were already missing a top centerman before Horton’s injury and we would have needed to bolster the squad in that position – and there were some interesting centermen up for grabs at the trade deadline, but the Cats made no move and now it’s coming back to haunt us….

Whilst on the subject of Repik; why did he only get to play 7 shifts (just over 3 minutes of ice time) in the game? If you are anyway going to play him, why not give him a proper chance? He did after all score our only goal of the game. I can’t see how giving him so little ice time rhymes with coach Peter DeBoer’s mantra of accountability and rewarding effort.

Pete has also said on numerous occasions that the team knows what they need to do to be successful and when they stray from those concepts they get punished. Well, DeBoer strayed from his concept of rolling four lines in this game and gave most ice time to a limited few players instead. How are the Panthers going to win these crucial games when the coaching staff themselves stray – from their own winning concepts??

Anyway. It’s easy to label blame after such a devastating loss, but that is really not the overall point of this post. Fact is that there is plenty of time remaining to make amends for the late poor spell of hockey. We have only taken 3 points out of possible 8 since the trade deadline and that is obviously not good enough. But, Carolina also lost yesterday and we are just one point behind the Canes – with two games to spare.

Good news is also that the team now returns to South Florida for the next five games; starting tomorrow against our cross-state rivals Tampa Bay. It is in other words a possibility to refocus and get a nice winning streak going; we will probably need to win at least four of these five games to catch up and not risk trailing behind (we play; Tampa, Washington, Toronto, Columbus and finally…. Carolina!).

It won’t be easy, but it’s certainly not impossible!

You have to be impressed by the hard skating, high level of work rate and commitment shown by both teams yesterday, in the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. Florida travelled to this crucial playoff-race game without two of its best and most influential players; Horton and McCabe, and yet continued to battle to the very end – to claim a point of the spoils.

This was playoff hockey as both teams put everything on the line in this riveting contest. Pittsburgh dominated the first and third periods. Sandwiched in-between was an outstanding second three-nothing period by the Panthers. Overall the visitors were badly outshot; 21-to-50, yet they carried a 3-1 lead going in to the third. And at this time it was the Penguins that were lucky to get back in to the game as they got a couple of fortunate bounces to tie the game at 3.

The officials also did the best they could to help the home team by taking 6 iffy penalty calls on the Panthers, while turning a blind eye on all Pittsburgh transgressions but two. I guess that’s what you get when you have rabid fans cheering for the home side – and that famous seventh man in the stands made a big difference on this night. From a Florida perspective we can only hope things even out in the long run, as they always have a tendency to do, and that the crowd in Sunrise will rise to the challenge and lend a helping hand to Cats the when taking on cross-state rivals Tampa Bay on Saturday.

The ref's liked what they saw in Pittsburgh and awarded the home team plenty of iffy man-advantages. Here a Penguin gets a penalty call in the previous game in Sunrise.

The home side started the match in a furious tempo and left the first period with a one-nothing lead (Evgeni Malkin scoring a nice backhanded goal in to the top shelf, from just outside of the crease, 18:31 in to the contest). Perhaps it lulled the Penguins’ stars in to a false sense of security and the Panthers were quick to take advantage in the second period.

Nick Boynton, back in the line-up after five games on the sidelines, shot an uncharacteristically well-placed wristshot-sledgehammer in to Marc-Andre Fleury’s top hand – right corner – to equalize the score. Nick wasn’t satisfied yet however and wanted more. Fed by Cory Stillman behind the net, Boynton loaded another shot from the point. Fleury saved this slapshot, but Kamil Kreps was in front of the goal, digging up the rebound and squeezing it in.

Although it was Brett McLean that was given the task to step in for the injured Nathan Horton, in his first line center position, it was Kreps that stole the show with his aggressive, gritty performance – earning him plenty of ice-time in reward.

Kamil Kreps was on the fly against the Penguins, scoring a goal and putting in an aggressive all-round performance that earned him some extra icetime. Here in the home game a week ago.

Keith Ballard then stepped up at the end of the second period and deflected home a cross-crease shot/pass from Ville Peltonen, to make it 3-1. But, like Boynton said in the interval “the game’s not over yet” and the Penguins came out with a fire in their belly for the third period. Jordan Staal capped an impressive overall performance by volleying home the 2-3 goal; only 2:20 in to the third phase of the contest.

The Pens kept up their unrelenting pressure on an outstanding Tomas Vokoun in the Panther goal and soon got the deserved equalizer; courtesy of Captain Sidney Crosby and a lucky bounce that had the puck deflecting off the post and then hitting Vokoun’s sprawling legs – deflecting back in to the Florida net.

Tomas wasn’t to blame for that goal, but nonetheless redeemed it by making a fantastic highlight-reel save, only moments later; when flinging himself through the air to make an incredible save on an open net chance. It was an arms-outstretched save that would have made any soccer goalie proud. Vokie now locked up his goal, threw away the keys and finished the game with no less than 47 saves to his name.

Tomas saw a lot of action in front of his net in Pittsburgh and was forced to make 47 stops. Here Campbell and Crosby are chasing the puck in front of Vokoun, with Skrastins trailing, in the previous match-up at the B.A.C.

The high amount of shots produced by Pittsburgh in this game (50!), and the previous one against the Panthers at the Bank Atlantic Center, is a direct result of new coach Dan Bylsma and his attack mined hockey-philosophy, as defender Sergei Gonchar described after the game: “We are spending a lot of time in their offensive zone. […] We made a goal for ourselves to shoot the puck as much as we can. We take shots and those shots are creating lots of scoring chances.”

It payed off in the third period as the game was tied at three, and in the ensuing shootout the Penguins proved far superior; scoring on two of three attempts (Letang and Malkin scored, Crosby missed), while the Cats tamely missed both their chances (Zednik and Weiss). Especially with Horton out of the line-up, Florida simply misses the skilled flair-players to be able to compete in a shootout scenario.

Hence, the Panthers should be pleased they came away with a point from a very difficult away game, but yes, one does get greedy and want both – as Florida coach Pete DeBoer admitted after this thriller of a game: "It’s a big point this time of the year, but we had the opportunity to get two and you get greedy this time of the year."

Yet, there is another opportunity waiting just around the corner – from which to take two points…

Next up is a visit to Buffalo for another crucial playoff-race game. Keith Ballard, I think it was, said it well when saying something to the effect of: “Each and every ‘next game’ is the biggest game of the season, this time of year.” So it seems when a mere point can throw a team up or tumbling down in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Sabres lost yesterday 2-5 against the Philadelphia Flyers, who on a different note look set for that 4th spot in the Conference, and the home side will consequently view the match against the Panthers as a must win game. Hence, if we manage to beat Buffalo (in regulation time) they may very well fall out of the playoff race; which not only means two vital points for the Cats, but also one less opponent to worry about down the stretch.

Sure the Sabres could still recover, as there are plenty of games left to be played, but their confidence would surely be severely ruptured by losing on home ice against Florida at this crucial part of the season. Not to mention that they are already three points behind the pack and would thus risk being five points to the rear of a playoff spot.

Nevertheless, Thursday’s game does loom large ahead with additional importance for both clubs. It’s just a shame that local TV, FSN Florida, won’t be showing the game….