Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

FSN Florida’s play-by-play announcer Steve Goldstein frequently uses the phrase “the comeback cats” to describe the metamorphosis that the Panthers have gone through from previous seasons. Last year the Cats never seemed able to claw themselves back from adversity or overcome deficits, but this season it’s been a different story altogether.

Trailing a goal or two, as we did both yesterday and the day before (versus Tampa Bay and Philadelphia respectively), used to be reason enough to head for an early night’s sleep. Florida rarely, if ever, managed to stage such comebacks – in fact – going in to the third period with a couple of goals ahead; would not even that be a reliable guarantee of points. This has all changed this term. With character players and veterans such as McCabe and Stillman on the team, the Panthers may be down – but never entirely out of the contest.

The Panthers, after five days off from competitive hockey, started slowly both against Philadelphia and Tampa Bay; going two goals down in the first period against both those adversaries. Friday’s comeback against the Flyers salvaged a point, after losing the ensuing shootout, and yesterday’s game against the Lightning went a notch better – claiming all the spoils. And it was two very important points. It sends the Cats into eighth spot in the Conference; claiming a playoff berth at this moment in time.

It may not have been a beautiful win, as Florida Head Coach Peter DeBoer readily acknowledged after the game, but the steely resolution on display from his team, heralds a promise of better times ahead. The Panthers looked sluggish from the previous day’s shootout defeat to the Flyers and lost the first period, 3-1, much to the hometown supporter’s glee. The only goal scored by the Cats was by Gregory Campbell, which was a positive omen in itself for the visitors; as when he has scored this season – the Panthers have always got at least a point in compensation.

This game was no exception to that rule. The Cats came out hungry and started the second period by chasing the Bolts around the rink. The energy applied soon reaped its due reward, with Cory Stillman scoring on the visitors’ first power-play opportunity. By staying out of the box this period, the Panthers could roll their four lines and put pressure on Tampa’s weak backline; turning the game on its head and the hosts on their back feet.

Especially Nathan Horton, who up until this point had looked hesitantly hapless and lethargic – suddenly burst in to action. He was the one who fought for possession, and claimed the puck, so that Stillman could pick it up and discharge it into the top of the net. Horton got an injection of confidence from the play and assisted on the next two goals also. The game leveler was scored by Richard Zednik, who jabbed home a loose puck in front of the crease through sheer will of determination. The game winning goal was shot home by, recently prolific goal scorer, Jay Bouwmeester – with merely tenths of a second remaining of the second period. The third was period played out as cagy 0-0 contest.

The Bo goal and game winner was scored on a power-play; the best possible settling of scores – as Evgeny Artyukhin was penalized for an unclean tripping on Ville Peltonen. At least that was the official call from the referees. The television pictures however showed a very different story. It was a deliberately dirty challenge by the big Russian; which purposely targeted Peltonen – with the conscious effort to maim the opponent. Mission accomplished; as Ville struggled to get back on his feet and is now out with a lower body injury.

It remains a mystery how the officials could miss this blatant foul and how Artyukhin could be allowed to continue to play, after a measly two minute penalty. It was a career ending kind of tackle – that has no place in hockey; the NHL commissionaires must come down hard on this kind of behavior to set a firm precedence. Florida Coach Peter DeBoer said after the game: "It’s a dirty hit. […] We’ll let the league decide what they’re going to do with it." Whatever they decide, fact is that these actions aren’t, and cannot be tolerated within the game; it is a much worse offense than the much talked about badmouthing by Sean Avery and the penalty must reflect this clearly.

The only reason Artyukhin literally got away with murder on the ice, was the naivety of the referees. Perhaps not accustomed to players faking injuries – so that they won’t risk being penalized (unlike professional soccer where this is a common occurrence and is less likely to fool the hardened umpire), Artukhin successfully played hurt in order to gain sympathy from the officials – and only ended up getting the two minute tripping call. It is unfortunate, but replays clearly show the degree of the offense, and subsequent theatrics, and we can only hope the league will set a forceful precedence; in order to avoid any such future travesties.

However, the significant consequences of this incident are, and remain, that Ville will be out for an unknown period of time and that the Panthers scored the goal which won us this important game. 4-3 was the end result and next follows an imperative game against the Sabres on Monday at the Bank Atlantic Center.

Having now moved into eighth spot, Florida trail Buffalo with only two points and can take a decisive step toward the playoffs – by beating them on home ice. With the mental strength and aptitude displayed, so far in to the season by the Panthers, I for one wouldn’t bet against them winning on Monday. It’s another all-important test for this year’s “comeback Cats” and let’s hope they pass this one as well.

The Tampa Bay Lightning struck a stunned Florida Panthers twice.

Not once but twice.

Tampa Bay Lightning overcame its critics and clichés alike, to strike twice in back-to-back victories against the Panthers. It seemed painfully obvious in the first game that overconfident Cats were shocked by Tampa bolts out of the blue. It became a repeat performance in St. Pete Times Forum the next day, and this time Florida could not mount a spectacular comeback to claim any points.

One point out of a possible four must be seen as a missed opportunity; a chance to claim that 8th spot in the Eastern Conference – slipped away.

Good news is that closest competition Buffalo and Carolina also lost points in correspondent games. It is thus no catastrophe.

Although for Panther fans any loss to our Tampa rivals will be a dent in pride, hurting all the more due to the added insult to injury. Nonetheless, we remain only a win behind Carolina with games in hand. Hence, tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens takes on added significance. Florida need to shake down the turkey and disappointment, get rolling again and tighten up that leaking defense.

As good as Tomas Vokoun and his six defenders have been of late, it must be said they let us down a bit in the double header against Tampa Bay. We are no longer accustomed to letting in six goals in a game and because we lack the big guns going forward, we are unlikely to ever outscore teams in such gung-ho affairs. Tightening things at the back will again be priority, not least against a tough Canadien side. Having Craig Anderson back in goal may help, but a goaltender is only as good as his defenders are good at defending.

However, defending is not just a question for goaltender and defenders, Florida need to start their defensive duties in the offensive zone; playing aggressively, fore-checking and hitting opposing players. In the Tampa games it felt like it was here that the Cats lost control of proceedings. Lightning, led by the imposing 6foot5 skating barricade Evgeny Artyukhin, took the pant out of the Panthers, early on in the games. Florida were rapidly rendered vulnerable, and on at the back foot of proceedings.

Hockey is a team game and all Panther players must take responsibility for the tame displays against Tampa. Singling out Vokoun is unfair, but Anderson deserves the chance after his impressive performances this season. Coach Pete DeBoer is not immune to criticism either. While he has received plentiful of praise, and rightfully so, it could be claimed that he made some judgment errors in the Tampa games.

In the first game, he was right to extract Vokoun and let Anderson in to the game in the third period. It probably helped the team to get that exciting late goal, salvaging a point. He should however, in my view, have put Tomas back in for the ensuing shootout. Thomas is an excellent penalty goaltender, while Anderson clearly lacks some of those particular skills. No doubt he can acquire them over time, but this was not a time for taking chances. Vokoun had played in the game, was warm, and hungered for redemption. I think he would have won us the shootout. Going with Anderson, while one must respect the Coach’s trust in his goalie, was in the end – a lost point in my view.

Another possible mistake or talking point at least, was DeBoer’s choice not to utilize Anthony Stewart or Craig Anderson in the second game. After the first game it should have been clear that Florida needed more weight among the forwards, to be able to rock the Bolts. Meanwhile in goal it could be argued that Vokoun was not as sharp after, as before, the Christmas holiday. While one can understand the psychology in giving Vokoun a chance for some redemptive action, I think DeBoer missed that train in not using Tomas in Friday’s shootout. Not using Stewart is more puzzling however. He is a big body that isn’t afraid of throwing himself around a bit at opposing players, making important hits and ruffling some feathers. Nick Tarnasky could not do this alone, especially not against players such as Artyukhin.

Still, mistakes or not, there is no doubting the qualities brought to the table by Coach DeBoer. If anyone, he should be the right man to get the players alert and ready for today’s game and get them performing with the same heart as before the Christmas holiday. Best thing now is to forget about the Tampa games, re- load and focus.

Lesson learned and move on…