Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

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….

David Booth came alive on Saturday and scored his second hattrick of the season; helping Florida to a much needed 5-3 home success over the St. Louis Blues. Due to the teams around us in the playoff race continually winning their respective games, the match against the Blues suddenly had become a must-win contest. And what do you know; despite that victory we again face a similar situation and will need to leave Pittsburgh with at least a point – if we are not to drop out of the top eight of the Eastern Conference!

The Panthers will face a Pittsburgh side that is finally starting to look like the team that won the Eastern Playoff last year and gave Detroit a run for their money in the Stanley Cup Final. The despondent, emotionally uninvolved Penguins have gone and with new Coach Dan Bylsma it is a reinvigorated side that looks playoff bound. And as they return from a record winning trip, six consecutive victories, the Pens will be a formidable foe for the Cats tonight.

Many battles for the puck in round #3 of the Penguins vs. Cats match-up, will be expected tonight.

Life doesn’t get any easier at this time of year, in that hectic playoff race, either. The teams around us not only strengthened their squads at the trade deadline (except Montreal, but most noticeably in New York with the Rangers), but have also have found their own winning concepts and are hitting a confident stride.

Meanwhile in Montreal, the centennial celebrations took a sour turn as Head Coach Guy Carbonneaux got the sack. General Manager Bob Gainey thinks he can do a better job and has taken over the reins. This may come as a shock to most of us, but you have to admire Bob’s arrogant sense of self-belief, don’t you…

The Panthers on the other hand are coming off a very difficult February schedule and need to get out of the .500 mire quickly and start hitting higher notes if they want to stay in the thick of things. Winning one and then losing one is not good enough (yet, that doesn’t mean I think Pete DeBoer should get the sack, so Jacques, just because they do that in Montreal – doesn’t mean you can do the same… ok?)

Having had a long road trip in the February-March divide, Florida returned to Sunrise for two games; the first one a 1-4 defeat to the Penguins and the other a 5-3 win against St. Louis. Now follows a short road trip where we face two rivals in the form of Pittsburgh tonight (again) and then Buffalo on Thursday. These two games could decide the Panthers season. With race being so tight, it is these match-ups between playoff rivals that become crucial.

On the one hand you could say that winning against Atlanta or Pittsburgh equally will only give you two points for the effort, but on the other hand – when defeating a playoff rival you are not only gaining two points – but also taking two points away from the opposition. Hence, these games essentially become four point contests.

So, if Florida wins both these games we’ll only get four points for the effort, but we’ll also be taking away vital points from Pittsburgh and Buffalo. And at the end of the season this may very well be the decider. Furthermore, if we win these games we’ll finally be breaking out of that .500 jog and getting the necessary sprint in the Panthers legs; to make the post-season.

However, if we lose these two games we’ll be in a very tough spot indeed; we’ll quickly find ourselves on the outside looking in. It won’t be impossible, but certainly very difficult to squeeze back in. Then again, we win one and lose one – and we’ll be back in current limbo at the end of the week too.

The Floridian Injury Bug

This task ahead of the Cats is a momentous one and it doesn’t get any easier when two key players go down with injury in the Blues game and can’t accompany the team on this crucial trip.

Bryan McCabe was hit by a puck in the face and fractured his orbital bone and underwent surgery on Monday. Despite this injury McCabe played some 20+ minutes in the game after the accident, which goes a long way in showing the immense character of the man. He’s the leader on the team and the crucial veteran presence we’d love to have for these two upcoming match-ups.

There is no news as of yet how long the injury will keep Bryan out of the line-up, except that he’ll miss the next two games.

Bryan McCabe is an inspirational veteran in defense and quarterback in the power-play. He'll be out with injury for the crucial two game road trip.

The good news is that we have a very good defender that’s ready to jump in on McCabe’s spot; Nick Boynton. After his disciplinary problems, he’s been a healthy scratch of late, but before that Nick’s been a very solid defenseman on the Panthers team. McCabe will of course be missed on the power-play that he usually quarterbacks, but it will probably give new signing Steve Eminger a bit more of a chance to show what he can do in those situations.

Nathan Horton, who after a slow start in his new position as a centerman has really worked hard as of late, will now also be out through injury.

Apparently Nathan suffered a severed tendon on his left ring finger in the St. Louis game and had an operation to repair the injury. Reports say he’ll be out between 2 to 4 weeks; which could pretty much be the rest of the pre-playoff stretch, in a worst case scenario. But as coach Peter DeBoer said: “I’d think at this time of year it’s closer to two weeks, but it depends on complications.”

Nathan Horton will miss 2 to 4 weeks after surgery and his points (38 so far) will be sorely missed by the Panthers down the stretch.

Horton will be sorely missed. He is third on the team with 38 points and has been centering the first line for most of the season. He also scored against St. Louis and looked like he was in good form. Anthony Stewart will be the player entering the line-up in his place, after having been a healthy scratch in the previous match, but it will be Brett McLean that’ll be moving up to center the line with Booth and Zednik on the wings. If McLean doesn’t work out in that position, coach Pete DeBoer could always try Kamil Kreps or Gregory Campbell in that spot, but it is expected that Brett will be given the chance first anyway.

Penguins vs. Cats, Round #3

The first two games between Pittsburgh and Florida have both been rather lopsided match-ups; although the first one was arguably more of a beating than the second one…

Back on January the 3rd, the Panthers travelled to the steel city on the heels of a disappointing loss to the NY Islanders. They left Pittsburgh with an inspiring 5-0 win and started the impressive January run that put the Cats in a favorable position now in midst of the March madness of playoff-race hockey.

Pittsburgh at that time looked like a punch-drunk fighter reeling on the ropes. It may very well have started the countdown on former Head Coach Michael Therrien’s job. He made some badly masked comments upon Sidney Crosby’s leadership ability prior to the game and things just got worse from that moment on for the Penguins. However, they managed to somehow stay in contention and with a new face behind the bench – they are now one of the hottest teams in the NHL once again.

With the appointment of Dan Bylsma as Head Coach, Pittsburgh travelled to South Florida the day after the trade deadline, and with new wingers Chris Kunitz and veteran Bill Guerin on either side of Crosby, they ran riot in the third period in Sunrise. It was 1-1 going in to that third, but then the Floridian wall fell in and the Penguins merrily tip-toed around on the ice and won the game, 4-1 (see below post for details).

Now the third round in this contest is set to follow tonight – with another game in Pittsburgh.

Hopefully the visitors-advantage will continue in to this game, but unfortunately the Cats probably can’t hope for any more gifts from the Penguins this year. It will be a tough game for sure and we’ll probably need some luck to get away with a couple of points; but with hard work and determination it is definitely possible.

Either way, this will essentially be playoff hockey – already – and a game to look forward to with equal measures of hope and anxiety for Panther fans.

Everyone knew this was going to be a tough game for Florida. Since Dan Bylsma was appointed Head Coach in Pittsburgh, they’ve looked like a team reborn; playing hard, with heart and attacking the net. With Sidney Crosby back in their line-up, after a groin injury had sidelined him for the last four games, it was going to be all the harder for the home side.

The game set out in a furious tempo – to the delight of the big crowd at Sunrise. There was a good vibe in the house all evening; as the South Floridians finally start coming back to the B.A.C. After so many years of mediocrity, it would take plenty of success to convince the hockey fans to believe again – and now we do!

Fencing for the puck in front of the net. One of many goalmouth scrambles in an action laden playoff-race contest.

The first period was an even affair, with both teams carving out some quality chances. The goalies however were both at the top of their respective games and wouldn’t surrender any goals in the opening 20 minutes. The first puck to light the lamp came in the second period instead, 37:49 in to the contest.

It was Gregory Campbell that picked up a puck behind the net, drove a backhand at goal that Marc-Andre Fleury saved, but on the rebound Radek Dvorak turned up to tip-in the puck for the opening score. The crowd was on its feet celebrating, what could have been a back-breaking goal. However, returning Penguins captain Crosby had other thoughts; and before people had a chance to sit down in merriment, he squeezed himself through the Panthers back-two and shot an unstoppable shot – to tie the game at one – merely 24 seconds after Dvorak’s goal.

“It’s pretty deflating,” said defenseman Jassen Cullimore after the game. “You’re sitting on the bench and they come right back while they’re announcing your goal.”

And a deflating goal it was for the Panthers. The Penguins meanwhile, got a spring to their step and came out flying in the third. Tyler Kennedy scored after only 2:24 in to the final period and Kris Letang followed up that goal with one of his own, 4:37 in to the third. The rout was rounded up; 55:34 in to the contest, when Evgeni Malkin fed Tyler Kennedy a precision pass for an easy second.

The big crowd now packed up and went home frustrated. Except for the Penguin fans of course, that stayed on to give their team a standing ovation – for what was truly an impressive performance by the visitors.

Marc-Andre Fleury, in the Pittsburgh net, was first star of the game and here he makes one of many pad saves on the Panthers efforts.

The Cats meanwhile seemed to have skated out in the third with plenty of flat tires all around and simply couldn’t keep up with their playoff rival and the furious tempo they produced. The first home game after a long road trip is always a difficult one, hockey players will tell you, and that was proven yesterday. And it wasn’t due to a lack of effort that the Panthers lost; they simply met a better and stronger team on the night. Pittsburgh fully deserves praise for the way they played and won this crucial game; fair and square.

Jordan Staal attacks the net, but Tomas Vokoun is alert as always, and with help from his defenders, averts the danger.

Sure, Florida had some good chances, hit the post a couple of times, but fact is that Tomas Vokoun kept us in the game when we already should have been counted out in the second period. Despite letting in four goals, Tomas was stellar between the pipes and was kept very busy with no less than 47 shots directed at him. Marc-Andre Fleury in the other net – was the first star of the night – and he was equally impressive, and at times, looked almost unbeatable.

That darned puck just won't go in!! Nope, it's not in... Marc-Andre Fleury makes another good saves and deflects the puck wide.

Thing is, the playoff race is getting more and more congested and the teams involved in this race are all playing ‘desperation hockey’ right now. The Panthers therefore no longer have that mental edge on their opponents and can now begin to expect the team on the other side to play just as aggressively, and gritty – determined hockey, as they have been doing all year. Points will be at a premium and it will be a big scramble for a playoff berth; come April.

That makes for some exciting games ahead and all the more reason to turn out and cheer for the Cats. Thrills and spills are virtually guaranteed!

Tomas Vokoun makes a save and the airborne puck deflects over the goal.

It’s a bumpy road and much can happen in the 19 games that remain for the Panthers. Next up is a tricky contest that pits Florida against Western opposition – in the form of a resurgent St. Louis Blues on Saturday in the Bank Atlantic Center.

Good news is that the Cats have a knack of quickly rebounding from adversity, whether it is when going down in a game – or getting back up after a tough defeat. They still haven’t lost any consecutive games in 2009 and hopefully we aren’t going to start doing that now either!

A win against the Blues may very well be necessary or we’ll have to be prepared to plunge from sixth spot – and out into the wilderness – to ninth or tenth. It’s that small margins right now and as the teams around us, seem to just keep on winning, we must too!

Nathan Horton gets another glimpse at the net. Hopefully on Saturday he'll stop hitting the post and start hitting the net instead...

Steve Eminger makes his bow

Florida’s only acquisition on trade deadline day, defenseman Steve Eminger made his Panther bow yesterday; getting a reasonable amount of ice time (13:45) and making some hits (3), blocking shots (3) and moving the puck well. However, he spent a team high of four minutes in the penalty box and if he wants to fit in and play here – he needs to minimize that part of his game. Coach Pete DeBoer doesn’t like players who take penalties on a consistent basis and Nick Boynton knows all too well what happens to players that can’t keep out of the box…

Overall it was a decent debut, but we’ll be expecting more out of him as we go down the stretch. Otherwise, David Booth was back on the ice playing – which meant that it was the two Nick’s (Tarnasky and Boynton) that were the healthy scratches on the night.

Tomorrows transfer deadline will be eagerly anticipated by hockey fans everywhere with a mixture of dread and hope. Some General Manager’s will be more active than others and some will want to get their deals done already. In fact, some have. Here are the deals made today:

Sean Avery claimed by NY Rangers on re-entry waivers

No surprises here. The New York Rangers are obviously desperate and need any help they can get. From a financial (rather than sporting) viewpoint, this is a good deal for the Rangers. They get a big nasty centerman that can help them in their playoff bid and only need to pay half the bill. Dallas will lovingly pick up the other half, seeing as he was claimed on re-entry waivers. Avery has a $ 3.8 million yearly wage and it runs for another 3 year’s after this season. Coach John Tortorella who said Avery “doesn’t belong in this league” will have to learn to love Sean the way GM Glen Sather does…

Meanwhile, another recent Rangers waiver claim, Mark Bell, is sent to Hartford in the AHL to make room for Sean’s princely salary.

Nicklas Backstrom locked up in Wild

After a season of speculation that the Minnesota Wild may have to trade their All Star goalie Nicklas Backstrom on the deadline, if he didn’t sign a new deal – a new deal was signed. It’s a four-year deal worth $ 24 million, which will keep the inspirational netminder locked up to the organization for the foreseeable future. Nicklas had always said he’d like to remain with Minnesota and the Wild clearly wanted him to stay too. This is a great deal for Minnesota’s GM Doug Risebrough and the franchise.

Calgary claim D Nycholat on waivers from Canucks

The Flames were looking for some added defensive depth and got it for free as they claimed Lawrence Nycholat on waivers from the Vancouver Canucks, TSN reports. Calgary GM Darryl Sutter said in a statement: "We were prepared to give up a draft pick to acquire a depth defenseman." Well he got what he wanted and got to keep the draft pick; sounds like a good deal to me!

High profile players placed on waivers

In an attempt to shed salary before the trade deadline, some high profile players have been placed on waivers by their respective teams, TSN reports. The four most notable are:

Miroslav Satan was placed on waivers by Pittsburgh. The Penguins had hoped he’d take a wing spot next to Crosby, but the $ 3.5 million winger didn’t get any chemistry going with Sidney – and now he’s on waivers…

Brendan Morrison was placed on waivers by Anaheim.The Ducks need the cap space because of players returning from injury and Brendan never really got going in Anaheim.

Gary Roberts was placed on waivers by Tampa Bay. The 42-year old veteran forward is expected to attract some attention from tams around the league, including Calgary; where Roberts won the Stanley Cup in 1989.

Martin Gerber was (again) placed on waivers by Ottawa in the hope that someone would take his wages from their hands. Whether anyone is willing to gamble on the out-of-form Swiss netminder this time around however; remains to be seen.

More waiver-claim-eligibles: Brenden Bell was also placed on waivers by Ottawa, Aaron Voros by the New York Rangers and Erik Reitz and Eric Perrin by the Thrashers. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks put Craig Adams on waivers, while Islanders did the same with Jon Sim.

Burrows signed to new Canucks deal

The Vancouver Canucks gritty winger Alex Burrows was signed to a new four-year deal. The 27-year old has managed to work himself up from the ‘energy’ lines up to the top lines and is now rewarded with an $ 8 million dollars worth 4-year deal. It had been rumored the Canucks would trade Burrows if no deal was signed, but now those fears are dispelled in Vancouver and some will sleep a bit sounder tonight.