Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

Nathan Horton has been out with a lacerated ring finger since the St. Louis game, on the 7th of March. He was projected to miss 2-4 weeks after the following surgery. He is now back on the ice practicing and is eyeing a return to playoff race action on Monday – when the Panthers host the Carolina Hurricanes in a Southeastern Division match-up that could go a long way in determining both clubs’ post-season futures: In or outside of the playoffs.

“I shot some pucks today and it felt all right,” said Horton on the Panthers official website. “(Saturday) I’ll try to do the same thing and skate with the team, then see the doctor in the afternoon and, hopefully, if everything goes well, I’ll be able to play on Monday, because it’s a big game.”

A big game it is for sure! And Horton has been sorely missed during his absence; in the 5 games he’s been out injured the Panthers have only managed to win one.

Nathan Horton is back on the ice after his ring finger surgery and is eyeing the crucial playoff game against Carolina on Monday as his return date to action..

He’s a big body with an excellent wristshot and generally good hockey vision. He’s been playing as a centerman this season, but is considered a natural right winger by trade. Considering this, and his 38 points on the season, it must be said he’s having a decent year. He certainly has a role to fill on the team anyway; as long as he continues to apply himself – the way he was prior to the injury.

Sometimes Horton has had a knack of disappearing in games and sporting a lackluster look. Fans have for this reason knocked Nathan about a bit and always seem to expect much more from him. During this year’s new look Panthers he has however started to find his way and when applying grit and determination to his trade; Horton is a very capable hockey player indeed.

His return bodes well for Florida’s playoff hopes.

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!

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!