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Claws and Engines: Cats vs Jets

November 14, 2019, 10:21 AM ET [0 Comments]
Matt Ross
Florida Panthers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
After a wild comeback on Tuesday night, the Panthers return home to face the Winnipeg Jets...but it's the Cats who should be flying high in this one (awful pun, my apologies).

If I had to sum up Florida's 5-4 comeback win against the Bruins in Boston, it would look like this:

1st Period: Defensive stalemate.

2nd Period: Massive Panthers collapse halfway through to go down 4-0.

3rd Period: Cats were mostly reamed by Q between periods. Goalie change. Come out with new attitude/sense of urgency and surge to tie the game 4-4.

OT: Good chances and close calls both ways, but they hang on.

SO: Cats get the edge (surprisingly)

*Edit: Throw in a power outage or two at the Garden




This was the first time Florida has ever come back to get the win after being down four goals - ever. It's also important to check out the below Goldie Tweet about the historic comeback:




We witnessed Florida Panthers history on Tuesday night. Pretty awesome!

But also kind of shocking...

While it was an awesome comeback, I have mixed feelings about the game. On one hand, it was so exciting to see, on the other, it was frustrating. It's a weird paradox with this team...why do they continually find themselves in this position of going down and having to desperately fight back? Where is the consistency and confidence from the opening puck drop?

I saw someone refer to them as the 'Cardiac Cats' and I think that's a perfect name for this squad right now. I think the fight they show at times and desperation play is a sign of a team that's putting the pieces together and close to turning the corner to consistent/commanding play (one hopes).

Or, they might just continue like this. What do I know? Either way, they took home four points out of a possible six on this little NY/BOS swing and that's not too shabby in my book.

Men of the North

Winnipeg is in town tonight and looking to bounce back after suffering a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the (very good) Colorado Avalanche.

If you remember this past offseason, the Jets' blueline was kind of dismantled with Trouba and Myers being shipped off in trades. The final blow came when Big Buff informed the team he was uncertain if he wanted to return to hockey - and then news came out a couple weeks ago that he had ankle surgery and the team was not directly involved in the decision. Sounds like a strange situation there...

Regardless of what's happening on the backend for the Jets, they sit in third place of the Central Division with a 10-8-1 record.

Aside from having some stellar players in the lineup, the Jets do some things as a team particularly well.

1. They're at 72.5% on the penalty kill. In their past seven games, they went 13-for-15.
That's an impressive 86.7%. During their latest four-game homestand, the Jets put up a spectacular 88.8% PK, going eight-for-nine. Wow.

2. To compliment those PK numbers, Winnipeg is the least penalized team in the league and average a 4.6 minutes per game. So they're rarely down a man. Great discipline with this squad.

3. In their last four games, they won more than 50% of the faceoffs in three of those games, going 129-for-218 (59.2%). We've talked about how important it is to win at the dot and the Panthers have found success when they're top dogs (err, cats) in this category. Tonight will surely be a test for Florida centers...

The Cats will have to disrupt Connor Hellebuyck if they hope to have success tonight. Currently, the Winnipeg netminder leads the NHL in goals saved above average with 9.62 - his career high GSAA in 2017-18 was 23.75. He's also tied for fifth in the league with a .928 save percentage.

The Jet have some bad boys in this lineup that Florida needs to be aware of. In years past, I've always liked the Jets game - they brought a mix of skill and heaviness to the Central. With the departures this summer and Buff's situation, I think some of that "heaviness" is gone, but they still have a lot of skill and speed.

I'd like to see Monty get the nod tonight. He played great stepping in for the Cats in the third against Boston. He made some fantastic saves to allow the Cats to come back and I think they should ride his confidence.

It should be a good one!




Lu on the Crew

No surprises here, but Roberto Luongo will join the Cats front office as the Special Advisor to the General Manager.

Per Dale Tallon:

"I've had the honor and privilege to work with Roberto during his time playing for the Panthers and am proud to welcome him to our franchise's hockey operations staff. Roberto always approached every game with an unmatched work ethic and we are confident he will take to this new role with the same passion. A cornerstone player in our franchise's history, we are thrilled that 'Lu' will have a hand in shaping our franchise's future."

And incase you forgot how good Daddy Lu was, the Panthers site will remind you:

"A five-time NHL All-Star, Luongo owns the Panthers franchise record for games played by a goaltender (572), wins (230), shutouts (38), saves (16,068) assists/points (13), single-season games played by a goaltender (75, 2005-06), single-season wins (35, 2005-06, 2015-16), single-season saves (2,303) and single-season shutouts (tied-7, 2003-04). His 572 games played in a Panthers uniform marks the fourth-most in franchise history by any player."

___________________

See you guys tonight and as always...

Go Panthers!
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