The Panthers took a beating on Monday night against the Arizona Coyotes, bested by Adin Hill, who was making his season debut - ugh...
I'm starting to feel like Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday with this team when he starts off that famous locker room speech with, "I don't know what to say really..."
This Florida team's most consistent trait is their inconsistency. That's the one thing we can hang our hats on each night - not knowing what team will show up, which is something we've become used to over the years. When does the consistent play (for better or worse) start?
For Monday's game, it started in the second when the teams combined for five goals in about five minutes. That's either entertaining hockey, or bad hockey, depending on your preference.
Even though they were only chasing one after the second, I felt like that the Cats fate was pretty much sealed for the night. It seemed like AZ was flying high after closing out the second with those two goals and the Cats were sort of reeling.
A couple positives in the game were Acciari and Hoffman scoring. Acciari has been great for Florida since signing with them this summer. It's nice to see him continue his solid play and get back on track in the lamp-lighting department. It's also good to see Hoffman score because that's what you brought him on board to do, but perhaps even more so...it'll hopefully help increase his trade value if that's the direction FLA brass wants to go in.
I like what Acciari had to say after the game:
"We need to just kind of dig deep here. We can't be going back and forth. We need to string together three, four wins in a row and kind of separate ourselves a little bit from the bottom of our (Atlantic) Division so we can have a little bit of a cushion. But right now it's not going right for us, but I have faith in this locker room and we all know what we need to do."
It's a little bit of a generic answer, but theres a lot of truth in it. Stringing together multiple wins would show the league and the fan base that these guys really are for real because I haven't felt they are for a long time now.
The Cats benefitted greatly from the hype of being pegged as the logical team to take that next step. This hype was only strengthened by signing Q and their offseason additions - particularly Bob.
Well, guess what...we're halfway through the season and reality has set in. We're seeing the legitimate teams starting to shore up and teams like the Panthers seem destined to bounce up and down the standings unless they get their act together.
Q's post-game quote feels appropriate for not only the AZ game, but a good portion of the season, too. Missing opportunities and not setting the tone...
"A disappointing game. Even though we're in decent shape with the lead, I thought we missed that first-period start where we didn't dictate the tempo or pace of the game. We're up 2-1 and we give up two quick ones and that changed the whole complexion of the game. In the third we didn't generate much. We had some decent looks, but you can't be happy with that."
Tonight
We know what this Canucks team is capable of. They absolutely embarrassed the Cats earlier in the season. But Vancouver was embarrassed in Tampa on Monday night in a 9-2 loss. So both teams should come out firing this evening...
I think the most important thing for the Cats tonight is for Bob to be strong. He HAS to have a good game. Prove to us that all the money will be worth it. Be
the man for this team and put them on your back if that's what's needed.
It'll also be key for Barky to get going. He's pointless in five games and flirting with going down the path of a slump.
These guys need to set the tone like Q said. Get that pace going early and let VAN know they're in for a challenge here.
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Let's get serious and back on track here, boys. The standings are starting to take shape and if Florida doesn't wake up, they could be on the outside looking in very quickly.
From
Litter Box Cats
"In addition to opening its four-game homestand with a disappointing loss, the Cats got plenty of bad news from out of town. Carolina stayed in Wild Card 1 with a 5-4 overtime win over Philadelphia. The Bettman point allowed the Flyers to jump the Panthers in the standings. Florida also got passed in the wild card race by Columbus, who edged Anaheim in late action from the left coast."
Go Panthers!
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