And when I say naturally, I mean naturally the Panthers would come through with one of their best performances of the season when I just wrote their season was over and they were just not playing well right now.
Somehow they got the message, and thoroughly dominated the hottest team in the league. The Leafs were 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.
I envision head coach Peter Horachek put my last blog post up on a projector in the locker room and the entire team read it together. Then they collectively said, "Oh hell, no! Spiegel isn't going to throw in the towel for us!" I can dream can't I?
But their performance last night was so astonishing one has to wonder why this team can't put forth that kind of effort more consistently.
Except for one bad turnover by Tomas Kopecky just inside his own blue line that lead to Toronto's only goal, Florida flat dominated the game. Except for Tim Thomas, every player on the roster had at least a shot on goal on the way to an eye-popping 48 shots(season high).
Jonathan Huberdeau, who has been mired in the worst slump of his young career, had an assist but more importantly got into his first fight. Although a brief one, his sudden ramp up in energy and aggression brought the fans to their feet, and seemed to give Panthers a boost.
Not surprisingly when secondary scoring shows up for the Panthers, a win is likely. Tuesday was no different as Shawn Matthias, Marcel Goc, Jesse Winchester, and Tom Gilbert all scored for the Cats. David Clarkson scored for the Leafs.
While one win does not save a season on life support, the Panthers showed they still have pride in what they do and were not happy with three straight losses to end the last road trip. That included a 6-3 loss in Toronto.
The real test is making the style of play seen Tuesday the rule and not an exception. That has not been easy to do this season.
The Red Wings and Hurricanes on back to back nights await Florida before the Olympic break. Only two more Florida wins will have this team feeling confident that a playoff push is still possible after the break.
Dan Spiegel...
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