Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Cats vs Kraken

November 27, 2021, 10:06 AM ET [14 Comments]
Matt Ross
Florida Panthers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Capitals delivered the Panthers their third regulation loss in 20 games last night when the final horn sounded in Washington.

The 4-3 loss displayed the Panthers ability to battle back from a two goal hole but continued to demonstrate their struggles on the road.

Heading into Washington to face the second place Caps was going to be an uphill battle, made more difficult by the red-hot Ovi. Complicating the issue was the strange rotation taking place in Florida’s blue paint after an accidental collision with Tom Wilson that saw Bob moved in and out of the game (replaced by Knight) as officials ran concussion protocol (sounds like a lot of gray area after he was first analyzed) - thankfully he’s all good. And don’t forget about some bad defensive breakdowns throughout the game.

Ovi really is unbelievable. He is on pace to break Gretzky’s goal record (something I thought would never be done) and while it was a bummer to see the Cats lose, you can’t help but be in awe watching that guy operate. It’s always impressive witnessing a legit hat trick and Ovi is playing out of his mind right now.

Some positives from the Cats’ side were:

- Huby extended his point streak to six games
- Reinhart found the back of the net after being snake bitten the past few games. He now has 12 points (4G,8A) in 20 games
- Florida took advantage of the space Washington gave them on a number of plays, most notably Verhaeghe’s goal

State of Mind

At this point it seems we have the Home Panthers and the Road Panthers. The Cats at home play a confident, strong game where it’s almost like they know they’re going to win. The Cats on the road play a bit more timid game, often falling behind and having to claw their way back in. In a lot of ways Florida at home represents the new Panthers and Florida on the road reflects the old “Cardiac Cats.”

I think a couple wins on the road will snap them out of that “we’re not as good on the road” mindset but it’s just a matter of getting some consistency while traveling. It’s like they’re out of sync on the road and tend to make little mistakes that add up and they can’t recover from.



And with that the Panthers will be back on home ice to face the struggling expansion Seattle Kraken (6-13-1).

Seattle was blanked by Tampa 3-0 last night and will be looking to get a big confidence boost by beating the top dog Panthers at home. It will be interesting (and fun) if former-Cat/fan favorite Chris Driedger gets the nod in net for the Kraken - he will no doubt be looking to beat his old team.

If you remember the Seattle Draft was that of a strange one. Many people thought they would do something similar to Vegas - assembling a strong team out of the gates - but it was more a mix of odds and ends. It looked like they had decided to go the defensive-heavy route and be competitive by keeping games close with strong play from the backend, but it doesn’t seem to have worked out that way just yet.

The Kraken are last in the Pacific Division and sit 28th in the league.

While no game is a guaranteed win, the Panthers should use tonight to work on some of those things that are causing them issues on the road. There are certainly some kinks that need to be worked out like missed assignments in the defensive zone. One such example was in Washington when Forsling went to pursue a Caps forward behind the net, leaving Ovi wide open in the middle for a one-timer (which he scored on). Forsling should have stayed on Ovi. Those things are going to happen but they seem to be more frequent on the road for this team for whatever reason.

Looking forward to seeing Wennberg again.

In Other News

Gritty agitator, Ryan Lomberg, has been given a two-year, $1.6 M extension.



Duclair was scratched last minute in Washington and has a lower body injury that’s considered day-to-day. Hopefully we’ll see him back on the ice tonight. He’s currently tied for goals on the Panthers with nine.

Heal up, Duke!

__________________________

Time to hunt…Go Panthers!
Join the Discussion: » 14 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Matt Ross
» Struggling Panthers vs Struggling Islanders
» Panthers vs Flyers
» Florida vs Nashville: Apex Predator Mascot Showdown
» Woof!, Tampa Tonight, Paul Laus
» Pre-Postseason Taste: Cats vs Canes