Hopefully the Panthers took the holiday break to heal up and get back on track for the new year. They will be getting back three pieces for tonight’s game against Montreal:
After a lackluster effort against the Islanders that lead to a 5-1 loss just before the holiday break, Matthew Tkachuk — one of Florida’s few bright spots this season — demonstrated his leadership qualities when he called out the Cats for a dismal effort.
Per George Richards of
Florida Hockey Now , Tkachuk had the following to say after the loss:
“Lots of mistakes. Probably cheating it is the best way to put it. You can’t do that against any team in this league. … We have to find ways to win. We’re so behind where we have to be right now. Every individual needs to find a way to make a bigger difference than what we have this year.”
Tkachuk’s comments are refreshing because they don’t echo the likes of Maurice, Goldstein, Olive, etc., all of which tend to try to spin everything in a positive light, when we the fans know that’s not the case.
Granted, he threw in some standard generic positivity, but the fact he acknowledged their lackadaisical (cheating) effort, that they’re behind where they should be, and that guys need to find ways to make bigger impacts, says a lot in terms of this guy taking over as the leader of this team (in my opinion).
Not much to say about tonight’s game…Florida is nine points back from a wild card spot and playing a team in last place of the shared Atlantic Division. Either they start winning now, or they can kiss the playoffs goodbye because they don’t have any more games to waste…
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Go Panthers!