After losing their first game on Monday night to the Boston Bruins, the Florida Panthers bounced back by beating the then-undefeated Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Wednesday night.
It was nice to see the Cats come back after a loss, but even better because they did it with two key pieces in Montour and Ekblad sidelined with injury. One thing that helped this hole on defense was the Panthers’ dominance at the dot. They won a surprising 62.7% of faceoffs compared to the Flyers’ 37.3%. Insert Scott Steiner math promo joke (haha).
All joking aside, one cannot discount the importance of faceoff wins in all zones - especially the defensive zone. Owning this stat during a game means you’re winning and controlling the puck, thus dictating how the play develops (most of the time). This is especially important with key injuries plaguing the lineup.
Overall it was an entertaining game with the Panthers missing out on some opportunities (most notably Reinhart’s open net shank) and another solid game from Bob, which is great to see early in the season.
The Power Play regressed again, going 0/3. This slight backslide makes me realize that Ekblad really is the key to the man advantage unit under Maurice. They went 2/6 against BUF, and then 0/4 in BOS (the game Ekblad exited with injury). Someone needs to step up in Ekblad’s absence and QB this PP and find the back of the net.
Battle of Florida
The first official Battle of Florida game this season kicks off tonight when the Lightning come to town. The Panthers should (better) have a big chip on their shoulders after being swept by Tampa in the second round last season.
Florida is looking strong heading into tonight, owning a 3-1-0 record, while the Lightning are off to a slow start with a 1-3-0 record. But that doesn’t matter because the Lightning seem to always step it up and play well against the Cats.
The majority of Tampa’s offense is coming from its top two lines, specifically Stamkos, Kucherov, and Point, who have combined for seven goals and seven assists. What’s surprising is that Tampa’s defense is playing uncharacteristically shaky. In fact, Tampa is allowing 3.50 goals a game with nine goals allowed in their past two outings. Florida would be right to start on time, jump on these guys early, and not stop until the final horn blows. I’m looking to “Mr. Panther” Matthew Tkachuk to have a monster game. This is what he’s been waiting for and with a point per gam so far, playing out of his mind, I can only imagine he’s fired up to make a huge impact against the in-state rival.
The Panthers have shown positive glimpses of their new defensive-mind approach, where they’re able to suppress the opposition for stretches during each of their games this season - with the best example coming against Buffalo last Saturday. The Panthers will get a boost on the backend with the news that Montour is back in the lineup for tonight.
Let’s see the Cats put a bunch up and prevent Tampa from getting good opportunities. Bob gets the nod again in this big tilt.
Should be a good one tonight!
Reverse Retro Revealed
Not sure how everyone is feeling about these…but I absolutely love them! I’m really hoping they do something cool with the buckets, pants and gloves, instead of the plain navy. Why not jazz things up a bit for these sweet kits?
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Go Panthers!
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