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Matinee: Cats vs Catfish (Sounds Like a SyFy Channel Movie) |
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I’ll be honest when I say that this season is beginning to wear on me. At first I thought it would be interesting to have only games within the division, but as time has gone on, I’m getting tired of seeing the same teams over and over again...
So Groundhog Day resumes once again with an afternoon tilt against the Predators. The Panthers seem to struggle in matinee games, but I have to believe they’ll be pretty fired up for this one, especially since they don’t want to drop two to a lesser foe. It credit where credit is due. The Predators defeated two top teams this week when they beat Tampa on Monday and then Florida on Saturday. Let’s make sure we stop that today, boys.
Florida poured the shots on the opposition once again Thursday night, when they registered 41 SOG, but couldn’t figure out Preds’ goaltender, Juuse Saros - who turned away 40 of 41 shots.
The Cats should really look to pounce today after it was announced that Mark Borowiecki, Matt Duchene, Ryan Ellis, Luke Kunin and captain Roman Josi will be out of the lineup today. Add to that the fact that leading NSH goal scorer (Filip Forsberg) has gone scoreless in the last seven games. Of course, this didn’t play into Thursday, but it sounds good when you combine it with the five key guys who are out today.
Even Steven
While the Panthers dominated in the shots department, putting on 41 to Nashville’s 27, they ended up breaking even at the dot with both clubs at 50%.
Both sides also matched in the following categories:
Power Play: 0/3
PIM: 6
Blocks: 12
Speaking of blocks, how cool was this? Getting the fellas fired up for sure.
Anyways...when looking at special teams, the PK has been sharp, but the PP continues to struggle. Nashville sits at 69% when it comes to the kill, which is below the league average of 78.73% - so it would be nice to see Florida make some adjustments and get something going on the man advantage today.
Today’s Secret Word: Finish
Q has been talking about this idea of getting up early and holding the lead, rather than playing from behind (obvious stuff). The reality is that the Panthers set themselves up for this scenario to play out Thursday when they went ahead 1-0, but failed to put more in and hold off the opposition.
Credit to Saros for a solid game, but the Panthers failed to finish on a number of opportunities as well - Duclair being a guy that had some nice chances, but couldn’t find the twine.
The Panthers are 3-1-1 vs the Predators this season. Let’s see them make it 4-1-1 today by finishing the chances Nashville is giving them.
Dredger gets the nod tonight and the projected lineups are looking like this:
Mason Marchment - Aleksander Barkov - Carter Verhaeghe
Jonathan Huberdeau - Alex Wennberg - Patric Hornqvist
Frank Vatrano - Eetu Luostarinen - Owen Tippett
Noel Acciari - Juho Lammikko - Anthony Duclair
MacKenzie Weegar - Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle - Anton Stralman
Gustav Forsling - Radko Gudas
Notes and Bolts:
Some interesting notes from the Panthers website:
-- Spreading out the offense, the Panthers are currently the only team in the NHL with six 10-goal scorers in their lineup. Those players are Aleksander Barkov (12), Patric Hornqvist (11), Carter Verhaeghe (11), Jonathan Huberdeau (11), Aaron Ekblad (10) and Frank Vatrano (10).
-- “Ekblad ranks second among NHL defensemen in goals (10) and first in power-play goals (6). Over his last eight contests, he's registered nine points (four goals, five assists).
-- Radko Gudas leads the Panthers and ranks third in the NHL with 134 hits.
-- Hornqvist ranks tied for second on Florida in goals (11), including six on the power play. In 15 career games against the Predators, he's recorded nine points (three goals, six assists). In the midst of his 13th season in the NHL, he's expected to suit up in his 800th career game today.
-- Verhaeghe leads the Panthers and is tied for sixth in the NHL with 11 goals at even-strength. Over his past five games, he's accumulated five points (three goals, two assists).
-- Florida has gone 11-for-11 on the penalty kill over its last three games.
-- Noel Acciari, Huberdeau and Verhaeghe all took maintenance days and were absent from Friday's practice, but Coach Q said after that he's "thinking that they could all play tomorrow."”
The Deadline
The trade deadline is less than a month away and I suspect things are going to start heating up soon.
When I saw the below news, I started thinking about if the Panthers will be active at the deadline, and if so, would it cost them a piece (or pieces) like Denisenko? I guess it would depend on what/who they’re going after, but I wanted to ask:
What do you think the Panthers should do at the deadline? What are their needs? Who do they target and what do they have to give up?
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Let’s just get it done today, guys...Go Panthers!
Florida Panthers Blogger • 
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