Last night’s game did not go the way I thought it might. I thought the Panthers would control the majority of the game and pull out a win in regulation.
This did not happen.
The Panthers came out strong in the opening minutes of the game and then Detroit took over for the remainder of the first.
From there, the game seemed like a back-and-forth struggle between two teams displaying moments of crisp play, and stretches of sloppy play.
The Good
I thought the young guys were noticeable. Obviously Heponiemi had himself a nice NHL debut, with the slender-framed rookie scoring the game-winner in OT off of a nice pass from Duclair. Credit to #91 for keeping the play alive.
Hepniemi’s goal, and his overall good play, earned himself First Star of the game. Pretty impressive for his first night of action and standing at only 5’10” and 155 lb.
Any time you have Q giving a rookie OT time, the guy must be doing something right. Speaking of which, here’s what Q had to say about the young Fin:
“He's got great instincts. He's a threat. He plays the right way. You're comfortable with him without the puck. It was a great play by The Duke [Duclair] getting it across to him, but great hands, great finish, great touch, huge win for us as well."
Tippett was noticeably improved to me. Maybe his brief stay with the taxi squad was a wake up call. He had a nose for the puck and looked like he was putting in a stronger effort than he did a few games back. I was really impressed by his shot too...what a release! He had a couple of really nice chances (that he generated). If he can build off that kind of that play, he might grow into the guy the Panthers see becoming for this organ-I-zation.
Barky scored again and is now tied with Scott “Mr. Rat Trick” Mellanby for second-most goals in franchise history. Once he passes Mellanby, Barky will have Olli Jokinen’s all-time Panthers record of 188 goals in his crosshairs - with #16 needing just 31 more goals catch it.
Special teams were on point last night - specifically the PK. The Cats converted on 2/3 PP opportunities, but more impressively (I think), was that they shut down the Wings on all four of Detroit’s man advantages. They killed off three consecutive Power Plays in the second alone. The Cats are now 12-for-13 on the kill over their last three games. In the words of Wayne Campbell, “Excellent!”
Then there’s Bob...I thought he played well last night, and, you know what? I’m glad! I know in the past I have been critical of the contract (and still am), but I want the guy to succeed - both for the team and himself.
His past two starts have been an improvement and aside from that soft shorty against CBJ, I can’t put any fault on him. Yesterday’s two goals were the result of a lack of effort by his teammates:
- The first came when a rebound squirted out to the front of the net and Huberdeau was a bit too lackadaisical and failed to tie up Mantha.
- The second goal was a result of forward support and Stralman abandoning their posts, and choosing to start rushing before the puck was in FLA control, and left Bertuzzi all alone out front.
BTW - while I wasn’t a fan of his uncle, I’ve kept an eye on Tyler Bertuzzi over the years because I really like his style of play. He would be great as a Panther. Just saying...
The Bad
The Cats gave Detroit four opportunities on the PP. While Yandle made a great decision to pinch in low in the dying seconds of the first to tie things up, he then received back-to-back penalties. As in, he got one penalty, served his time, came out of the box and within seconds, was called for another infraction.
As noted above, the PK has been stellar, but it will be tough to keep that kind of pace up. Florida needs to buckle down and stay off the kill. It’s inevitable that teams will start scoring on the man-advantage, especially when you’re giving them multiple cracks at it.
The Cats also haven’t been dominate at the dot. In fact, looking at the games thus far, their percentage is always right around that of the opposition - sometimes a little more, sometimes less. I would like to see them get on a stretch where they’re really controlling the dot - which will help when it comes to possession.
Something seems off with Huberdeau. Not sure if it’s just me, but he doesn’t seem like the same guy thus far into the young season. He has five points thus far (1G, 4A), but he just seems kind of “lost” out there. Harv and other fans point to the fact that he’s a pass-first guy and is struggling without Barky - whom he would often setup. I somewhat agree. I know Wennberg is more of a pas-first guy, too, but at some point, one of those guys has to decide to be “selfish” and start putting pucks on.
But that’s not what I have really noticed so far. What I’ve noticed is puck-handling blunders and poor passing decisions - one of which we saw last night that led to a goal when he tried to loft the puck through the neutral zone. These are pretty uncharacteristic of #11 and he just seems kind of defeated out there. At least that’s what it looks like to me from my couch...ha!
The Ugly
Plain and simple: they can’t win a game in regulation. Outside of their first win against the Hawks, their other victories have come either in OT or the SO.
They need to start controlling games and winning in a convincing manner. Same as yesterday, this evening is another good opportunity to try and do just that.
Preview
Here’s a nice little preview of the game for your pleasure:
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Go Panthers!
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