Not much to say here regarding last night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Even though the Panthers scored first on a shortie by Radek Dvorak to take the lead, they gave up a powerplay goal with less than two minutes left in the first and allowed Tampa back into the game. The second period provided some false hope as Nathan Horton scored the lone goal giving Florida a 2-1 lead going into the final frame.
Now, all we needed to do was push alittle harder, play a solid twenty minutes and get a road victory and change our attitudes. Right? Wrong! At 7:17 of the third Martin St. Louis tied the game on another power play goal and you could just feel the momentum swing. Up to that point the Lightning were actually scrambling and looking a bit confused. But as the Panthers always seem to do, they gave the opposition an opportunity to take the game from them. And they did. When David Booth missed on a breakaway, Steven Stamkos picked up the loose puck, skated down the wing and took a shot off Panther goalie Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun was able to get his body in front of most of it, however, the puck trickled past him, and lay on the ice. While at least three Panthers were standing around probably discussing what time they are golfing today, Lightning forward Ryan Malone skated by and tapped the puck in for the eventual game winner. Game over, even though there was more than five minutes left.
Observations: The Panthers have been outshot 193-128. They have been outscored 20-10. The forwards can’t keep the puck in the offensive zone for more than 10 seconds. David Booth missed 2 breakaway chances. He has to make at least one of those. Little Stevie (Weiss) missed an open net and hit the cross bar. Kamil Kreps had 3 chances, but buried the puck in Nittymaki’s pads. Our second line seems non-existent. The only memorable thing about them is Frolik taking 3 really dumb ass penalties the game before against New Jersey. Is Cory Stillman still playing for us? Our defencemen insist on chipping the puck out instead of passing or, god forbid, skating it out! And last but not least, there is absolutely no physicality at all! How about actually finishing a check boys? You know, hit somebody!
We can no longer rely on Nathan Horton to salvage this team and hope that he provides the spark that we need. Tomas Vokoun, while I like him doesn’t deserve to be going through this. He is much better. Package Horton, Vokoun and Little Stevie, and get a goal scorer and someone’s backup goalie. Even Martin Biron would be a good compliment to Scott Clemmensen. And guess what Alan Cohen, Biron’s contract is pretty friggin cheap this year!!!
Cheers!
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The only action a coach can take when a player is not playing up to the coaches expectations is to bench him. But in our case coach Debo’s hands are tied. There is nobody in Rochester to bring up. If so, they would have been here already. That’s obvious since he has Koistinen, a defenceman playing forward on the 4th line since game one. So much for Duco, Taffe, Repick etc. Looks like they are waiting for the savior, Dom Moore, haha
I would just like to see him put Horton on the fourth line when he’s dragging his ass once in awhile.
For some reason, he always gets his minutes.
Yes, Dominic Moore! At this poiint, I don’t really care if he clears immigration. The anticipation of seeing how he’ll fit in doesn’t matter.
I was raised in the midwest where the Chicago
Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues ruled. Trying to be a Panthers fan is so hard. Not just because the team is not that strong, but if the management doesnt invest and commit themselves neither will the fans. The owners need to get some ballz, replace them with pucks and put a good product out there. True hockey fans are smart and loyal. Why can’t ownership be the same..
Couldn’t agree more. Here’s the problem. The salary cap is 56 million this year. The Kittie Cats are spending 54 million. They spend money like drunken sailors! Then they realize that they can’t get a quality player cause there’s no room left. So they just keep getting retreads.
That’s not a way to build a franchise.
You’re comments are right on Karen.
I feel the same, 25 year season tic holder in Toronto before coming south, played and coached most my life, past 10 years here until this year when I didn’t reup. This goes back to the stanley cup here with all “no names”. They still live by that theme.
No reason not to play Clemenson.
Love the city of Toronto. One of my favorite places. That being said, that Stanley Cup team of ‘96 had two things this team hasn’t had for at least the last 3 years.
A solid work ethic. and leadership. It’s too early to see if McCabe makes a difference as the captain, but the other guys like Stillman, Leopold, forget it.
Also, thanks to Jackass Martin for not trading Bouwmeester, we end up with nothing. Instetad of keeping the guy that didn’t want to leave Olli, we try to keep the one that didn’t want to stay!