Game Day Preview: Panthers vs. Sabres

                                                                   VS.

Tonight the Florida Panthers take on the Buffalo Sabres at the HSBC (Hot Sauce Blue Cheese) arena in Buffalo        at 7:00 pm.   Florida comes into Buffalo having earned five points in their last three games which have all been shootouts, however they have lost four straight  and eleven of their last fourteen against the Sabres.  the most recent loss came on home ice as the Panthers gave up 3 goals in the first 4:37 of the game and ended up losing 5-2.  You may recall that Scott Clemmensen started that game, however was pulled after the second goal.

The Sabres continue to be one of the NHL’s pleasant surprises of the year starting out with a 12-4-1 record and sit in first place in the Northeast division with 25 points.  Ryan Miller continues his stellar play so far this season as he leads the NHL in GAA with a 1.77 average having won each of his last three starts while only giving up four goals in that span.  His record against the Panthers in his last seven starts is 6-1 with a 1.70 GAA

Leading the Sabres in goals is Tomas Vanek with six, and their assist leader is Tim Connolly with 11.  Connolly also leads the team in points with 15.  Balanced scoring and solid defence seems to be the mantra for the Sabres this year, as Lindy Ruff has assembled a team that accepts and is willing to work his system. 

As for the Panthers, Rhino continues to lead the team in goals with nine and points with 15 as he plays between       Lazy Ass and Cory Stillman, who has been playing better of late since this line was put together.  There are still some players that are looking for their first goals of the season as St. Dominic, Soup and Keith Ballard among others have been held off the score sheet.

The Little Weasel a former first round draft pick EIGHT years ago, leads the team with a -9!  I am curious to see how many hits he has as well, but in all honesty don’t have the desire to spend the time searching to find out he has less then one.

It will be interesting to see how many games The Stripper dresses for over this next little while as it remains clear that he is in the doghouse of head coach Peter DeBoer.

Tomas Vokoun pitches tonight as he should since he is the “hot hand” for the Cats, but look for Scott Clemmensen to get some action soon as he hasn’t played in a couple weeks.

Panthers game plan while I have not seen it should be the following:

Quick start.  There have been too many sluggish first periods.

Stay out of the penalty box, especially early. 

Fire a ton of shots at Miller every chance you get.  That means you Lazy Ass.  And stop counting to 5 every time you have a shot.  If you haven’t realized it, doing that gives the goalie a chance to get into position as you continue to shoot pucks into ther chest.  Ever hear of a “one-timer”?  Try it sometime.

A road win would be huge for the Cats as they get into a string of alot of games, so finding their legs shouldn’t be a problem.  I just hope they can find their balls!

Thanks for reading.

Cheers