Gameday Preview: Bolts vs. Cats. Wear Your Blue. Or Not.
By Frank Rekas
VS.
1-2-0
Tonight the Florida Panthers host the cross state rival Tampa Bay Lightning in their home opener for the season. The puck drops at 7:00 P.M. so make sure that you’re in your seat early enough as there are a ton of festivities to take your mind off hockey start off the season here at home. Take a look here at all the shenanigans planned for opening night. Also make sure you wear your blue as this will be the first Blue Out of the year, which means that we’ll be seeing an awful lot of those Jet Blue colored third sweaters. Ugh!
The Lightning come into town with their guns blazing led by Steven Stamkos who last year tied for the league lead with Cindy Crosby for most goals in the NHL with 51. Stamkos already has bagged four goals in three games and will try to tie a franchise record by scoring in his eighth consecutive game. The Lightning are also looking to start 4-0 for the first time since their Stanley Cup winning season back in 2003-2004. The last player to score eight games in a row was the memorable Brian Bradley who accomplished the feat during the month of November in 1992.
The Lightning posses some potent offensive weapons that will compensate for their porous defence. In addition to Stamkos there’s Marty St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier, Ryan Malone, and ex-Flyer Simon Gagne. These guys are fast, quick and talented. Florida will need to be on their toes and make sure the forecheck stays aggressive.
Defensively is where Tampa is vulnerable. Besides youngster Viktor Hedman the rest of the bunch is fair. Dan Ellis and Mike Smith split the duties in net. Two guys that most likely won’t scare anyone, but it’s goalies like them that will frustrate you even more if you’ve been having trouble scoring.
The Panthers meanwhile are coming off a 1-2 western road trip that ended very positively with a 3-0 shutout over the flat or flummoxed Calgary Flames on Thursday night. While the entire road trip netted only two points, the Cats played with grit, poise and displayed a work ethic that hasn’t been seen here since the 95-96 season. Tomas Vokoun who has been sharp as a tack had this to say about the recent victory:
“This is my fourth year in Florida and this is one of the best games I’ve seen us play,” Vokoun said. “We were playing exactly how we wanted and it was a great effort from everybody.”
Scoring for Florida however has come from unfamiliar faces, and unfamilar lines. The bottom six has been providing the offence and Marty Reasoner is leading us in points. Scary as that is, those are the facts boys and girls. The newly formed Century Village Line with Radek Dvorak and Cory Still-Man and Reasoner led the charge against Calgary. The top line of Booth, Frolik and Little Stevie is struggling and you’ll see some shuffling going on with them. David Booth who has two assists picked one up on fourth line duty has gone down to the second line and Chris Higgins was moved to the top line. Hey Pete, that little shit Weiss hasn’t done anything yet, and it includes some poor play and giveaways. If he goes scoreless again tonight, I’m expecting a demotion for him too.
During the last 20 games against each other the teams have split, however the Panthers have won 15 of the past 21 games at home. The power play unit is still ofer and that’s gotta change. A team that has to work as hard as the Panthers do at even strength needs to score when they have the man advantage. I’m still screaming for the same thing over and over the past three games: Net presence! Put a big body on the first unit like Steve Bernier. The PK though is perfect. No goals allowed. Keep that up boys.
A win tonight puts the Panthers at 2-2, and will go a long way in the confidence building department. Tampa won’t make this game easy, but for a change maybe everyone in the building can act as the extra man and provide a little extra energy for Florida. A full house is expected.
Thanks for reading.
Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated.
Please visit our NHL main page: Too Many Men On The Site.
You can follow me on Twitter @TheRatTrick and please join our Facebook Fan Page.
Follow my colleague David Lasseter on Twitter @davidlasseter.
Want The Rat Trick or another Fansided network blog on your Android phone? Search the Android marketplace for your favorite Fansided site and download the free app!
Cheers