Game Day Preview: Florida Panthers Vs Ottawa Senators

Jan 22, 2013; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Montreal Canadiens center David Desharnais (51) celebrates a defenseman Andrei Markov (not pictured) goal against Florida Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen (30) as defenseman Filip Kuba (17) looks on during the second period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

The Panthers are glad to be home after getting their tails handed to them in Canada.  The first trip of the season north of the border did not go as the Panthers planned as the team dropped back to back games in Ottawa and Montreal.  What is even more worrisome than the losses is the way the team looked in the losses.  The Panthers were outscored 8-1 in the two games.  Florida will get a chance for revenge tonight against the 2-0 Ottawa Senators.  The Senators have looked good this season combining their shutout of Florida with a 4-1 win over the Jets.  To keep their winning ways going they will have to beat a Panthers team that is eager to prove their recent lack of scoring is an exception and not the rule.

Here is the Panther’s starting lineup per NHL.com

Forwards

Tomas Fleischmann-Stephen Weiss-Alex Kovalev

Jonathan Huberdeau-Peter Mueller-Tomas Kopecky

Scottie Upshall-Shawn Matthias-Drew Shore

Jack Skille-Jerred Smithson-George Parros

Defense

Filip Kuba-Brian Campbell

Dmitry Kulikov-Mike Weaver

Ed Jovanovski-Keaton Ellerby

Pre-Game Points:

• Kovalev has been moved up to the first line to play with Weiss and Fleischmann. If you are counting at home, that means we have seen four different players in four games filling in for the injured Kris Versteeg. As we have not seen much production out of the top line, it makes sense for Kevin Dineen to continue mixing and matching.
• With Kovalev moving up, Tomas Kopecky will take his spot alongside Huberdeau and Mueller on the second line.
• Filling in for Ed Jovanovski who was off on a maintenance day Tuesday, defenseman Michael Caruso broke his wrist.  As the Sun Sentinel points out, it is not all bad for Caruso as he will “earn the prorated share of his NHL $600,000 contract instead of his AHL $75,000 while he’s on IR.”
• Drew Shore will get to play in a second game with the Panthers taking the place of healthy scratch Mike Santorelli.
• The Panther’s marketing campaign this season is based around the slogan “Get It On” which I find unsettling for a number of reasons especially when it is in big-bold-in-your-face letters whenever you log in to the Panther home site.  It also of course makes me think about Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” which is good for getting pumped up for a number of things, none of which include hockey.