Florida Panthers Drop Extra Point In Shootout Against Flyers

The Florida Panthers came into this game knowing that two points and a Leafs regulation loss, would put the Cats in the last wild card spot. Unfortunately, the Panthers fell short in the shootout and dropped the extra point in result.

The Florida Panthers got off to a slow start early in the first. Defense was caught puck watching numerous amount of times and forwards couldn’t generate any offense. It seemed that the first period would be an indication of how the night would be. Well, we were sorta of wrong.

After a scoreless first period, the Panthers found themselves taking the lead off a short handed goal.

Aaron Ekblad

undressed

Claude Giroux

by wind-milling him, and ripped it top cheese in the process. Let’s relive Aaron’s goal down below.

The short handed goal seemed to spark some energy into the Panthers. The Cats started to shoot on all cylinders and were taking valuable space away from the Flyers, in each three zones of the ice. The Panthers had some dangerous opportunities to put the game away, but couldn’t finish when it truly mattered. The second period ended with a 1-0 lead, thanks to yours truly, Aaron Ekblad.

As the third started, the Cats seemed to go back to their old ways from the first period. As they continued to sit back on the lead, it was James Reimer who stood on his head, to keep our one goal lead. Unfortunately, our luck ran out, as Valtteri Filppula evened the game out at one, with ten minutes left in play. The game was starting to go down hill at this point and we desperately needed to wake up.

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The Cats started to show good signs of pressure, after the Filppula goal. Bjugstad ringed a slap shot of the post and Barkov got robbed with 18.2 seconds left in play. It looked as if the Panthers couldn’t buy a goal, later on in the third.

As we approached overtime, both teams showed good signs of pressure in both zones. The Panthers and Flyers each exchanged multiple odd man rushes which led into scoring chances. In the end, no one could break the lock, as we were heading to shootout tied at one.

In shootout, Jordan Weal opened the scoring for the Flyers, taking the first shot of the shootout. Vincent Trocheck opted to shoot first for the Cats, but was denied by Steve Mason. Claude Giroux shot second for the Flyers, but was stoned cold by Reimer. Aleksander Barkov shot second for the Panthers and scored off a beautiful deke. 1-1 after two rounds of play. Jakub Voracek shot last for Philly and scored. With Huberdeau missing on his attempt, Voracek’s goal was the shootout winner.

In result, as the Cats dropped the extra point in shootout, they’ll be heading back home to take on the Dallas Stars on Saturday. A big game for them, as they look to grab two points off a struggling Stars team.

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