Panthers gain point in 3-2 SO loss to Oilers
by Donny Rivette on Dec 7, 2009 11:04 PM EST
14 comments
No one said it would be simple. Or non-repetitive.
The Panthers continued the puck-attacking, aggressive play which has been a staple of recent games, yet fell to a hot Edmonton club who's enjoyed the road of late. A 3-2 final goes out to the masses, but there was a lot to like about Florida's final appearance on home ice for a spell. And that's likely a positive.
Regardless of almost non-existent success at home (unless blown-lead, one-point gains are considered "successful"), the examples we've seen lately have been far more hopeful considering the future. And for the record, Tomas Vokoun looked good.
Stephen Weiss' goal streak was shut down and Nathan Horton garnered zippo on the scoresheet, but for the first time in a long while, secondary scoring ruled the day as Dominic Moore banged home two to keep the game within reach.
And from a Florida perspective, a 35 to 28 shot advantage is most definitely a plus.
Yep...it's still a loss - the seventh in their past eight games - but in that time the club has turned over a new attitude which was obvious from the start. They were physical and quick to defend their zone. It wasn't perfect, but far superior to what was witnessed even four weeks ago.
And how about this: Rostislav Olesz scored in the shootout. Don't know what type of compromising photos Rusty must be in possession of with regard to his coaching staff, but he came through when called upon...with the very same backhand-to-the-right play we've all grown so accustomed to.
Anyway, it was Moore for the Cats (with assists from Kulikov and 1,000 game-dude Dvorak), while Shawn Horcoff and Lubomir Visnovsky gained goals from Robert Nilsson and Ladislav Smid. Horcoff gained the game-winner in the shootout as well.
Not a terrible showing by any stretch for the home team, but a road trip is probably very welcome among the troops.
Notes: Michael Frolik (0 points) had nine SOG. Weiss and Bryan McCabe led all skaters with 24:39 TOI (see Weiss play. See Weiss grow). Edmonton's Visnovsky led the visitors with 2 points.
Next up: BJ action from Columbus on Wednesday.
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It’s getting to the point where the “good effort” games have to turn into “good result” games. Lord only knows what are record is now when we have a 3rd period lead. Gotta think its near or below .500. Out working, out chancing, out playing teams and getting 1 “good try” point isn’t going to cut it. (see 2008-2009 shootout record…) You could almost see it in the Panthers’ play tonight, after the Oilers tied it in the 3rd, the Cats just seemed to be waiting for the inevitable go ahead go against.
And sure, the optimist that I am, or at least have tried to be for the last 10 years, says “Hey look! We’re only 2 points out of 8th now!” Is there anything that we’ve seen that makes you think this is really a playoff team? Do you really think the Flyers or Rangers will be this bad for much longer? The ONLY thing I’m holding out hope for at this point is Booth and Stillman’s return. Maybe, maybe maybe, we can actually get a couple balanced lines once the AHLers go back to the AHL. They are working their butts off, but the talent just isnt there yet.
Why wasn’t the call around the 8 minute mark of the 3rd period 2 minute instigating and 5 for fighting against Edmonton? Our guy didn’t even take his gloves off! (I can’t remember exactly who it was, I was yelling and ringing my cowbell a little too hard maybe, haha)
Go Cats and Go Canes!
It was Ballard, but as I recall Brule didn’t throw a bunch.
A posse ad esse.
The Copper & Blue|OilersNation|Hockey or Die!
Twitter: @JonathanWillis
Mail: jonathan.willis@live.ca
by Jonathan Willis on Dec 7, 2009 11:49 PM EST up reply actions
And of course that should be “punch”.
A posse ad esse.
The Copper & Blue|OilersNation|Hockey or Die!
Twitter: @JonathanWillis
Mail: jonathan.willis@live.ca
by Jonathan Willis on Dec 7, 2009 11:49 PM EST reply actions
Geez, LBC. Usually I agree with you, but to my eyes, tonight’s game was exactly what we’ve seen for a while now. Strong forechecking and pressure with a fair amount of scoring chances that don’t go in. Persistence until we get a lead. Carry said lead into the third period and then abandon what got us to having the lead. I posted on thenhlarena.com (where this very blog is in a popularity contest, please go over there and vote for it.) when we scored and predicted that we would start backing up and gie up a goal. And, sure enough we did. Why is Pete reining them in to “protect” a lead. Isn’t it obvious they can’t do it? Why NOT keep attacking? What’s the worst thing that will happen? Hell, we might actually win in regualtion. Has anybody on the coaching staff considered that? From what I saw, we were the better team tonight (again) and we get a lousy point to show for it. The “Well, we got a point” argument is NOT going to carry us anywhere near the top eight.
They definitely need a road trip and they better figure it out before they come home. That crowd tonight looked way sparse.
Oh I’m in agreement on the “playing for one point” theory: no way that’s ever going pay off in wins for the Panthers – or any other club.
We’re right back to last year: losing points at a blistering rate. No matter how close the team is to number eight in the conference, they’ll never close the gap at this pace.
by Donny Rivette on Dec 8, 2009 8:46 AM EST up reply actions
Otherwise, I enjoyed the game for what it was…a hockey game. Sucks that we have to divorce ourselves emotionally when the puck drops.
by Donny Rivette on Dec 8, 2009 8:49 AM EST up reply actions
Honestly, out of the 11 wins we have, we didn’t deserve half of them and we played bad in almost all of our losses before december even though they were close games on the score sheet. The bright side is that the last few games we’ve actually played like a good team (for most of the game), regardless of the results. In the long run its better to have a good team getting no results then a bad team getting the odd point they don’t deserve.
out of those 11 wins 5 OF THEM ARE IN THE SHOOTOUT.
how can a team only finish 6 games on top in regulation? Because its just embarrassing. I basically have been missing every game lately due to work, but I always know that I am going to catch 5 minutes of overtime hockey on the radio, which is just pointless because this team couldnt score 4-4 if it was 20 minutes of OT.
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| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington
|
82 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 121 |
|
Atlanta
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82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 83 |
|
Carolina
|
82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 80 |
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Tampa Bay
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Florida
|
82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 77 |
(updated 4.12.2010 at 9:21 AM EDT)
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Next 5 Games
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Vancouver
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Mon 10/11 | 10:00 PM EDT |
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Calgary
|
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Tampa Bay
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Sat 10/16 | 7:00 PM EDT |
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Dallas
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Thu 10/21 | 7:30 PM EDT |
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Tampa Bay
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New Jersey
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Thu 04/08 | W 3 - 2 |
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Ottawa
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Sat 04/03 | L 1 - 4 |
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