Tuesday Caterwaul: Panthers Open Forum - Bruins post-op; WJC continues

by Donny Rivette on Dec 28, 2010 8:57 AM EST

SUNRISE FL - DECEMBER 27: Goaltender Tim Thomas #30 of the Boston Bruins defends against a tip in attempt by Evgeny Dadonov #63 of the Florida Panthers on December 27 2010 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise Florida. The Bruins defeated the Panthers 3-2 in a shoot-out. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

Final - 12.27.2010	1	2	3	OT	SO	Total
Boston Bruins	0	1	1	0	1	3
Florida Panthers	0	2	0	0	0	2

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Sixty and six.

As one bizarre streak fell, another remained pleasantly intact Monday evening: the Cats finally lost their first match after sixty minutes of play, while Boston winger Nathan Horton extended his pointless stretch to six (!) games.

In fact, Horts, with 23 points, is only eight ahead of the defenseman he was exchanged for (Dennis Wideman). By the end, neither player really mattered in this one.

Though Florida - in front of an announced sell-out crowd at BankAtlantic Center - stuck to a tenacious and tight-checking strategy throughout the first two periods, the Bruins were able to claw a path out from under a 2-1 deficit, ultimately forcing overtime after David Krejci's second goal of the game at 10:35 of the third. Unlikely hero Blake Wheeler solved Scott Clemmensen in the shootout, setting up rookie Evgeny Dadonov (no points on the night) who failed to convert on Tim Thomas.

Easy to get lost in the "failed" effort, especially considering Florida had dual one-goal leads, including heading into the third frame. But where lesser Panthers squads would have wilted under the mounting of pressure of a Bruins comeback, this bunch - behind a very determined Clemmer - remained focused enough to essentially steal a point in OT. An excuse? Perhaps, but 33 points in the standings look a far cry better than 32 this morning.

Notes: David Booth and Mike Santorelli scored for FLA, with assists to Michael Frolik (2) and Bryan Allen. Michael Ryder (2), Zdeno Chara, and Wheeler added helpers to Krejci's goals. Clemmer stopped 40 shots, Thomas 32. Marty Reasoner led FLA skaters in SOG (4); Stephen Weiss paced with 23:30 TOI. Frolik regained the Panthers scoring lead with 23 points (8g). More from Stanley Cup of Chowder here. Next up: Montreal on Friday; Live Game Chat at 6 pm.

WJC rolls on:

Finland (0-1) meets Swtizerland (1-0) at 12:30 pm. Florida prospect Joonas Donskoi (0 points) represents for teh Finns.

Canada (1-0) takes faces the Czech Republic (1-0) at 4 pm. Forward Quinton Howden (1a) and blueliner Erik Gudbranson (1g) return.

Team USA (1-0) takes on Slovakia (1-0) at 8 pm. Drew Shore and (recent YouTube star) Nick Bjugstad are featured.

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Comments

Great game Panthers, but spare me the endless "Tic Tac Toe" plays, please....

I sit in my seat every game when the TTT plays start to develop and nobody around me sees it as good. Missed shots on goal without the prospect of a rebound or miss handled pucks as we invariably give up the puck with a bunch of fancy puck work as the defense turns it into an odd man rush. I go home every night and watch NHL on the Fly and rarely ever see scoring TTT plays from other teams. Usually one pass on goal. I just can’t believe that TTT is statistically more effective than shooting and closing for a rebound. We usually have 3 guys concentrating on trying to handle the TTT passes and not being ready for a rebound. Makes no sense to me at all. Once or twice a game is OK but not as much as we do it. Show me the stats on TTT plays vs others and maybe I will be a believer. But no one near me in the games thinks so as they scream "shoot the damn puck". Is this effective Jr. league coaching or is this NHL at its best?
GREAT JOB CLEMMER !!

by trapazoid on Dec 28, 2010 10:31 AM EST reply actions

Didn’t the Panthers have more than 30 shots on goal? Didn’t they play hard? Didn’t Thomas rob us on two breakaways and a few other times? I am not sure what you are seeing. What I see is a team that does not nearly have the talent (yet) that most of the teams in the league have. Yet they play hard almost every game. Do they blow big leads?: yes sometmes but it is the learning process. I am not sure what your expectations are for this team but it might be best to temper them a little and enjoy the ride that this team is providing. For me it is far better than I would have imagined.

by FL ELKs on Dec 28, 2010 10:46 AM EST up reply actions

Thanks for the positive commentary but you really didn’t answer any of my questions. There are few bigger fans than I even going to Finland last year individually to see my team play. (never missed one home game in the last few years). That being said, beautiful TTT plays are fun to watch but seem to be risky and wasteful. In my opinion they should be used as a more unexpected surprise than a routine type of play. Numerous times last night at the game the TTT plays failed to develop and the chance was lost to put it on goal. (What if we had put it on goal 40 times?) That’s all I am saying. Let’s play to statistical goal scoring plays. Please me a believer in the TTT play as a statistical winner. And Elk, I am totally satisfied with all other aspects of our game as we improve each game. But it isn’t good enough for me not to comment.

by trapazoid on Dec 28, 2010 11:27 AM EST reply actions

I think the TTT passes are more the type of players we currently have. Mostly playmakers and not to many pure scorers. A Playmakers instinks are pass first a scorer is shoot. In time that might change. In the future it would be great is we could add a veteran scorer.

by FL ELKs on Dec 28, 2010 12:43 PM EST up reply actions

NJ's Rolston on waivers

Um, no thanks.

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by Donny Rivette on Dec 28, 2010 11:43 AM EST via mobile reply actions

Yeah..

Definitely don’t see a need, especially considering the players we have coming back from injury, and the emergence of Dadnov.

by Yzerfan on Dec 28, 2010 12:00 PM EST up reply actions

Yup, solid character guy though.

by badger737 on Dec 28, 2010 1:29 PM EST up reply actions

hah, no way.

and the fire sale begins!

I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours

by BoulderDodger on Dec 28, 2010 2:59 PM EST up reply actions

At least...

The good folks over at “A Cup Full Of Chowder” acknowledged that there should’a been a boarding call on Lucic in the 3rd against Allen.

I could tell from about the middle of the 1st that the refs were gonna let ’em play, which is fine with me, as long as it stays that way for both sides the whole game.

On the flip side of the Lucic boarding no-call acknowledegment, they(Bruins fans) seem more like they would be able to do choreographed back flips before they gave The Cats any credit for playing a good, hard-nosed, competitive hockey game for 3 periods. I just it’s just an attitude that’s acquired from going into every hockey game expecting to win, and having the talent to back up that belief…….someday, maybe, we’ll know what that’s like again.

by Yzerfan on Dec 28, 2010 11:56 AM EST reply actions

I guess it’s just an attitude.

by Yzerfan on Dec 28, 2010 11:57 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah, that was a terrible no-call. However I will give the officials credit for calling Chara on diving. That was hilarious. Even I couldn’t fall that blatantly.

Both teams played lights out and the goalies were great, can’t really ask for anything else. The Cats lost a shootout to a team with better talent, but stayed with them all night.

by badger737 on Dec 28, 2010 1:36 PM EST up reply actions

yeah, and if it wasn’t boarding, it could have been charging.

I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours

by BoulderDodger on Dec 28, 2010 3:01 PM EST up reply actions

Backchecking was pretty non-existent last night. Both goals were a result of a forward failing to cover for a defensemen and the Bruins had about 10 3 on 2s. Other than that and the bad finishing, couldn’t really ask for more, team played pretty well.

The refs let them play which made for a good game to watch….. prior to the incident the Bertuzzi/Moore game was fun to watch too though.

by pukeoncops on Dec 28, 2010 1:16 PM EST reply actions

What game were you watching? There was a tremendous amount of back checking that created a lot of opportunities. The two goals were on breakdowns, yes, but the team played a tremendously solid game last night.

by panthersfan27 on Dec 28, 2010 1:46 PM EST up reply actions

I guess I exxagerated, there were instances were the backchecking was good, but the team gave up an AHL amount of odd man rushes throughout the game.

by pukeoncops on Dec 28, 2010 7:31 PM EST up reply actions

Personally, it was nice to see Booth actually get a nice shot off – he’s got to start finding some holes.

Other than that, it’s hard to feel bad losing that game. We had opportunities and while the second goal was completely on poor positioning, they played a good game. We got a point and didn’t completely collapse at the end as we’ve done in the past this season – a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Honestly, it was a great game to watch – well played by both teams.

by badger737 on Dec 28, 2010 1:33 PM EST reply actions