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Ducks' Hiller pulls a Vokoun, shuts out Panthers 3-0

We here at The Box are not going to pretend to know what took place on BankAtlantic Center ice this evening. If ya weren't there, ya didn't see it. Based upon what we heard over the radio, this was ultimately a terrific opportunity for the Cats to go the blackout route, Versus or no Versus: there was literally nothing to cheer for once the first puck dropped.

Tomas Vokoun finally found himself in a game he couldn't singlehandedly win.

Observers knew the Panthers had scoring issues, and T-Vo had covered those concerns since the new year began. It wasn't going to last forever.

As I said on FaceBook, fans will now be directed to the rehabilitation of Nathan Horton; it's David Booth redux. As in "once he's back, it'll all come around". And the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'.

For his part, Vokoun stopped 22 shots, while Jonas Hiller halted 33.

David Booth was back to his old tricks, finishing with 6 SOG (-1).

Ryan Getzlaf had two points (1g) for Anaheim, who received a boost from the return of Teemu Selanne, out of the Ducks' lineup since January 13th.

Next up: Calgary on Friday.

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It wasn't *that* bad

The Panthers had some energy early, but as is usual, couldn’t finish. They were outshooting and generally outworking the Ducks up until the halfway point. That was when they started looking like they played last night. After that, it was pretty much over. They looked tired for the second half of the second and for most of the third.

The goals were likely a result of the team being tired as they were all turnovers on sloppy plays where no one could get over to cover fast enough. The first was an attempted Ballard pass to Weiss, but it was way off and Getzlaf just grabbed it and shot before anyone could react.

The fresher team won. Period. If they didn’t really need the points I wouldn’t even worry much about it, having been as entertained by yesterday’s win as I was and tonight being the second game in two days. I’ll expect a lot better on Friday.

Florida Panthers: Giving the league a punching bag since 2000.

by Johnny B on Feb 1, 2010 11:54 PM EST reply actions  

Wow, we saw different games...

I thought they got outworked more or less the whole game. And, frankly, I’m not so willing to give them a pass. Ballard’s giveaway for goal one was brutal as was the defensive coverage that led to goal two. They play back to back on the road often and seem to do reasonably well. Tonight, from my seat, I saw very few, if any good scoring chances. The power play looked anemic. Kamil Kreps has no business playing over Mike Duco, Kendall McArdle or Michal Repik in my opinion.

They are in the thick of an extraordinarily tight playoff race. They have little, if any, margin for error. Perhaps the Ducks were more well rested. Them’s the breaks. You still have to go out and try to defend home turf, even if it’s in front of 5,000 fans.

There wasn’t much to cheer about at all. It was a very lackluster, dare I say boring, game. The refs handed them nearly 4 minutes of straight power play time in the third when it was still 2-0. A goal there and perhaps we pull a point, maybe two, out of this one. Instead, the power play looks brutal and never even threatens Hiller. Not good.

Granted, you can’t win them all, but still….

by drscruf on Feb 2, 2010 12:01 AM EST reply actions  

Make no mistake, the game was as boring as all get-out. And a better team would have gotten a goal or two early. I’m just saying they’ve played far worse games this season than last night’s.

And your criticisms of the power play and Kamil Kreps are dead on. But the same could be said every night and I get tired of saying it. I’ve been saying whomever is responsible for the power play should be fired since at least late November.

In all honesty, this team isn’t that good and that’s why they can’t take control in a tight playoff race. However, the same is true of the Thrashers, Lightning, Bruins, Canadiens, Flyers and Rangers. The Panthers just have to be less bad than those teams to sneak into the playoffs. Not pretty, but that’s how it is. Any seemingly “upbeat” comments I make should be seen through that lens.

And for the record, I am so not giving Ballard a pass on that play. He wasn’t even looking and that’s inexcusable. He should never have tried to pass along the boards with Getzlaf being so close. If he didn’t think he could skate it out, he should have passed it behind the net.

Florida Panthers: Giving the league a punching bag since 2000.

by Johnny B on Feb 2, 2010 8:36 AM EST up reply actions  

Still dont have enough

While I could not listen to the game and obviously couldn’t watch it, I still believe that we are short on offence. I think it’s eight goals in the last eight games, or something like that. We are in a very tight playoff race as dscruf said and we just don’t have enough offence. We need guys that can finish.

Waiting for Horton will help some, but what the Panthers management needs to remember is that we have a bunch of games to win before Horton comes back. We can’t fall further behind.
The guys like Kreps and Campbell are not helping with regard to offence. We need more scoring. Anyone seen Rhino?

Making a trade for a scorer is the only way to bolster our team. Burkie made a great deal in getting Phanuef. I don’t see how Calgary thinks that they improved themselves by getting 3 players from one of the worst teams in the NHL. My point is that deals can be made and you must be willing to give something up to get something. We’ve been waiting a long time for certain players to produce, and they haven’t. Let’s move on.

Anyway, I have been saying this since Booth went down, and even before the season started, we need a goal scorer. Someone that can finish.

by The Rat Trick on Feb 2, 2010 8:27 AM EST reply actions  

9 goals in 8 games, one of those a penalty shot, and the 2 on Sunday both came from d-men. Is Nathan Horton really the catalyst to this offense? Hard to believe…

The truth is we have 1 good scoring line when everyone is healthy, and then a bunch of grinders\character\hard working guys who chip in now and then but can’t seriously be counted on to contribute. Stillman, Moore, Campbell, Olesz… the list goes on. They’re all great at what they do. Forecheck, dig pucks out of the boards, get the puck to the net… only problem is that they don’t have that scorers mentality. I’m not sure anyone on this team really does. So sure, making a move at the deadline looks obvious. But who’s gonna trade for a 3rd line checker? I guess the surplus trade bait we have could be a D-man, but our D (and Vokoun) is the only reason we’ve won anything lately. It’d have to be a top tier forward to mess up our blue line chemistry. Prospects and draft picks to a team that’s out of it? I could see going after someone like a Ray Whitney, but I don’t know that Sexton is a guy that can pull something off.

by Karl Selvig on Feb 2, 2010 10:50 AM EST up reply actions  

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Southeast Standings

GP W L OTL PT
Washington 82 54 15 13 121
Atlanta 82 35 34 13 83
Carolina 82 35 37 10 80
Tampa Bay 82 34 36 12 80
Florida 82 32 37 13 77

(updated 4.12.2010 at 9:21 AM EDT)

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