They Ain't the Isles; Panthers Simply Outworked vs. Penguins
by Chris S Roberts on Oct 12, 2011 10:01 AM EDT
in Florida Panthers News & Analysis
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I hate making excuses to pardon a loss, but before we get too far lets get them out there and out of the way. The Pittsburgh Penguins, though star-less they may be, are still a very good team. The Panthers players are still getting used to each other. Jose Theodore had sub-par (at best) defense in front of him. Add it all up and guess what; the Panthers lost. The way I see it, the Panthers are never favorites when matching up with the Penguins, especially when they meet in Pittsburgh, meaning this was probably going to be a loss regardless of the previous result against the Islanders. If anything, this game was meant to be a convenient benchmark for the Florida Panthers to measure up to.
Subtracting out a few untimely mistakes, Florida played surprisingly well to the final horn against an elite team, second game in, on the road. Had this task been given to the 2010-11 Panthers and the result would have been much more painful. It wasn't a great game in terms of coach Kevin Dineen's puck possession coaching style (still in its infant stages) but the team showed remarkable resiliency when a game like this could have been decided in the first period, not the final 10 minutes. The offense wasn't anything to gawk at, the defense was downright bad at times and Theodore did about all he could. Despite this, nobody gave up and let the Penguins have their way with a blowout. For a new team, that's a very good sign to see early on. In the end, it's only game two--the Panthers (and Dineen) will need to learn from this game and react accordingly.
Scattered thoughts:
- With three days to
restPRACTICE before the home opener on Saturday, don't expect the Panthers to come out so flat when faced with an equally tough opponent in the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dineen will be taking full advantage of the break to fix whatever he sees on the tapes. - The Penguins must have known the Cats were experimenting with the defensive lines because they took full advantage of the defense whenever possible. The Penguins gave Erik Gudbranson some trouble, Dmitry Kulikov got caught in a few tough situations and Mike Weaver jumped into play at some inopportune times. The final 4-2 score was more of a reflection of defensive breakdowns and turnovers than mistakes by Jose Theodore.
- Speaking of Theodore, if he continues to play like he has in the previous two games the Panthers may just surprise the experts. Theodore isn't great, but he might just be good enough. Ice a solid defense and give him some scoring support and everything will be fine.
- How about that Jack Skille? Skille must have signed away his soul to Dale Tallon for that one way contract because he's been playing like a man possessed. Skille was all over the ice last night and led to the Marcel Goc goal to cut the score 2-1.
- Per George Richards, Tomas Fleischmann has 23 points in 24 games spanning from last season. Its great Flash has kept his hot hands even after his unfortunate condition--of the big guns on the ice, Flash is definitely the most dangerous.
- The Panthers went 0-4 on the powerplay, Pittsburgh went 0-5 but great forechecking gave them a short handed goal. That one hurt.
- Somebody give Kris Letang a haircut!
- Still holding out for Ryan Carter to make an impact other then handcuffing his team with stupid penalties.
- Before heading to Sunrise for the Panthers home opener, the Lightning face the Islanders on Thursday. Lets just hope Dwayne Roloson continues the shaky play he exhibited against the Capitals.
Beating Tampa Bay has historically never been a huge accomplishment, lackluster Panther teams have outperformed the Bolts on many occasions, including a 6-0 blowout in last year's home opener. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be so easy this go around. Tampa has their eyes on a big shiny silver trophy and cant afford many losses to in-state rivals, meaning it will take a mistake-free defense and an orchestrated offensive showing to take out the Lightning. It will be very interesting to see how Kevin Dineen rallies his club following their first loss.
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Campbell for Captain!
Campbell, a 10-year veteran that owns a Stanley Cup ring thanks to his time with the Chicago Blackhawks, was a little more blunt and to the point when asked if the mistakes were a result of new players still working to get familiar with one another.
“We’ve all played hockey before,” he said. “Everybody knows what they’re doing. It’s time to play hockey, it’s the regular season and we have to be ready. I don’t really believe in that stuff and I would hope that nobody else does.”
via CBS Sports.
Steve Diaz
Twitter - @sdiaz6215
here...here...
Souper should be Captain…….If we could have won last night against Pittsburg in their home opener…..It would have started to undo ten years of people laughing at the NHL’s worst performing team…….a win would have been Momentous for this franchise…..after watching the Pens on Sunday and the Cats on Saturday…I really felt that we would play better against a tired Pens team…….We didn’t…they did. A little air came out of the balloon and we all came back to reality. We need a stong showing….A WIN….in our opener. See you guys there.
Versus (to their credit) kept pointing out how well all 5 pens played as a unit in contrast to the cats who looked _______. The season is long and will not be judged on how we play against the top teams. We need to beat the middle and bottom to really make a run. Momentum will build the longer the en be A is locked out. -→Soup and Skille the 2 standouts this year, by far.
Seriously Turtle, Smoke More Weed
by Mannieblunts on Oct 12, 2011 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
We need to beat the middle and bottom to really make a run.
Absolutely beautiful.
Litter Box Cats - Your tarp-free Florida Panthers Colossus
by Donny Rivette on Oct 12, 2011 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions
That has been the Cats’ weakness the last several seasons. Playing up to teams like Pittsburgh, Philly, Tampa and Chicago and losing to mediocre teams like Atlanta, Carolina, Ottawa and the Isles.
"We don't need the designated goon. Those fights aren't even fun to watch." -Mike Milbury
Litter Box Cats - Your Panthers Colossus.
Lots of things from last nights game…Jose has looked just fine in goal. Most of the goals given up with because of the play in front of him and one goal we scored on ourselves. Skille does look super, such speed and determination! Not too sure on the defensive pairings yet. I still think that Weaver and Garrison should be back together and then have Jovo and Gudbranson and Campbell and Kulikov. I know it is going to be a while till this team looks like a true team because they are new to each other so we can’t be too hard on them just yet. I still do not get why they don’t shoot the puck more from the points. As coach Dineen said last night, they need to get away from the cute plays. When I saw the stats I was actually shocked to see that the panthers outshot the penquins. I was disappointed in the faceoff percentage because that is something the Cats are usually pretty strong with. Looking forward to seeing how they come back and play ag Tampa!
Dara
I was disappointed in the faceoff percentage because that is something the Cats are usually pretty strong with.
Yes and no. If you look at last year’s team, of the guys who took over 100 faceoffs, we had six who were over 50%. Of those guys, the best one (Reasoner) plays for the Isles, one (Reinprecht) is in the AHL, one (Matthias) was playing wing and one (Santorelli) is on IR. The remaining two had a not good game. Weiss was 6 for 13 and Ryan Carter was 0 for 6. What’s interesting is Matthias is also on that line and ended up taking 6 draws and winning 4 of them. Kopecky’s not a great faceoff guy but was particularly bad last night. Goc is usually decent but had a night like Weiss. Some of it is Pittsburgh having goof faceoff guys but some of it not as Jordan Staal was way above his average.
So some of it was a bad night and some of it is missing Santorelli and playing Carter at center when Matthias is better at faceoffs.
"We don't need the designated goon. Those fights aren't even fun to watch." -Mike Milbury
Litter Box Cats - Your Panthers Colossus.
Just a few thoughts now that I have had the day to let it sink in and am not typing with a few drinks in me… :D
- Theodore looked solid enough to certainly carry the team like Vokoun did in the past. My feeling (OK maybe hope) is that markstrom is given the start on Monday and Theo plays vs Vokoun on Tuesday. Certainly agree with Dineen that the majority of those goals last night were not to be hung on Theodore.
- The defence really just needs to find familiarity. I too wonder though if Weaver and Garrison should not be paired, but also Campbell and Gudbranson and Jovo and Kuli. And if one of Jovo or Kuli needs to be sat, Ellerby can slide right in there.
- Campbell without a doubt is going to be HUGE for this team. He does it all and does it all well. I was all for Weiss as Captain, but now leaning towards Soupy. He just leads both by example and in the words he says. Great pick up!
- Speaking of great pick ups… error aside I have been and am ever more so am VERY excited about Fleischmann. Watched him in junior when I worked for the MJ Warriors and had hoped back the we could snag him. I think that is a move that is going to pay dividends many times over.
- LOVING Versteeg and all he brings. I think/hope he has found a permanent home with the Panthers.
- And no positive feedback is complete without mention that I am glad to see what Tallon saw in Skille now. I figured the man knew what he was doing last year, but now I am confident that he made the right move. Skille shows that he wants to be here and making a difference and I think that trumps the indifference we were getting from Frolik.
- And finally, it was nice to see the team putting up 30 plus shots. Though many unspectacular, I think they need to take some positives away from the game. They kept up with the Pens, just the timing was way off at times (Bad passes and just losing the puck) Its like I said last night, one month from now they win that game. It will come and certainly the team is showing signs that the culture is changing and better days are ahead. In the past few years, once the team got behind with under 10 mins to go, my TV set would have changed channels. The team I saw last night didnt sound liek the team that we can expect, but even being a lesser team, I found just watching them to be such a treat, and they are going to be a very enjoyable team to watch and be a part of again. And have not been able to really say that since the 93-98 years…. and I guess the Bure years.
I agree with most of what your saying, my biggest concern is at times they looked panicked and other times got caught watching and not moving. Other than that I think we shows flashes of how good we can be.
by Robert Wright on Oct 12, 2011 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Indeed, I mean we did score a couple and the game was 3-2 at one point. Clear up a few mistakes and the game at least goes into OT and we get a point out of it.
Fish, Heatles, Cats, Fins, Noles
by National Mario on Oct 12, 2011 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Tomas Fleischmann has 23 points in 24 games spanning from last season. Its great Flash has kept his hot hands even after his unfortunate condition—of the big guns on the ice, Flash is definitely the most dangerous.
Yep yep yep and yep! Even with the turnover!
RCR I have changed my signature 3 times today..
0G1A for Weaver doesn’t want to stay.. I will keep on it!
I hereby predict Captain Mike Weaver #43 will score 6G 20A -RCR
Be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions, always do your best...
Counting that turnover, Flash already has 2 goals :D
I’m putting here for reflection later on in the season…. #14 Tomas [Fleischmann] is getting a 40G season. FLASH COUNT: 1G/1A
by RPC on Sep 17, 2011 5:20 PM MDT
Find me on Twidduh And look at my Marmots
by Chris S Roberts on Oct 12, 2011 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Couldn’t help but to think, the Panthers may be the Pens in a couple of years. Gritty hard working players that know each other well. I understand what Soupy had the say at the beginning of the comment section but the Pens trust each other more than anything.
A lil thunder and a lil lightning is what the Cats are going to bring this year.
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