In a game that saw the BAC sell more tickets then they had seats (a crowd of 20,741 which had the arena 107.7% full), the Cats played another stinker, but at least this one was against a good team.  It seemed every time the Panthers needed a big save, none would be forthcoming. 

Craig Anderson stopped only 16 of 20 shots and was pulled early in the 3rd.  Vokoun stopped 8 of 8 in the 16+ minutes he played.  This was the 2nd time in 3 games that DeBoer pulled the Panthers goalie, a stretch that has seen the Cats give up 15 goals.  Coach DeBoer said after the game the move was made to give his team a spark, which is the usual reason he gives when changing goalies.  This is starting to get on my nerves; how about finding some other way of giving your team a boost other then messing with your goalies confidence.

The Panthers went 0-5 on the power play, including a 1:39 5-on-3 with the game tied in the 2nd period.  Less then 5 minutes later the Habs scored what would end up being the game winner.  Florida is now 4-37 on the power play (10.8%) in their past 8 games, a far cry from their 26th ranked 14.4% overall this season. 

GAME NOTES:

Jassen Cullimore returned to the lineup; he had missed the last 3 games with a bone bruise in his hand. 

Corey Stillman had a yucky -4 rating.

Kamil Kreps was placed in the injured list after hurting his shoulder in Saturday’s loss in Tampa Bay.  He will be out 2-3 weeks.

Rusty Olesz skated for the first time since injuring his groin on December 6th, but is still a couple weeks away. 

David Booth scored again, giving him 3 goals and an assist in the last 2 games.

Despite their recent poor play, the Panthers are still only 2 points out of the 8th spot in the East.

Montreal became the first team in NHL history to record 3,000 regular-season victories.  At least they did it in front of a home crowd.  


I hope these guys get their act together soon; I don’t want to get laughed at when seeing them in Pittsburgh on Saturday.