The Florida Panthers difficult road to the playoffs took a turn for the worse on Sunday as some of the teams they are trying to catch in Eastern Conference wild card race all recorded impressive victories.
Sparked by Dylan Cozens first career hat trick, the Buffalo Sabres pounded the Washington Capitals by a 7-4 count to post their third straight victory to start the day off on sour note for the Cats.
The New York Islanders followed up Buffalo’s win with a 4-0 shutout of the struggling Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre. Semyon Varlamov stopped 32 shots to post his second shutout of the season.
And to throw a little more salt in the wound, the Pittsburgh Penguin stomped the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 at PPG Paints Arena. Great, now the Panthers will be facing a pissed-off Lightning team looking to bounce back from a bad loss on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.
So, today’s standing still find the Panthers in 11th place in the conference, with the standings look lie this:
- WC1: New York Islanders – 69 points / 63 games played
- WC2: Pittsburgh Penguins – 67 points / 59 games played
- 9th: Buffalo Sabres – 66 points / 58 games played
- 10th: Detroit Red Wings: – 64 / points / 58 games played
- 11th: Florida Panthers – 64 points / 61 games played/
AHL
The Charlotte Checkers finished a busy weekend with a 1-1-1 record after a 5-2 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds on Sunday.
Lucas Carlsson set a new franchise record for defensemen with his 14th goal of the season. Why isn’t he on the big club, again?
Gerry Mayhew scored the other Checkers goal (a PPG) with the lone assist going to rookie Santtu Kinnunen.
Mack Guzda gave up four goals on 21 shots and didn;t return for the second period. J.F. stopped 18 of 19 shots in relief.