Funny thing happened just prior to puck drop between the Florida Panthers and host Buffalo Sabres Friday night: blueliner Erik Gudbranson was scratched.
Yep, the very same Gudbranson who scored 1 of Florida’s 3 goals – total – heading into the Buffalo match. The move sparked a firestorm of questions from fans and media, as the only answer could be injury, right? Even Erik’s dad got into the act hours earlier, pumped for the match:
Looking forward to watching the @flapanthers vs Sabres game and @Guddy44 tonight
— Wayne Gudbranson (@wgudbranson) October 17, 2014
From the SoFla media, moments before start:
#FlaPanthers scratch D Erik Gudbranson … Colby Robak makes season debut in Buffalo v #Sabres
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 17, 2014
Jeez, Gudbransonn was scratched. Robak with Olsen #flapanthers
— Harvey Fialkov (@hfialkov) October 17, 2014
Don’t have any info on Gudbranson’s scratch; will try and get something next intermission #FlaPanthers #Sabres
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 17, 2014
It should be noted that Yahoo Sports, ESPN (yeah, I know) and even NHL.com corroborated the scratch. So Harvey and George are of course off the hook. We retweeted George’s initial post.
Then it got strange, since a certain number 44 turned out to be on the ice…
Well SOMEONE is wearing 44 for #FlaPanthers
— Donny Rivette (@LitterBoxCats) October 17, 2014
@GeorgeRichards guddy is in…#FlaPanthers
— CaGrega (@ChrisAGrega) October 17, 2014
#Sabres lineup card has Erik Gudbranson scratched; yet there he is out on the ice. Nevermind. #FlaPanthers
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 17, 2014
Both NHL and Yahoo boxscores have #FlaPanthers Guds scratched. Hope someone isn’t guilty of submitting an incorrect lineup…
— Donny Rivette (@LitterBoxCats) October 17, 2014
Photo proof of #FlaPanthers lineup card goof. Erik Gudbranson is healthy and playing. #Sabres pic.twitter.com/sRbz71bwxF
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 17, 2014
And the winner:
Holy crap. Guddys playing. Lineup card wrong. #FlaPanthers
— Harvey Fialkov (@hfialkov) October 17, 2014
In the end, Gudbranson played and Robak sat. Again. So what we have here is either an incorrect roster submitted to game officials (which could be trouble down the road for Florida coach Gerard Gallant), or media material was inaccurate. Stay tuned as we’ll be here tomorrow and every night as GuddyGate rolls on…