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Friday Caterwaul: Florida Panthers GameDay Open Forum

Since the (latest) NHL lockout was lifted, the Florida Panthers have had plenty of difficulty when facing off against Edmonton: in five games since 2005-06, the Oilers have skated away with four victories – two in the shootout – while sporting a 14-10 goal differential. The Cats haven’t defeated their Western Conference counterpart at home since March 8, 2002 – 5-4 in regulation – but don’t fret too seriously over that gaping decade span: they’ve only played three times from Sunrise in the years hence.

The Eastern Front

Rank

Team

GP

W

L

OT

ROW

PTS

GF

GA

Home

Away

Last 10

Stk

1

x-NY Rangers

73

46

20

7

43

99

201

161

26-9-2

20-11-5

5-5-0

Won 2

2

Boston

73

42

28

3

34

87

237

180

22-13-2

20-15-1

4-6-0

Lost 1

3

Florida

73

36

24

13

31

85

183

201

20-9-8

16-15-5

6-3-1

Lost 1

4

x-Pittsburgh

73

46

21

6

37

98

244

185

26-8-2

20-13-4

9-0-1

Won 2

5

Philadelphia

74

43

23

8

39

94

234

207

20-11-5

23-12-3

7-2-1

Won 1

6

New Jersey

74

42

27

5

31

89

201

191

20-13-3

22-14-2

6-4-0

Won 1

7

Ottawa

74

37

27

10

32

84

221

214

19-15-4

18-12-6

4-4-2

Lost 2

8

Washington

74

37

30

7

35

81

199

210

23-10-3

14-20-4

5-3-2

OT 1

9

Buffalo

74

35

29

10

28

80

190

207

19-11-8

16-18-2

6-2-2

Won 2

10

Winnipeg

73

34

31

8

30

76

196

211

23-11-4

11-20-4

4-5-1

Lost 2

11

Carolina

74

30

29

15

30

75

197

218

19-13-6

11-16-9

6-2-2

Won 4

12

Tampa Bay

73

33

33

7

30

73

205

249

22-14-2

11-19-5

4-5-1

Won 1

13

Toronto

74

32

34

8

29

72

210

232

16-14-6

16-20-2

3-6-1

Lost 2

14

NY Islanders

73

30

32

11

24

71

174

218

15-16-6

15-16-5

4-4-2

Won 2

15

Montreal

74

28

33

13

23

69

191

206

13-15-9

15-18-4

4-3-3

Lost 1

*

Why last night rocked:

  • PHI over WSH, 2-1 (SO): Ovi goal 26 seconds into the game was limit of Caps’ regulation scoring
  • SJ over BOS, 2-1 (REG): Broons’ recent road stretch now 0-4/

Why last night jonesed:

  • Thursday cruised by in jonesless fashion for the Cats

Panthers Playoff Update:

Why tonight is a Big Deal in SoFla, beyond the obvious:

Focusing on clubs within 5 points of Panthers (85P); teams FLA needs to lose in bold

  • BUF (80P) at NYR, 7 p.m.: Rags have won all three in 2011-12, two in OT/SO
  • WPG at WSH (81P), 7: Let the ‘Peggers have this one in regulation?
  • OTT (84P) at MTL, 7:30: Gulp…go Habs, go…retch /

Next up for the Cats:

Did you know:

Thursday’s Organizational News:

This evening’s NCAA action from NBC Sports Network:

  • None, but they are replaying the spectacular Cold War on Ice: Summit Series ’72 documentary at 8 (sorry, I’ve got plans…)/