At least that’s behind us.
A six-game losing streak can be more or less unofficially forgotten, as the Vancouver Olympic hockey tournament thankfully becomes headline news.
As for Saturday’s closeout, Florida showed up and gave a bit more than has been witnessed of late. That’s about it. Not a negative critique, just not entirely positive either. A point earned is something not to be taken lightly, since the Cats have sat on 57 points for an eternity.
No disrespect to the teams involved, both of which produced sporadic excitement, but neither appeared “into it”.
The Panthers – to their credit – competed. Given the insanity of the past 72 hours, that alone is quite the feat. Kudos to Peter DeBoer for keeping the focus among his troops, a number of which likely won’t be under his command come July 1st. Nick Tarnasky and Stephen Weiss scored in regulation for home club. And hark…a David Booth sighting! His first goal since returning to the lineup in late January unfortunately won’t count in any appreciable way, but it was a skills competition beauty, and just what he needed.
Boston looked tired, but mustered just enough mojo to outlast the Cats – and yes, another strong night from Tomas Vokoun (37 saves) – with a big showing from Mark Recchi (1g, SO gw) and Tuukka Rask being solid when called upon. David Krejci also scored for the Bruins.
The big story is truly Where We Go From Here, to be written in the coming weeks.