Panthers slap Canadiens 5-1, Weiss/Stillman have 3-point night

Bangin' away at work for the moment (hence the "phoning it in" atmosphere), but what a contest last night. Are we to get acclimated to this "winning" thing? A scary and frightening prospect, to be sure...but man is it sweet. Tomas Vokoun is back.

DIVISIONALLY SPEAKING

YESTERDAY IN THE SOUTHEAST

• The Hurricanes did the Panthers no favors by downing host Tampa Bay in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory, but we can all agree that the Bolts are quite probably officially cooked as far as the postseason is concerned. Heard any good Vinny rumors lately?
• The Isles built a quick four-goal lead over the Thrashers and held on to win 5-4. Talk about shaky leads. Atlanta's playoff hopes are beginning to exhibit indications of, well, sucking./

TONIGHT IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay (again?), 7:30p. Don't know why I'm not recycling old previews yet, but in the spirit of keeping the poop fresh, the Bolts host Philadelphia... in a classic...1990s Wales conference ...thing ...gotta get ...through this ...the Lightning has been hot lately, surprising more than a few clubs and collecting points that wouldn't have been garnered six weeks ago./

Other than that - which actually should turn into quite a contest - nothing of note is to be had here. Not to worry: the Eastern conference playoff candidates roll on:

• Pittsburgh @ New Jersey, 7p. Pens in Barry Melrose's favorite town for a pretty sweet matchup of Patrick Division foes. The still-Brodeur-less Devils shocked Boston on Thursday, increasing their division lead over the Rangahs and moving into second place in the East, while Pittsburgh hangs in there with 52 points./

LITTER BOX LINERS

• Miami Herald: Cats' confidence grows with another win
• Sun-Sentinel: Bouwmeester & Weiss use PP to lift Cats, Blog: Playoffs?
• Palm Beach Post: Cats rout Habs to close strong month
• Montreal Gazette: Panthers maul Canadiens 5-1
• Le Journal de Montreal: Les Panthers dévorent le Canadien 5-1
• AP via NHL.com: game recap/stats/video
• NHL.com's Frozen Moment: hopefully it's still there
• Panthers website
• Canadiens website

FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

• Cat Scratch (FLA)
• Panthers on the Prowl (FLA)
• Eyes on the Prize (MTL) an SBNation blog
• Four Habs Fans (MTL)

NEXT UP FOR THE CATS