Thought about headlining this one along the lines of “Scott Clemmensen shuts down Dallas” or “Clemmer stymies Stars” which would at the very least have been honest following a sterling six-save effort in the third, but, ya know…
The Panthers were never in this one, failing to find – or more honestly, grind out – a comfort zone as Dallas won the boards, all three zones, and seemingly every foot race to the puck. Simply appeared to be a case of the visitors wanting it more as Florida was a step behind the vast majority of plays. Only a very late but utterly fruitless goal by Stephen Weiss – with a slick assist from: get ready…Michael Frolik – denied goaltender Kari Lehtonen a shutout which admittedly had as much to do with the defense before him as it did the Panthers’ stunning inability to set up in the offensive zone. Dallas’ Tom Wandell (no…I haven’t a clue either) scored two goals while Jamie Benn leaves Sunrise with three helpers behind Lehtonen’s 27 saves. Bottom line for the Cats: This was not the team fans watched in the first four games of the year; absolutely no similarities whatsoever. The jump, the confidence, the effort, the speed, the coordination…all absent. Looking for happy faces? You’ll find ’em at Defending Big D this evening.
Notes: In addition to Weiss’ goal (+1), he topped Florida in SOG with 5. Five Cats finished with a minus-2. Defenseman Dennis Wideman miraculously led in TOI with 24:07…and a five-minute fighting major to boot. C Shawn Matthias managed 4 SOG in a miniscule 8:49. Steven Reinprecht did little to help his cause, with zippo shots in 9:29; not a good sign. Tomas Vokoun stopped 19 of 23. Moving along…thankfully…
Next up: Saturday vs. the Isles; Live Chat at 6:30.