I stand by my comment that last game was a fun one to watch…(LOL). Obviously not the decisive win we would like, but it was tightly matched. Give Washington credit, they have been playing a lot better and kept it close with the Cats.
As far as the idea of not building a fan base off a game like that (from last blog’s comments), it’s only one game…I wouldn’t sink an entire idea of fanbase building off one game, especially after Florida has been doing a great job the past few seasons playing top notch hockey and reversing the old stereotypes about Panthers hockey.
And so the Cats will take the ice again tonight when they face-off against the Buffalo Sabres, and the good news is that Matthew Tkachuk is back in the lineup.
As
Jameson Olive writes:
“
Matthew Tkachuk and Kevin Stenlund will both return to the lineup when the Florida Panthers face off against the Buffalo Sabres at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.
Thankfully, Tkachuk (injury) and Stenlund (illness) each only missed one game.
“Both good,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said after this morning's skate.
Two key pieces for the Panthers, Tkachuk ranks second on the team in scoring with 65 points (20 goals, 45 assists), while Stenlund plays a key role on the team’s seventh-ranked penalty kill (82.6%) and is winning 53.5% of his faceoffs.”
Continuing on tonight’s tilt:
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Entering tonight’s matchup just two points behind the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand, the Panthers improved to 38-16-4 with a 3-2 overtime win against the Washington Capitals in their last outing on Saturday in Sunrise.
…
Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod in net for the Panthers.
Tied for third in the NHL with 28 wins, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has been nearly unbeatable for two months, going 14-2-1 with a .925 save percentage in his last 18 appearances.
In his career against Buffalo, he boasts a 13-7-2 record.
…
Trying to get back into the playoff race, the Sabres have won four of their last five games to improve to 27-27-4 and get within 11 points of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
In their most-recent outing, the Sabres edged the Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout.
Mittelstadt leads Buffalo in scoring with 44 points (13 goals, 31 assists), while Dahlin ranks second with 43 points (14 goals, 29 assists) and is averaging a team-high 25:40 of ice time per game on the blue line. Third in scoring, Alex Tuch has tallied 38 points (16 goals, 22 assists).
Sitting at 17-14-2 with a .913 save percentage, Luukkonen has started nine of the last 10 games for the Sabres. With no skate this morning, Buffalo won’t announce its starting goaltender until closer to puck drop. If Luukkonen doesn’t go, it’ll be backup Eric Comrie getting the nod.
Their second of three meetings on the docket for this season, the Panthers shut out the Sabres 4-0 in their last matchup on Feb. 15 at KeyBank Center. In the win, Anthony Stolarz stopped all 45 shots he faced for the Panthers, while Verhaeghe scored a pair of goals.
Over their last nine meetings, the Panthers own an 8-1-0 record against the Sabres.”
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Let’s get it done tonight. Go Panthers!
Florida Panthers Blogger • 
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