The Panthers will shake off the holiday haze tonight when the Battle of Florida kicks off in Tampa Bay!

Florida should be charged up for tonight’s tilt for two reasons:

1. They take on their hated in-state rival
2. They’re coming off a solid/chippy 4-2 win over the defending champion Golden Knights

Heading into tonight…

It’s a tight race when looking at the numbers between these two teams. The Cats sit in third of the Atlantic Division with a 19-12-2 record in 33 games — good enough for 40 points. The Lightning sit in fourth of the division. They are 17-13-5 in 35 games and have 39 points.

It’s about as close as you can get between the two clubs.

While I’m always geared up for these games on the schedule, we have yet to see Florida really dominate Tampa in the regular season. We have seen it the other way, with TBL taking it to FLA plenty of times (too many, actually).

But I feel a little different tonight after that performance over Vegas prior to the holiday break. The reason I feel more confident is due in part to what Verhaege had to say on the post-game:

Verhaeghe: “We’re grinding and trying to get pucks to the net. We’re getting really good chances, and some of them aren’t going in. To see a couple go in finally, hopefully we can continue that.”

— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) December 23, 2023

This style of play suits the Cats much better than the finesse game, in my opinion. The blend of talent and skill they have now is suited to grittiness, and that starts with Tkachuk - both in play and attitude.

Long have the Cats been joked about and pushed around. The rosters were often filled out with mild-mannered players who weren’t prone to fisticuffs, or even mixing it up via chirps. Sure, they’ve had guys here and there that could handle themselves, but the team as a unit has never been all that difficult to play against.

That has been slowly changing…

Tkachuk, Lomberg, Bennett, Gadjovich, Stenlund, and Lorentz all bring a tougher game and attitude. This has worn off on some of the guys around them. Reinhart has been having a career year. His offense is off the charts, but he also has more tenacity and an edge. I’ve even seen Barkov show some snarl throwing his body around.

I’d love for the Panthers to force their will on the Lightning tonight…let them know they were in a hockey game!
______________________

Go Panthers!

Join the Discussion: » 8 Comments » Post New Comment

» Ready for Round 2

» Battle for Florida: RD1, GM5

» Battle for Florida: RD1, GM4

» Battle for Florida: RD 1, GM 3

» Battle for Florida: RD1, GM2