The Panthers have scored 12 goals in their past two games. I haven't been able to see any of them due to getting dogged by the NHL App blackout restrictions. A bummer, but not a huge deal...I just wish they'd post the highlights/condensed version at least.
Hoping I can catch the tilt tonight!
Anyways...
The Cats kept the offense rolling on Tuesday when they downed the Lightning 6-3. It was encouraging that all six goals came against Tampa's top gun, Andrei Vasilevskiy. Bob also received his first taste of action as a Panther, where he recorded 31:08 minutes in the blue paint and stopped 12 of 14 shots, before conceding the net to Chris Driedger - who finished the night with seven saves on eight shots.
The scoring recap below:
1st Period
- Frank Vatrano (G), Borgstrom (A), Ekblad (A)
2nd Period
- Barkov (G), Huberdeau (A), Dadonov (A) - Barkov (G), unassisted - Huberdeau (G), Barkov (A), Dadonov (A) - Toninato (G), Hunt (A), Ekblad (A)
3rd Period
- Malgin (G), Trocheck (A), Hoffman (A)
While it wasn't by a large margin, it was nice to see the Panthers outshoot the Lightning 24-22. I would have liked to see the hits tally be a bit closer, since Tampa out-hit the Cats 21-13. I think Acciari will certainly help boost these numbers bit as the regular season comes closer.
I read that the Cats seemed to be crashing the net a lot. This is excellent news to hear. No more flybys or peeling off. Get right in that crease and get after it!
Above All: Pace
Perhaps the best thing I've been seeing this preseason is the players buying into Q's system. There's no doubt about it that the past couple years felt like the Cats were kind of just going through the motions and "floating" through the season. There seemed to be no real direction.
Q has come in and given these guys the direction they need and a goal for them to shot for. The idea is simple: Q wants the pace ramped up. He wants these guys working hard and playing an up-tempo game every night. The NHL is only getting faster and the Cats have talent to keep up and compete, but they need to be conditioned to do so and that's what this training camp and preseason's focus has been on.
"We've just got keep going, keep climbing. We've got a new system. We really like it. We've just got to work hard every night and we should be good." - Hubby
Q on the continued work of certain aspects of the game prior to the start of the season (from the Panthers site):
"It's preseason," Quenneville said of the penalty kill. "There's some things that we're trying to improve on, talk about and try to get more familiar with. You still haven't seen teams put in the special teams work at this time on the power play. I'm sure over the next couple exhibition games, you know that's going to be a focus going into the start of the regular season."
I the below video from yesterday's practice is a good testament to Q's system and player buy-in.
Keeping up and beating a team like Tampa on Tuesday is an encouraging mark in this preseason. Tonight will be another big test against the same foe. Tampa is a good squad to use as a benchmark for your team. They've been a solid organization for a number of years and I think the Cats being able to keep pace and beat them (as they did earlier this week), should be seen as a positive in terms of overall growth for this Florida team.
Down to 25
The Panthers have trimmed the roster yet again, this time narrowing it down to 25 guys. The biggest name being Troy Brouwer released from his PTO. Goaltender Chris Driedger was waived and defenseman Ian McCoshen and forward Anthony Greco have bee reassigned to the Thunderbirds. I think Greco needs to pass waivers, though...that one could be interesting.
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Florida hits the ice again against the Lightning tonight at 6 CT, 7 ET
Go Panthers!