The Panthers will look for some revenge tonight against the Boston Bruins after the Cats fell to them (3-2) in OT of their last meeting.
This is becoming a fun rivalry between two teams playing strong hockey. The B’s have picked up right where they left off with last year’s regular season juggernaut performance. At an impressive 13-1-3, Boston is atop the Atlantic Division. But don’t blink! The Panthers are right behind them in second place with a 12-5-1 record.
Boston is led by the talented David “Pasta” Pastrnak, who has a staggering 29 points (12G, 17A) in 17 games.
In their first meeting, the Panthers played their best 20 minutes of hockey (up to that point) during the first period. However, the wheels began to come off and Florida let Boston back into the game, ultimately losing the tilt.
Since that time, the Panthers have gone 8-2, and are a much different animal. The forwards have been great, but even more importantly, the defense and goaltending has been much improved. The Cats got a boost from the return of Monty and Ekblad, but guys like OEL, Mikkola, Kulikov, etc., have been been playing solid as well.
The duo of Bob and Stolarz has been awesome. Bob is in his “rock” form and Stolarz gets the job done when called upon. After a couple seasons of tandem question marks, I think Florida has found their pair for now.
I’ll tell you what…Monday’s win against Edmonton was my favorite game of the season so far. It had great pace, but more than that, it was just fun. Sloppy at points, physical, high-end talent on display, and so forth — it was wild and had it all.
It was also Stenlund’s break out game. I really like what he brought that night. Not to mention the addition of toughness/sandpaper with Jonah Gadjovich on the fourth line (much needed), and the Cats are becoming a four-line threat.
Tonight becomes a bit tougher with news of Barkov being out, but these lines are still lethal:
Looking forward to a real battle here!
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BTW - Kane watch is heating up and rumors are there could be news as soon as Friday or the weekend…
Have a great holiday, and go Panthers!
Florida Panthers Blogger • 
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