Keeping this one short because there’s nothing worse than losing a game you should have won.
Unbelievable...it’s a hard pill to swallow when you lose a game you were never trailing. Even harder when you factor in some of the performances of your guys.
Huby with five points and his first career hat trick.
Barky passing Mellanby for second in franchise goals (158).
And your offense producing in general.
Looking at the
5 Takeaways article on the Cats’ site from last night’s game and it reads like a puff piece. Their five bullet points are all positives from Florida’s perspective.
I get it. You have to spin the positives, and there were a number of them. But the reality is they lost a game they had no business losing. Not having the failed challenge call late in the third as one of the five takeaways - or some of the defensive struggles - seems odd to me. Those were major factors in the loss, and if you’re going to chart the “takeaways” that lead to the game’s final results, you have to include the bad things when the result is a loss.
The (Failed) Challenge
None of us have the hockey knowledge/insight that an NHL coaching staff does. But I think we were all surprised when Q called for the challenge in the dying minutes of the third last night. Two minutes left and you’re up by a goal. Why risk losing the challenge on a non-obvious situation (at least that’s how it looked to me) and give the opposition a PP that turns into a 6-on-4 once they get possession and pull their goalie?
From the Panthers’ site:
"Obviously, a disappointing point," Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said. "When you give them two [points], it's big turnaround, a big swing. Definitely disappointed in the way things transpired. I think we can learn from it, but definitely disappointed."
Argh...just a tough thing to watch unfold.
Tonight
One of my thoughts in yesterday’s blog heading into that game was to keep the Preds’ offense down and don’t let a team who has not won on the road yet beat you in your barn.
The Cats let that happen.
And in doing so, they undoubtedly gave the Preds confidence. The well-paid Matt Duchene who had zero goals coming into last night, notched two for himself.
The Panthers allowed 41 shots on net. That’s a lot of rubber fly in’ towards your blue paint! And it could have been worse because they blocked 14 shots. No doubt about it, they need to tighten things up here. Shot suppression is a must tonight.
I expect Nashville to come out moving tonight after getting their first road win. I would like to see the Panthers get back to that tighter overall team defense they showed previous to last night.
Not a whole lot to say otherwise besides, if you get the offensive turnout like last night and have the lead, make sure you hold it and get that W!
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Time to get back to work...Go Panthers!
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