The Cats have a knack at raising certain parts of their game, but never quite elevating the whole thing.
They started this Western swing out by going 2-0 against a couple weak teams in San Jose and Anaheim. They weren’t dominate performances, but they were wins that Florida desperately needed. They also provided little building blocks and opportunities for areas in the Panthers game that needed some attention: special teams, defense and pace/tone.
Any team can be beat on any night, regardless of record, but the first three games of this road trip were great opportunities to score some points in the standings. They capitalized on the first two, but failed against the Kings.
What went wrong?
For starters, the Kings are in dead last of the Western Conference with a 22-34-5 record. They’re also 30th in the league just above the lowly Detroit Red Wings, who are essentially an AHL team at the moment. GM Rod Blake has been working hard to trade the King’s vets in return for picks and prospects. This, combined with a great draft last year, is putting LA in a position to be a young/fast and competitive team in a couple years. Until then, they’re a mix of aging guys with big contracts (who Blake needs to move) and young guns. It’s been fun to watch this progression as the speed and skill develops there.
That aside, the loss moved the Cats back to fourth in the Atlantic as TOR jumped back into third, a dance they’ve been doing for the majority of the season.
This brings me back to the earlier point regarding the Cats ability to raise one aspect of their game, but not the whole thing...
While they were horrible at the dot wit a 35% to LA’s 65% success rate, they increased their physical game - outhitting the Kings 23 to 17.
This was small potatoes compared to going 2/4 on the PP. This was the Cats greatest achievement in the loss to LA. The Power Play has struggled all year. Actually, “struggled” isn’t the right word. I’d say the PP has been nonexistent for Florida. This was an area in previous years that was a major bright spot. They were once dominate on the man advantage and need to get back to that level of play if they want to be competitive and make the playoffs. While they raised their PP performance Thursday night, they floundered on defense and in net.
Typical. Misery loves company.
Credit to the Kings for doing their research and understanding they need to get pucks and bodies to the net. They recorded 40 shots, but more impressively, the knew to take advantage of Florida’s weak defense and often got forwards in behind them to setup in prime positioning down low. This, combined with some of Bob’s struggles to control rebounds and directional puck play, helped give LA the edge. I’m not faulting Bob by any means...three starts in four days and little to no defensive help can be a recipe for disaster.
Despite the loss, props to Gabriel Vilardi for setting a Kings franchise record by scoring under 10 seconds of his first shift. A goal the Bob certainly wanted back...
Trade Deadline Weekend
This is one of the best times of the year. It’s always so fun watching all the moves teams make and seeing where guys are traded to.
In pretty typical fashion, Tallon has said they don’t expect to make any big trades. It makes sense with the cap, but so far all they’ve done are a couple of AHL deals.
- Denis Malgin for Mason Marchment (F)
- Anthony Greco for Danick Martel (F)
I’ve seen a lot of chatter out there linking the Wild to Trocheck. Who knows if it’s true or not...there’s always so much stuff around this time.
While it always takes two to tango in trade deals, I really do think it will be a big swing and miss if the Cats keep the roster as is. I personally don’t have confidence in this current group. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I would rather get to the end of the season (despite the outcome) and look back happy that they made a move(s) and tried to do everything they could have done, rather than stick with the current crop of guys that I question whether or not can truly get the job done.
In nutshell for me: the risk of making trades if you can, outweighs staying complacent with the current setup.
Do you guys really want this roster to stay the same moving forward? What would you like to see done?
Personally, I don’t think anyone on the backend, except for maybe Weegar, should be protected. Same goes for the forward Corp, minus a couple guys, everyone should be available. If some kind of package consisting of current players and prospects gets you the help you need on the blueline, I say go for it.
A bold statement, I know, but I say take the gamble if the opportunity is there, Dale and co.!
VGK Tonight
The Cats faceoff against the their toughest opponent of this five-game road trip tonight when they clash with the Knights.
Vegas is in first place of the Pacific Division with a 32-22-8 record, nearly identical to Florida’s.
The Cats have struggled setting/building and holding the pace with faster teams and VGK relies on a speedy and furious attack. If LA was able to grossly expose Florida’s defense, then I imagine Vegas could have a field day.
Cats blueliners might struggle to contain the likes of Stone, Pacioretty, Marchessault, Stastny, Tuch, etc., to the outsides - especially the latter...Alex Tuch is a big guy that likes to make his home in front of the net and has the hands to do damage in close.
Vegas also added veteran defenseman Alec Martinez earlier this week when they worked out a trade with LA. I’m a big Martinez fan and would have loved to see him in Florida. Proven winner, smart and willing to sellout and block shots...I know the money probably wouldn’t have worked out, but, boy, could we use a guy like that on the backend.
Can the Cats elevate their play to complete with the Knights and get their first win in Vegas?
We’ll see come puck drop...go Panthers!
PS - keep your eyes on the trade tracker that’s going live on the homepage this afternoon. I can’t wait..!
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