Friday, November 21, 2008

Game Night

Already? It seems like just last night the Panthers were beaten by the Devils. Oh, right. It was just last night. So here we are again on another game day, the back end of another back-to-back road game. And it won't be easy. The Panthers opponent tonight, the Boston Bruins, have lost just 3 games in regulation this season. They have allowed the fewest goals of all Eastern Conference teams, just 45 all season. Combine all those numbers with the fact that the Panthers have scored more then 3 goals just once this month, and three times all year, it doesn't look good.

Then again, when the Cats have met up with the higher tier teams in the league, they have played well. A 4-3 win over Western Conference power San Jose back on October 24, a 3-1 win over Anaheim, and a well played 3-2 loss to Detroit makes you think that there is an ignition switch somewhere in the locker room. It just needs to be hit on a consistent basis. Florida plays well in spurts; a good shift here, a good period there, but then they collapse. Coach Pete DeBoer has done all that a coach can. He's mixed up lines, he's given locker room speeches, he's threatened to bench guys regardless of their salary. Yet nothing has stuck. After tonight, the Panthers have the weekend off, then a 3 game home stand. There is no reason to be tired or not go full throttle tonight. We're playing one of the top teams in the league, let's see what we got.

1 comment:

Whale4ever said...

I really feel for Coach Pete. That scrunched-face look is becoming his trademark, unfortunately. He's too good for this.