Summary:
Wakey wakey, Panthers fans! The team’s three day break is over and they have returned to Motor City to bring us back to hockey. The Panthers lost an absolute heart-breaker on Monday night in St. Louis, fighting back to tie the game, only to lose in the final 2 minutes of regulation. The Panthers now will have to find the resolve to carry-on and take on one of their divisional rivals. Can the Cats scratch out another victory at The Joe? On to the game!
Know Your Enemy:
Panthers All-Time Record v. Detroit: 8-13-3 with 5 ties
2014-15 Season Record v. Detroit: 1-0-0
Last Game: 12/2/14 @ Joe Louis Arena (Detroit, MI), Panthers won 4-3
Fun Fact: Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant ranks 15th all time in scoring as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, notching 467 points in his career with the team.
The Red Wings have played well in their last four games they have played since last playing the Panthers 10 days ago. They have gone 3-0-1 while outscoring their opponents 11-6. They even earned head coach, Mike Babcock, his 500th career victory in a 3-2 washing of the New York Rangers on December 6. Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Tatar have both been carrying the mail for the Red Wings, notching an identical 2 goal + 3 assist performance in their last four games. Riley Sheahan follows close behind with a goal and 2 assists. Its the same story as 10 days ago, the Panthers will need to bring it against this tough opponent.
The Rundown:
Panthers Leaders & Special Teams
Goals: Nick Bjugstad (12)
Assists: Jussi Jokinen & Aaron Ekblad (13)
Points: Nick Bjugstad & Aaron Ekblad (18)
Shot Attempts (Corsi) Rel: Sean Bergenheim (+6.1%)
Shot Attempt (Corsi) Differential: Dmitry Kulikov (+73)
Power Play: 14.8% (23rd)
Penalty Kill: 81.7% (15th)
Red Wings Leaders & Special Teams
Goals: Gustav Nyquist (13)
Assists: Henrik Zetterberg (20)
Points: Henrik Zetterberg (25)
Shot Attempts (Corsi) Rel: Tomas Jurco (+9.3%)
Shot Attempt (Corsi) Differential: Tomas Tatar (+102)
Power Play: 21.0% (10th)
Penalty Kill: 87.3% (3rd)
*Shot Attempts (Corsi) Relative calculated at 5v5, having played at least one half of team’s games.
The Hat Trick:
1. Food for Thought: The Panthers Penalty Kill has made 9 successful kills in a row coming into tonight. In fact, it was the Detroit Power Play that last broke through the Panthers PK. Want more? The Panthers have killed 26 of their last 27 penalties.
2. Monday night’s game in St. Louis was a punch in the gut for the Panthers. They came back from 2 deflected own goals and killed off 1:55 worth of 5-on-3 in favor of the Blues. They saw the hot streaks of Nick Bjugstad and Aaron Ekblad bring them back into the game, only to see the game slip away with 1:54 to play in the 3rd period. Can a silver lining be taken from this game? Yes, the answer is yes. Ask yourself this: Would last year’s team have had the sheer willpower to even make it a game after battling through that kind of adversity? The answer from this writer is no. Also, would last year’s team have gotten the same compliments from their opponents that the Blues gave after Monday’s game? Martin Brodeur and Ken Hitchcock had some nice things to say about the Panthers, giving them their props for a game well played. That would not have happened last year either. It may not have been a win, but it is undeniable motion in the correct direction.
3. Silently, one of the Panthers most maligned players has come to life recently: Tomas Fleischmann. Flash has been dogged for much of the last year for his sudden inability to put up offensive numbers. In his first two seasons with the Panthers, he averaged 2.4 points per 60 minutes of play. Then, last season and this season, his production has halved to 1.2 points per 60 minutes of play. That’s the difference between being a 50-60 point player and a 20-30 point player. Read: that’s not good… at all. However, he is currently on a 3 game point streak, collecting a goal and three assists in that time. This is the first time in nearly a year that Fleischmann has had a three game point streak. The last time was December 15-19, 2013, collecting one point each against Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa.
Projected Lineup:
Florida Panthers
L1: Huberdeau | Bjugstad | Jokinen
L2: Bergenheim | Bolland | Boyes
L3: Fleischmann | Trocheck | Hayes
L4: Kopecky | MacKenzie | Pirri
D1: Campbell | Ekblad
D2: Mitchell | Kulikov
D3: Olsen | Gudbranson
SG: Luongo
BG: Montoya
Detroit Red Wings
L1: Zetterberg | Datsyuk | Franzen
L2: Tatar | Sheahan | Nyquist
L3: Helm | Weiss | Jurco
L4: Miller | Glendening | Andersson
D1: Ericsson | Kronwall
D2: Quincey | DeKeyser
D3: Smith | Kindl
SG: Howard
BG: Mrazek
Closing Thoughts:
So, the City of Detroit paid their electric bill this week, right?
