Hit The Ice:
The good news: the Panthers were able to finish a tough, close game against a playoff calibre opponent in regulation with a win on Thursday night. The bad news: the Bruins scratched and clawed their way to victory, keeping their six point lead intact for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Thursday’s game put a wrap on the Panthers season-long seven game homestand. Now the Panthers are on a quick two-game weekend road trip, starting tonight in North Carolina. Though the Panthers will be facing Metropolitan Division cellar dwelling Hurricanes, they are facing an opponent that is a bit more dangerous than their record would suggest. Can the Panthers find a way to make it three wins in a row? On to the game!
Know Your Enemy:
Panthers All-Time Record v. Carolina: 42-43-11 with 11 ties
All-Time Record v. Carolina on the Road: 15-32-3 with 3 ties
All-Time Record @ PNC Arena: 9-27-3 with 2 ties
2014-15 Season Record v. Carolina: 1-0-0
Last Game: 11/26/14 @ BB&T Center, Panthers won 1-0
Only one thing needs to be said about the Carolina Hurricanes since they last faced the Panthers back in November: McEichel Derby. This is a team that has embraced the tank, in an effort to increase the chances at acquiring a franchise changing player at the NHL Draft this summer in Sunrise. With 58 points entering tonight’s games, the Hurricanes would have an 8.5% chance of winning the Draft Lottery, if it were held today. Obviously, the team this year is not doing a whole lot. They sold off three notable players are the deadline, getting a nice collection of draft picks and a prospect in return. They pawned Andrej Sekera off to Los Angeles for prospect defenseman Roland McKeown and a first round pick. Jiri Tlusty was shipped to Winnipeg for a couple of draft picks. The Hurricanes also traded Tim Gleason for the second straight year, this time to Washington for a 4th round pick and Jack Hillen, who played four games for the Hurricanes before suffering a concussion. Justin Faulk and Eric Staal lead the remaining players on the Hurricanes roster, with 44 and 43 points each respectively. 20 year old Elias Lindholm recently had a huge game though. On March 8 vs. Edmonton, the young Swede had a five point night, including his first career NHL hat trick in the Hurricanes 7-4 barnburning win over the Oilers. However, that success stands alone as the Hurricanes are 1-3-1 in their last five games. However, do not sleep on this team. They have a 52.6% score adjusted SAT% over the last five games, and possess a Top 10 power play unit, and a Top 5 penalty killing unit.
The Rundown:
Panthers Leaders & Special Teams
Goals: Nick Bjugstad (24)
Assists: Jussi Jokinen (31)
Points: Nick Bjugstad & Jonathan Huberdeau (41)
SAT Relative: Brian Campbell (+3.8%)
Scoring Chances Relative: Vincent Trocheck (+6.6%)
Power Play: 15.8% (32 for 203, 27th)
Penalty Kill: 79.8% (166 for 208, 24th)
Hurricanes Leaders & Special Teams
Goals: Eric Staal (19)
Assists: Justin Faulk (31)
Points: Justin Faulk (44)
SAT Relative: Eric Staal (+6.5%)
Scoring Chances Relative: Eric Staal (+7.2%)
Power Play: 19.9% (40 for 201, 9th)
Penalty Kill: 85.9% (140 for 163, 3rd)
*SAT and Scoring Chances calculated at 5v5, having played at least one half of team’s games.
The Hat Trick:
Fast Rising Huberdeau: The calendar year of 2015 has been very kind to Jonathan Huberdeau. He and Aleksander Barkov have become the Panthers most consistent scoring threat since being put together in early January, and that threat has been enhanced by the arrival of Jaromir Jagr. Huberdeau ranks 29th among all skaters (Min: 100 TOI) in points/60 at 5 on 5 since the turn of the new year, scoring at a similar rate to such league luminaries as John Tavares & Sidney Crosby. He is also part of an eight player pack, tied for 10th in points at 5 on 5 with 19, a group which includes Evgeni Malkin, Max Pacioretty, and Matt Duchene. That’s pretty lofty company for young Huberdeau, who became the first of the Panthers young core players to reach 100 career points on Thursday night. He became the 4th fastest Panther to 100 career points at 181 career games, falling behind Robert Svehla (164), Nathan Horton (165), and Michael Frolik (178), while beating out David Booth (184), Kristian Huselius (190), and Radek Dvorak (218).
Don’t Jussi Us?: While the Huberdeau-Barkov-Jagr line grabs all the attention and accolades, the Jussi Jokinen-Nick Bjugstad-Brad Boyes line has been solid in their own right. In the last 10 games, Jokinen has seven points (second most on the team) to lead the line, while Boyes has six points, and Bjugstad five points. Although they have the lowest SAT% of the Panthers three scoring lines (51.9%), they are giving up the fewest SATs per 60 minutes of 5 on 5 play, and the Panthers have not given up a goal when all three players are on the ice.
House of Pain: Tonight the Panthers play at PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC, a place that has not been kind to our favored Cats. They have only won nine games in 42 appearances at the venue, getting outscored 134-95 in those games. In the last five trips to North Carolina, the Panthers are 1-4-0, having been outscored 18-10 and outshot 178-173 over that span. What’s the good news though? The Panthers have collected four of their nine victories at PNC Arena in their last nine games.
Projected Lineup:
Florida Panthers
L1: Huberdeau | Barkov | Jagr
L2: Jokinen | Bjugstad | Boyes
L3: Pirri | Trocheck | Hayes
L4: MacKenzie | Bolland | Upshall
D1: Campbell | Ekblad
D2: Mitchell | Gudbranson
D3: Kulikov | Kampfer
SG: Ellis
BG: Brittain
Carolina Hurricanes
L1: E. Staal | J. Staal | Lindholm
L2: Skinner | Nash | Semin
L3: Terry | Rask | Nestrasil
L4: Malone | McClement | Gerbe
D1: Hainsey | Faulk
D2: Jordan | Rissanen
D3: Liles | Bellemore
SG: Ward
BG: Khudobin
Courtesy of Daily Faceoff (Accurate as of 3:00 pm)
Closing Thoughts:
Relive the glory of Derek MacKenzie’s goal of the year.
