Looking to forget last night, the Panthers will take on the Canadiens in Montreal for the first time season tonight. May the fortunes be better tonight.
The Numbers
Team Breakdown
| Florida Panthers | Montreal Canadiens | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 38-22-9 (3rd Atlantic) | 32-31-6 (5th Atlantic) |
| GF/60 (5v5) | 2.4 | 2.3 |
| GA/60 (5v5) | 2.1 | 2.4 |
| CF/60 (5v5) | 48.7 | 58.8 |
| CA/60 (5v5) | 51.3 | 53.9 |
| PDO (5v5) | 101.5 | 99.2 |
| Power Play | 16.7% - 39 for 234 (25th) | |
| Penalty Kill | 81.5% - 185 for 227 (12th) |
Individual Leaders
| Florida Panthers | Montreal Canadiens | |
|---|---|---|
| Points | Jaromir Jagr - 53 | Max Pacioretty & P.K. Subban - 51 |
| Goals | Jaromir Jagr & Reilly Smith - 23 | Alex Galchenyuk - 25 |
| Assists | Jussi Jokinen - 37 | P.K. Subban - 45 |
| P1/60 (5v5) | Jaromir Jagr - 2.06 | Alex Galchenyuk - 1.68 |
| iCorsi/60 (5v5) | Nick Bjugstad - 12.9 | Max Pacioretty - 21.5 |
| CF% rel (5v5, SA) | Jussi Jokinen - +6.4% | Brendan Gallagher - +5.4% |
| PenD (5v5) | Aleksander Barkov - +9 | Paul Byron - +9 |
Goalie Matchup
| Al Montoya | Mike Condon | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 9-5-3 | 17-20-6 |
| Sv% | .922 | .905 |
| AvgShDA (feet) | 35.21 | 36.73 |
| ReboundAg/60 | 1.36 | 1.90 |
| RushShotAg/60 | 2.42 | 3.35 |
| GAA | 2.10 | 2.58 |
* – Stats are courtesy of Corsica.Hockey and Hockey-Reference.com
Projected Lineups
Florida Panthers
| #11 Jonathan Huberdeau | #16 Aleksander Barkov | #68 Jaromir Jagr |
| #36 Jussi Jokinen | #21 Vincent Trocheck | #18 Reilly Smith |
| #26 Teddy Purcell | #27 Nick Bjugstad | #24 Jiri Hudler |
| #28 Garrett Wilson | #48 Logan Shaw | #22 Shawn Thornton |
| #7 Dmitry Kulikov | #5 Aaron Ekblad |
| #51 Brian Campbell | #44 Erik Gudbranson |
| #46 Jakub Kindl | #6 Alex Petrovic |
| #1 Roberto Luongo |
| #35 Al Montoya |
Montreal Canadiens
| #67 Max Pacioretty | #27 Alex Galchenyuk | #42 Sven Andrighetto |
| #41 Paul Byron | #14 Tomas Plekanec | #17 Torrey Mitchell |
| #21 Stefan Matteau | #34 Michael McCarron | #53 Lucas Lessio |
| #25 Jacob De La Rose | #24 Philip Danault | #13 Mike Brown |
| #79 Andrei Markov | #45 Mark Barberio |
| #74 Alexei Emelin | #6 Greg Pateryn |
| #20 Victor Bartley | #28 Nathan Beaulieu |
| #39 Mike Condon |
| #40 Ben Scrivens |
The Hat Trick
That Sucked: Last night was, in a word, not fun. Specifically that third period. Let’s take a look at the shot attempt chart from the game:
See how the Islanders surged majorly in the third, and how it culminated with three quick goals? This is a worst case scenario of what sitting on a lead looks like. Its human nature to want to play it safe while you are ahead. However, getting too far into that mindset points the intention of your game towards your net, instead of the other way around. In plainer words, your mindset becomes about preventing the puck from entering your net, rather than moving the puck up ice and out of danger. There’s a big difference between these intentions. This is a big reason why I am not a fan of the traditional shutdown defenseman.
Fizzle Fry: Another thing I would like to point out is how the Panthers charge early. From puck drop to their first goal, they have a real strong run. However, things start to round off once the Panthers have scored. Notice how many little deadspots there are following the first goal? Then, notice how large those dead spots get after the second goal? I understad backing off, but it seems like that is a little strong. Not only that, but I feel like I have seen this before. I have not dug in too far yet, but I feel like this is potentially a trend. If it is, that is something else the Cats will need to work on.
Fall From Grace: This is just the second time the Panthers will face the Canadiens this season. Last we met our friend’s from Quebec, they were a playoff team struggling to regain the magic from earlier in the season. Now, in the month of March, the magic is dead and the Habs are slated to miss the playoffs. They currently sit at 70 points, 5th in the Atlantic, nine points back of final wild card Detroit. Barring an unprecedented surge, this team is toast.
This team started the season 9-0-0.
But hey, there’s always next year! Wait, what did you say? Oh:
As reported by @renlavoietva, Michel Therrien will be back coaching the Canadiens next season: https://t.co/uIZnzC9Qh6
— Conor McKenna (@mckennaconor) March 15, 2016
Closing Thoughts
Don’t forget to donate to #CatsForACause!
