ShareThe Panthers are back home for their final extended homestand of the season. It’s a tilt between first and last place teams tonight as the Maple Leafs visit Sunrise.
The Numbers
Team Breakdown
| Florida Panthers | Toronto Maple Leafs |
Record | 42-24-9 (1st Atlantic) | 27-37-11 (8th Atlantic) |
GF/60 (5v5) | 2.4 | 1.9 |
GA/60 (5v5) | 2.0 | 2.4 |
CF/60 (5v5) | 49.7 | 59.0 |
CA/60 (5v5) | 51.4 | 57.2 |
PDO (5v5) | 101.6 | 98.8 |
Power Play | 17.2% - 44 for 256 (21st) | 14.6% - 35 for 240 (29th) |
Penalty Kill | 80.8% - 198 for 245 (19th) | 80.4% - 197 for 245 (22nd) |
Individual Leaders
| Florida Panthers | Toronto Maple Leafs |
Points | Jaromir Jagr & Jussi Jokinen - 58 | Nazem Kadri - 41 |
Goals | Jaromir Jagr & Vincent Trocheck - 25 | Leo Komarov - 19 |
Assists | Jussi Jokinen - 41 | Nazem Kadri - 27 |
P1/60 (5v5) | Vincent Trocheck - 1.92 | James van Riemsdyk - 1.41 |
iCorsi/60 (5v5) | Nick Bjugstad - 12.9 | Nazem Kadri - 19.2 |
CF% rel (5v5, SA) | Jussi Jokinen - +6.6% | James van Riemsdyk - +6.4% |
PenD (5v5) | Aleksander Barkov - +10 | Nazem Kadri - +11 |
Goalie Matchup
| Roberto Luongo | Jonathan Bernier |
Record | 32-18-6 | 10-20-3 |
Sv% | .922 | .906 |
AvgShDA (feet) | 32.32 | 35.40 |
ReboundAg/60 | 2.12 | 1.21 |
RushShotAg/60 | 2.14 | 2.85 |
GAA | 2.34 | 2.87 |
* – 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 | #41 Greg McKegg | #48 Logan Shaw |
#51 Brian Campbell | #5 Aaron Ekblad |
#7 Dmitry Kulikov | #6 Alex Petrovic |
#46 Jakub Kindl | #3 Steven Kampfer |
#1 Roberto Luongo |
#35 Al Montoya |
Toronto Maple Leafs
#18 Milan Michalek | #43 Nazem Kadri | #40 Michael Grabner |
#11 Zach Hyman | #39 William Nylander | #15 P-A Parenteau |
#16 Connor Brown | #42 Tyler Bozak | #28 Brad Boyes |
#38 Colin Greening | #23 Brooks Laich | #26 Ben Smith |
#52 Martin Marincin | #44 Morgan Reilly |
#51 Jake Gardiner | #8 Connor Carrick |
#29 Rinat Valiev | #20 Frank Corrado |
#45 Jonathan Bernier |
#31 Garrett Sparks |
The Hat Trick
Shooting From the Backend: A quick, interesting stat. Florida Panthers defensemen combined for a 7.4 iCF/60 through the end of February. Since the beginning of March, however, they are shooting at a clip of 8.80 iCF/60. There is no overriding point here, I just find it interesting that the D has been active enough to individually add more than an shot attempt per 60 minutes.
On Willie Mitchell: The Captain has been in the Panthers news mix recently. Last week it was revealed that some doctors have advised the rugged defenseman to not play due to his history of multiple concussions. Yesterday, he joined the full Panthers practice for the first time in a couple months. He even held a meeting with the players at center ice.
It seems to me the end might be near for Mitchell’s career, and I think that’s a shame. I have statistical misgivings with his play, but from afar he strikes me as a great guy, and someone who the team can rally around. That said, I really hope if the rumblings about concussions are true that he does not put himself in danger. I don’t want to watch a player on the ice with the feeling that even a somewhat innocent looking hit could do big, long-term damage to him.
If he does indeed retire, I hope the Panthers find a way to keep him around.
Not Good, But Not Bad (Lately): With a last place team limping into town tonight, the natural reaction is to think this an easy game for the Panthers. You may want to pump the brakes on that sentiment though. Toronto is 6-4-1 in their last 11 games, and, if you recall, they were within a goal of the Panthers until late in their game a couple weeks ago. At that, the Panthers offense consisted of flukey bounces and empty netters. Nothing is a given in this league. Even a “bad” last place team like Toronto has won 27 games this season.
Closing Thoughts
Don’t forget to donate to #CatsForACause!
Share