Welcome to the 2nd edition of The Panther Prowler. I was supposed to do it yesterday but I didn’t have the time. We have 3 games to recap, Talk about the series and more. First however we will from now on accept Twitter questions. I’ll put out a notice on Twitter. Let’s start off with the recaps:

Regular Season

April 9th          vs. Carolina                     W 5-2

We finished an incredible season with a season sweep of Carolina. It was full of milestones. Jokinen got point number 60, Huberdeau got goal number 20, Smith got goal number 25 and point number 50 with 5 seconds left. It was a great game. Lou made some big saves.

Postseason

Round 1

Game 1         April 14th          vs. NY Islanders       L 4-5

Seriously guys, you can’t give up three leads. Also shut down Tavares. Tavares was a beast. Also get the loose pucks. The offense did well but what the heck were we doing on Defense?

Game 2      April 15th              vs. NY Islanders         W 3-1

Smith continued his hot streak with 1 goal and 1 assist. Lou redeemed himself with some great saves. The defense did well. However Tavares got a goal and 9 shots on goal. Not good. Huberdeau and Barkov got the top line on the point board with an assist each. Huberdeau on Smith’s goal and Barkov on Kulikov’s empty netter.

Kindl Scratched

Jakub Kindl was scratched for I think the first time as a Panther in game 2. He did not do well in game 1. Matheson took his place and played well.

Trocheck and Kampfer Close

Steven Kampfer and Vincent Trocheck are close to returning from lower body injuries. Trocheck is out of the boot and Kampfer sounds like he will return for game 3. George Richards of the Miami Herald reported that Trocheck is on the trip and no answer from Gallant about him returning for game 4. No news on Kampfer yet today.

The Series

The Islanders are a tough opponent. It is shaping out to be a physical series. My dad loves when the series’ go to game 7 because the teams get sick of each other. I’m not a big fan, too much stress. The top line has yet to get a goal. Out of the 7 goals scored 5 out of 7 are from the second line (71.4%) and 3 out of 7 from Smith (42.85%). I hope we can get production from each line. Also the defenders need to score when there isn’t an empty net. Gudbranson has had chances. Ekblad needs to score. Most of all WE NEED TO SHUT DOWN TAVARES! This series he has 2 goals, 2 assists and 11 Shots on goal (9 in game 2). Barkov hasn’t seen much ice time against Tavares though. To me Tavares is as dangerous as Stamkos. You need to prevent him from scoring. My new prediction is that the Cats take it in six. I think Thornton is finally going to get into a fight in game 3 or 4.

Weekly Preview:

Game 3      Sunday        @ Islanders                  8:00pm                NBCSN, FSF

Game 4      Wednesday   @ Islanders              8:00pm                 USA, SUN

Game 5      Friday             vs. Islanders            TBD                          TBA

 

Don’t miss Edition 3 of The Panther Prowler coming April 22nd or April 23rd.