RECAPS

PANTHERS OVERCOME AWFUL OFFICICATING AND BEAT THE ISLANDERS IN OVERTIME

Islanders 2      Panthers 3    OT   (Saturday)

I wrote an article about the officiating preview for this game, and although the officiating was bad, hockey ops in Toronto deserve a ton of responsibility. They ruled no goalie interference on the Islanders 2nd goal. Ekblad scored but the refs waved it off due to goalie interference, then the on-ice officials reviewed it and after 8 minutes good goal; then the Islanders challenged it and after 8 minutes, no goal. Luckily, I had to go somewhere and recorded it on DVR, so I didn’t have to watch the entire waste of time. Enough about that. The Panthers didn’t get it in their minds, It just fueled them. Rau got his first career goal and with 14 seconds left in the 3rd, Marchessault tied it. In overtime, Malgin won it.

Player of the Game: Kyle Rau- He scored his first career goal and lit the fuse for the comeback.

PANTHERS RUIN MONTREAL AND PRICE’S CHANCES FOR RECORDS

Panthers  4       Canadiens  3       (Tuesday)

THE PRICE WAS WRONG! The Panthers beat the Habs in a wild night. Price was trying to win 11 games in a row to start the season to tie a franchise record. The Canadiens probably would have set a record for home wins. But it was denied. Petrovic, Rau, Malgin and Ekblad struck. Ekblad took a shot in overtime, his stick broke after the shot, the puck was deflected by a Canadiens defenseman and it went in, ending the wild night. Luongo made 34 saves and the Panthers beat the best team in the NHL so far.

Player of the Game: Aaron Ekblad- Overtime winner!

THE LEAFS BLOWOUT THE PANTHERS

Panthers 1            Maple Leafs 6      (Thursday)

The Cats didn’t show up, as the Maple Leafs just kept scoring. James Reimer was not doing well, with 24 saves on 30 shots. Ekblad scored the lone Panthers goal, in a game Panthers fans will try to forget.

Player of the Game: Connor Brown- 4 points for the Leafs

Panther of the Game: Jared McCann- 1 assist, he was the only one playing well as he was fighting to get a spot in the lineup.

PREVIEWS

Saturday at 7pm       at Ottawa            The Panthers play former Panther Goalie Craig Anderson whose wife has cancer. My condolences go to the Anderson family. Ottawa is 10-6-1 and when they play the Panthers it is usually pretty even. I hope Jagr wears a cage over his mouth though, because he lost like 6 teeth last year against Ottawa due to high sticks.

Sunday at 7pm          at NY Rangers      The Panthers go to Madison Square Garden to play the Rangers. Last time these teams played, the officiating was atrocious. The Rangers are red hot and are scoring a lot. Whoever the Cats start in net needs to be the player of the game, with Henrik Lundquvist on the other side.

Tuesday at 7:30pm   vs. Philadelphia   Shayne Gothesbeire will come to the BB&T Center to play his second career game in his hometown arena, if the Flyers play him. He is going through a sophomore slump and the Flyers benched the Calder Trophy finalist once this week. In a high scoring affair last year, the Panthers won in the shootout.

NEWS

https://thepuckunderthesun.com/2016/11/18/injuries-are-hurting-the-panthers/

Petro to the IR, Kindl Recalled, McIllrath gets his chance

The Panthers put Defenseman Alex Petrovic on the Injured Reserve Friday due to a lower body injury. Jakub Kindl, a defenseman was recalled. It will be interesting to see if Gallant starts the more experienced Kindl or the young McIllrath.

INJURIES

Jokinen          Flu                           Day to Day                  Questionable for Saturday

Petrovic         Lower Body           Injured Reserve      Indefinitely

Bjugstad        Flu/Arm                  Injured Reserve       Projected to return Tuesday

Huberdeau   Severed Achilles    Injured Reserve     2 1/2 Months