It’s 2-1 Tampa with 6:30 left in the third. Can the Panthers come back? They had a great 2nd period and just couldn’t convert which has been the story of the season. I can see a little bit of desperation so that is good. The Panthers played hard in the 1st and so far in the 3rd but they are playing dumb. Jokinen almost scores and there is another chance! 5 minutes left and it’s a commercial.
Have the Panthers gotten any help? Ottawa finally helps them and comes back from being 3-1 down to beat Buffalo 6-3. Washington and Carolina are getting at least a point because they are in OT. Philly and the Rangers are tied 1-1 with 8 minutes left so hopefully the Rangers can win in regulation. Boston is beating the Leafs 4-1 in the third so the Panthers have to win to stay alive. 3 minutes left and the Panthers are still down 2-1. I didn’t get a chance to see the Saturday game but it sounds like they played hard but not well and Vokoun saved their bacon. Ramo made a nice save on a Kreps wrist shot on the rush. The Panthers have an offensive zone faceoff here with a time out taken with 2:18 left. Nothing happens out of the faceoff. For all of the effort the Panthers have shown their passing has straight out sucked tonight. Very few passes have been tape to tape. Tampa wins a draw with 1:30 left. The goalie was pulled with a minute left. Jokinen just made a really dumb mistake with a giveaway inside the Tampa line and Kuba skates up ice and scores an empty netter. If there is an Achilles heel to Olli’s game it’s giveaways just inside the blue lines. So with Boston winning it will take a miracle for the Panthers to make the playoffs. They were closer this year but once again their good play came too late. Besides when it’s the biggest game of the season and you lose to the worse team in the East you don’t deserve to make the playoffs. At least they played hard. How nice would it be if the Panthers hadn’t choked those 4 two goal leads in 6 games in February. Now the offseason questions can start. Here’s a few off the top of my head:
1. Does Bouwmeester re-sign or does a team sign him to an offer sheet?
2. Is Jacques Martin brought back? (I think as a coach, no, as a GM, maybe).
3. Do the Panthers make a real move in the free agent market or do they just shop from the bargain bin again?
There are more questions but #1 bothers me the most. I think Bouwmeester can ask for Phaneuf money because I think he is just as good a player. Will the Panthers give him $6 million a year? I hope the Panthers get a top 6 forward somehow to play with Jokinen and Olesz next year. This would mean Matthias, Kreps and Zednik can play on the third line and average to fringe NHL players like Dvorak, Peltonen, Campbell etc. will have to fight to make the fourth line. I hope Frolik signs so they don’t lose him without any return. I hope the Panthers win their last 5 games and get a lot of help and make the playoffs…
Do you notice how often I say “hope” with the Panthers? It’s because they are a “if” team. The Indians are going to be playoff contenders in baseball because they are a well built team, especially with their budget. The Panthers are built on the premise that the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts. I’m sorry but if the parts are guys like Peltonen and Dvorak and Cullimore and Johanssen you are going to be 10th or 11th in the East. Even if Zednik was healthy I can’t see them playing that much better. Mainly because outside of two or three weeks Zednik was a third liner playing on the first line. Oh well. It’s the way things are I guess. I know in a day or two this will really hit me and I will start swearing in my head knowing that after 5 games the next Panthers game to mean anything will be in October. Again. Crap.
Thanks for reading.
