With the Panthers loss last night against Buffalo and the Bruins win this afternoon it is pretty safe to say the Panthers are done. Even if the Panthers hold onto this 3-1 lead against Tampa, they would be 7 points behind Boston. If Boston finishes at its current season place, they would finish with 87 or 88 points. The Panthers need to finish 10-1-1 to get to 88 points and 10-2 to get to 87 points. I don’t think this is happening for a team that hasn’t had a 4 game winning streak in 2 years.
So what is left? Personally it is going to see the Panthers on Tuesday in Toronto for the 4th time in 2 seasons. I’m hoping McCabe can keep scoring when coming to Toronto and I’m hoping for a game with a lot of speed. I’m going with my Dad who will be in his Leafs jersey so we will have a good time.
For the Panthers I think the playing time for the kids, especially Ellerby. He has hardly played since the deadline when he was called up. It is time to let him learn at the NHL level because hopefully he and Garrison will be regulars next year. Matthias, Frolik and Bitz should get more playing time at the expense of veterans like Stillman and Dvorak. Ellerby, Garrison and Matthias could then be sent down to Rochester to help them with their playoff run.
This will be the last few games in a Panthers uniform for a number of players on the current roster. I am going to attempt to review the current roster and make a case either for trading or keeping a player. It will be interesting for me to reconcile my case for trading Weiss and Horton. My main point is a bunch of kids can finish 14th in the East and actually build something.
