Happy Thanksgiving! Panthers lose, but steal a point

The Cats didn't give fans much to cheer for throughout yesterday's pre-Thanksgiving matchup against the Devils, but made up for it in the closing minutes of the third period, breathing life into a dead offense, with David Booth banging home a goal with seven seconds remaining to tie the score at 2. Hadn't seen that kind of excitement in the team, or the building, in a long while. The loss was only delayed, finally sealed in OT, but the final ten minutes of the last period were definitely something to build upon. That one point the team scrambled for was as impressive as they come. Nice job against a hot New Jersey squad. Showed some real heart.

Stephen Weiss: 2G,

David Booth: 1G, 1A

Jay Bouwmeester: 1G, 1A

Bryan McCabe: 7(!)SH

Thanks, Illegal Curve.

Game Day! AccuScore Prediction: Devils 2.6 - 2.4; My HD freak-out concludes

On tap tonight at the BAC: our friends in red from Newark. We can only hope they're still laughing at the outcome of last week's debacle; time to catch someone off guard. Oh, and still no Brodeur. As for tonight's starters, I'm going with Anderson and former Cat Kevin Weekes, though Scott Clemmenson is on a bit of a tear. Pure speculation.

AccuScore has this one razor-tight, but since the Panthers are the Panthers, New Jersey gets the nod. Be nice to see a bit o' bad blood spill over from last week.

UPDATE: Clemmenson starts for the Devils. So much for my speculation.

Following my mature, well-reasoned (!) rant the other night re: FSN/Comcast switching from the Panthers HD pregame broadcast to the Miami Heat HD broadcast, Fox Sports contacted me soon after. Attend:

Hi Don, Thanks for the email. We double checked with our producer and lastnight's Panthers game telecast was indeed offered in HD as you mentioned. Who is your cable or satellite provider? We can follow up with them, or you might want to, to see if there were any technical problems last night but we did not receive other emails so perhaps this was an isolated issue. Below is a link to our website along with a list of all the SouthFlorida cable and satellite systems who are offering FOX SportsFlorida's Panther games in HD. And by the way - approximately half of the Panther and HEAT games are offered in HD - one is not favored over the other.

A list of all of FSN's standard and high-definition channels was included, you know, in case I wasn't familiar, being a fan and all. No other emails were received probably because I was the only Cats' fan in West Palm Beach, which is precisely one more than the Heat have up here. Whatever. At least they bothered enough to send me a "Dear John" letter with my name on it, and appreciate their effort, at least to that extent. I'll never get anywhere with Comcast, so Creek - Paddle = Me. Case closed. Spoiled, I was.

Terrific blogsite covering the Devils: In Lou We Trust, over at Mirtle's SBNation. Don't miss it.

Another forward lost to injury, and what is this team all about anyway?

Wins don't come cheap - or often - for the Panthers, and last night's victory was no exception: winger Richard Zednik will be out several weeks with an arm/elbow injury. Any chance JM's been looking for a forward? Now he'll need two.

On a similar note, and it may sound blasphemous, but I worry that last night's win against Carolina might actually hurt the club in the long run. One victory, though huge, troubles me in the sense that the Cats were rock bottom bad, looking up at the entire league above them in the standings. They're against a wall, players waived, threats made, and they scratch out a hard-fought and solid "W". What will we see tomorrow? Do they revert to the same-old same-old against the Devils, now that they've gotten a win to carry them for the next three weeks, while potential roster moves - read: trades - favor the Panthers less as each day moves forward?

Or have they finally gotten the message? All too many times we've seen this pattern: the Cats lose a string of games, season's slipping away, the hope is lost, and then we get a night that stirs the soul and the imagination. You come away from it, jaw on the floor, saying "They've figured it out." The next night, Vokoun (or Auld, or Belfour, or Luongo) is left for dead. There's never any progress. It's like the wins are accidents (and the players need to understand: we've been watching this a lot longer than they've been playing here). Last night was a tremendous game for any hockey fan to watch; close, tense, very few penalties (none, in fact, for Carolina), a divisional match you dream of. The Panthers earned every bit of that win. Who will show up tomorrow?

ESPN's Hradek: Panthers Being Watched (Really) Closely

A quick note: E.J. Hradek claims in his blog this afternoon that upwards of 25 scouts attended the recent Panthers-Devils game in New Jersey. I don't need to insult anyone by typing the words "Jay" and "Bouwmeester". Something's brewin'...

Win 2 Panthers Tickets...but Hurry!

The Fourth Period, a terrific news and opinion site that you should be heading to regularly, is giving away two seats - and a puck - to Wednesday's home game against New Jersey. The stipulation is you must enter NOW...the contest closes at midnight tonight. Shoot over there immediately...and let 'em know you found them on The Box. Good luck!

New Jersey 3, Frolik 1

That's not entirely fair. The Cats played well for forty minutes. Really well. Compared to the beginning of the season, they looked much more composed in what I have to deem as a strenuously fast-paced final two periods. Pleaqse don't misunderstand: the Devils played some great hockey, and deserved to win. Frolik? First goal. The kid's been robbed time and again...gonna see some good stuff now that the monkey's off his back. Horton? Present, if unremarkable. As usual. Vokoun? Only reason it was close. If that man doesn't tear up the visitor's room...left out to dry far too much in the first period. Didn't deserve to lose this one. Honorable mention: Dvorak had his speed, Zeds brought the plays, and McCabe had the shots. Bouwmeester? No one was hotter on this dude than me in the first five games of the year. Now? Takes a back seat to Ballard, Boynton, Skrastins. I'd include Cully but he was Tonight's Dead, going down with what looked to be a severe leg injury (caused inadvertently by a teammate, of course...did not return).

If nothing else, second- and third-string goalies across the NHL have the Panthers to thank for upping their value come UFA season.

Two requests for the Panthers: One, for the coaching staff: Can we develop someone who has a desire to WIN a faceoff? Two, for the "management": HAD ENOUGH, JM? What further suffering must be endured? I don't ask that we throw away the future, and you know far better than we dime-store fans about the proposals sent your way, but it's one of two things...either the deals faxed to you are lousy, or the deals you have proposed are lousy. Either way, your team on the ice has a record which can only be described as...lousy. And insulting. Don't come back with frightful tales of fat injury lists, and please refrain from slipping to the media that no one is offering fair market value for Bouwmeester. At this stage, there is NO market value for Bouwmeester. Yes, he's gonna be awesome. Yes, he'll be a winner somewhere. No, it won't be here. GET US SOME SUPPORT. Wanna deal Horton? Weiss? Olesz? No arguments from this nut in North Palm. It's the cat on the front, not the name on the back (cliche? Yeeees!) I grow fatigued preaching the hockey - nay, Panthers - gospel from the local rooftops and winding up embarrassed. Again. And again. Make your mark or prove us - those few thousand who have stuck by - wrong...quickly. There are a lot of things - like holidays - to rob the "momentum" from your club. DO. IT. NOW.

Game Night! Panthers at Devils

Not much to say, but that is one badass picture.

DeBoer turns it up a notch

Coach Pete has decided upon a new strategy for his practice at the Prudential Center yesterday: hard work!

"Players were crammed into a small section of the ice and told to fight for the puck. They drove each other into the boards, pushing and prodding each other, and some were driven to the ice." - George Richards, Miami Herald

And all the while, Brent Sutter huddles behind a Zamboni, diagramming each and every movement...

AccuScore Prediction: Devils 3, Cats 2.5

A day off proves to be the only relief Florida will see over the next little while, as the Panthers stare at 3 games in 4 nights, leading off by facing the Devils in lovely Newark, NJ.

AccuScore has the Dev's (I really don't like that term for some reason) up by half a goal over the Cats, who have won three of the past four.

Cory Stillman - Florida's resident offensive "juggernaut" - remains out with concussion symptoms, or an "upper-body" injury in league-speak.

Back to television with this game!

Awesome Pictures of the Day

A slow day for Cats news brings these superb action photos from Getty Images. Goalie Craig Anderson and former Panthers defenseman Steve Montador stand up to a blizzard in a 2-1 road victory over the Devils from January, 2008.



Not to be outdone, The Dood turns in his typical all-or-nothing performance:



Great stuff.