Summary:
Many Panthers fans have been concerned lately about the team’s attendance. Tonight, the Ottawa Senators are rolling into town before the team leaves on a 4 game road trip. The Panthers are still looking for their first win this season and tonight could be the night! On to the game!
Historical Context:
In 79 games played against the Ottawa Senators, the Panthers have 30 wins, 42 losses, 3 ties, and 4 overtime losses. This leaves the team with 67 points and a .424% points percentage. This ranks Ottawa as team number 21 out of 29 opponents on the Panthers total win column.
Last season, the two teams met up on four separate occasions. Ottawa won the first two games, the first being on November 9th (3 to 2) and December 3rd (4 to 2). However, the Panthers would get their revenge. They would win on December 19th (4 to 2) and eventually split the series for the season, with a 3 to 2 shootout win on March 25th.
What To Expect:
Ottawa has been a very hard team to project lately. After an injury-plagued season, they manged to secure a playoff spot in 12-13 and made it to the second round. Many fans predicted they would have more success in 13-14 but the team seemed to regress. I’m not sure how much of an impact the loss of back-to-back captains (Losing Alfredsson in an ugly Free Agent situation and Spezza via trade) has had on the team but I’m sure it was felt. The team recently named Erik Karlsson the 9th captain in it’s history and are ready to turn the page and improve on last year’s season.
Know Your Enemy:
Erik Karlsson: Last year, Karlsson was 14th overall in league scoring with 20 goals and 54 assists. Those are some incredible numbers for any player, none the less a 24-year-old defenseman. What makes this even more impressive was the next best defenseman, Duncan Keith, had 13 less points. I find it amazing how Karlsson can rack up points on a consistent basis and believe that he is truly a generational talent. Karlsson is so rich in scoring that his 212 points over the past 5 seasons completely eclipse the next best player, Dustin Byfuglien with 190. I can only imagine how much wider that gap would be if Karlsson did not miss 31 games due to having the vast majority of his achilles lacerated.
Expected Line Combinations:
Ottawa Senators:
L1: MacArthur/Turris/Stone
L2: Ryan/Zibanejad/Chiasson
L3: Michalek/Legwand/Neil
L4: Greening/Smith/Condra
D1: Phillips/Karlsson
D2: Borowiecki/Gryba
D3: Wiercioch/Ceci
Starting G: Anderson
Backup G: Lehner
Florida Panthers:
L1: Huberdeau/Barkov/Jokinen
L2: Bergenheim/Bjugstad/Upshall
L3: Fleischmann/Bolland/Boyes
L4: Kopecky/MacKenzie/Hayes
D1: Campbell/Ekblad
D2: Mitchell/Kulikov
D3: Olsen/Gudbranson
Starting G: Luongo
Backup G: Montoya
Closing Thoughts:
I had a small soapbox moment earlier regarding fan attendance for tonight’s game. Win or lose, Panthers fans need to keep their heads up. The team has a great young core and all the kids are developing nicely. If you’re at the game, send me a tweet and say hello!
Kris M. can be reached for contact on Twitter or via email at [email protected].
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