Opening night had Panthers fans dancing in the street. The follow up, however, made many of us want to retreat. The Panthers were shutout by a determined Philadelphia Flyers squad, looking to avert a win-less three game stretch to start the season. Now, the Panthers move on to Carolina to lick their wounds, and force the Hurricanes to do what the Flyers didn’t.
The Numbers
[table id=TS02G03 /] [table id=IS02G03 /] [table id=GM02G03 /]* – Stats are courtesy of War-on-Ice.com and Hockey-Reference.com
Projected Lineups
[table id=PRPF02G03 /] [table id=PRPD02G01 /] [table id=PRPG02G02 /] [table id=PROF02G03 /] [table id=PROD02G03 /] [table id=PROG02G03 /]The Rundown
Last night was a night to forget for the Panthers. They didn’t play bad per se, but they were certainly outmatched the the Flyers. That was somewhat to be expected though. If the Flyers didn’t come out with fire after getting spanked 7-1 and having a players-only meeting, well, something would be wrong. Alas, the game was lost for the Panthers, and there’s little time to dwell on it.
However, a contributing factor to that downturn could be ice time distribution. Kris summed it up best earlier on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/kristalkshockey/status/653963392349245440
https://twitter.com/kristalkshockey/status/653963948555935745
Moving on though, the Panthers will face the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. They have dropped their first two games of the season, both by one goal to Nashville and Detroit respectively. Carolina is an interesting opponent. They were a bottom team last year and might be one again this year, but they are a positive possession team and generate a decent amount of shots. Some of that is score effects, as their score adjusted numbers tend to fall, but even then its still positive. The Hurricanes have done the same thing in their first two games so far too.
Keep an eye on Al Montoya as a result. Given the Hurricanes’ proclivity to generate shots and the shaky year he had last year, we will need to see a strong effort from The Big Cubano.
Opposing Montoya will be Roberto Luongo’s BFF Eddie Lack. The 27-year-old Swedish goaltender came over to the Hurricanes in a trade for two draft picks at the Draft this summer. He’s put up good numbers over his first two seasons, including .921 and .924 adjusted save percentages, and a 18-13-4 record last season. He is looking to push Cam Ward for the #1 goaltender spot in Carolina this season.
Closing Thoughts
No love is more precious than the love between Roberto Luongo and Eddie Lack.
New team but put something familiar on my mask… @strombone1 face😀😀😀 #bromaceforever pic.twitter.com/J5mkRdzqVN
— Eddie Lack🇸🇪🇺🇸🇨🇦 (@eddielack) July 8, 2015
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