The Panthers look to recover from a loss in the road trip opener. They will need to do it without the services of a few notable players though. Buckle up, we are in for a rough ride tonight.
The Numbers
[table id=TS02G31 /] [table id=IS02G31 /] [table id=GM02G31 /]* – Stats are courtesy of War-on-Ice.com, Puckalytics.com and Hockey-Reference.com
Projected Lineups
[table id=PRPF02G31 /] [table id=PRPD02G26 /] [table id=PRPG02G06 /] [table id=PROF02G31 /] [table id=PROD02G31 /] [table id=PROG02G31 /]The Rundown
Well, there’s certainly a lot going on around tonight’s game.
First of all, with Derek MacKenzie injured against Boston, Corban Knight was recalled from Portland over the weekend, and will make his Panthers debut tonight. Knight was a 2009 5th round pick by the Panthers, but he elected to hit free agency upon the end of his college career, going to the Calgary Flames where he played nine games over the last two seasons.
There is sure to be some handwringing about how Knight left, but keep in mind that when he did leave the Panthers were stacked at center systemically, and it appeared it would be hard to get to the NHL roster had he stayed. I won’t begrudge him for trying to give himself what he felt was the best opportunity to make it to the NHL. Obviously, things changed though, a path opened up, and he is here now. Time to let all of that be in the past and see what Knight can bring to the table now.
Joining Knight from Portland will be Rocco Grimaldi, who got the call today. One would imagine he will be in Brooklyn tonight. Grimaldi has six points in eight games since being sent down, including a mammoth four point game against Springfield on December 9. Here’s to hoping he has good run in his second stint of the season.
The big surprise though is who got sent down to Portland: Dave Bolland. The high priced forward has seen his ice time cut of late. He has not played over 14 minutes in a game since November 14 in Tampa. He has also been healthy scratched a few times as well. That does not bode well for a player when that is happening. So he has been sent to Portland on a conditioning stint. This is a temporary move, so Bolland will not stay in Portland, but you have to imagine a message is being sent.
Aside from that, the Panthers will be without Jaromir Jagr tonight, who is apparently fighting an illness, as are other a couple other Panthers. So far though, Jagr is the only one who will miss the game tonight.
The banged up Panthers will need to deal with a hot opponent tonight. Since losing to the Panthers in the shootout on November 27, the Islanders have won seven of their last eight games. The lone loss came in overtime as well. In fact, they have not lost in regulation since a 4-2 loss on November 22 at Montreal.
Closing Thoughts
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