It’s a one off at home! The Panthers return home from a three game road trip tonight, before embarking on another three game road trip. This one is a doozy too. Its an Atlantic Division clash between a team fighting for first, and another fighting for a wild card spot.
The Numbers
[table id=TS02G72 /] [table id=IS02G72 /] [table id=GM02G72 /]* – Stats are courtesy of Corsica.Hockey and Hockey-Reference.com
Projected Lineups
[table id=PF02G72 /] [table id=PD02G72 /] [table id=PG02G34 /] [table id=OF02G72 /] [table id=OD02G72 /] [table id=OG02G72 /]The Hat Trick
Trocheck This Out: 21 goals. That is the amount of goals the Panthers have scored over the last five games. Four of the last five games have seen the Panthers score four or more goals. Its been one of the best five game runs of the season, with the 3-2 heartbreaker in Brooklyn being the lone blemish. The only five game run better this season was a 25 goal run from January 22 to February 4. In that run, they beat the Blackhawks (4-0), the Lightning (5-2), the Maple Leafs (5-1), the Capitals (5-2), and the Red Wings (6-3). The kicker about all this? It was Vincent Trocheck leading the way then, and it is Vincent Trocheck leading the way now. He had eight points over the points over the previous run, and has seven points over the current run.
A Budding Rivalry?: If you recall, things did not end well for the Panthers the last time these two teams faced each other. The Red Wings shutout the Panthers 3-0, but more notably, Justin Abdelkaeder left Aleksander Barkov concussed. No penalty, no fine, no suspension. One would imagine that is probably not sitting well in the Panthers dressing room. However, that could be the spark needed to ignite a real rivalry between these two teams. Add a tight, hotly contested game tonight, and a playoff series in a few weeks, and you’ve got a true, dyed-in-the-wool hockey rivalry. I’m game, are you?
But, There’s Just One Thing…: I wax poetically about a rivalry, but there’s a potential problem – the Red Wings are in a fight for their playoff lives. They start this morning in the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, with just a one point lead on the hard charging Philadelphia Flyers. They play this afternoon in Pittsburgh, so things may change prior to puck drop tonight. However, it cannot be overstated how historically significant the fact Detroit could potentially not make the playoffs is.
The last time the Red Wings failed to make the playoffs was in the 1989-90 season. In those days, they played in the Campbell Conference (today’s Western Conference) in the infamous Norris Division with the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues, and Toronto Maple Leafs. In fact, the league had only 21 teams back then, and sent 16 to the playoffs. You had to be especially bad to miss the playoffs back then. Those Red Wings turned in the 3rd worst record in the NHL that season at 28-38-14 for 70 points.
Without a doubt, a lot has happened since then too. Think about this:
- The Soviet Union was still a country then
- Gerard Gallant was a member of the 1989-90 Red Wings (I’m sure he’d like to forget this season. Sorry Gerard.)
- Current GMs Jim Nill (Dallas) and Steve Yzerman (Tampa Bay) were also on that Red Wings roster
- 13 players on the current Panthers roster were not yet born
- And perhaps the most jarring – Jaromir Jagr was but a draft eligible kid from Czechoslovakia
The world has changed indeed.
Closing Thoughts
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