Panthers at Halfway Point - noles367's Blog

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Panthers at Halfway Point

Posted on May 5, 2013 at 10:54 PM.

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Covering the Florida Panthers in GM Connected league ALHL2

For the first quarter of the season, things were very good for the Panthers. Almost too good. The Cats were unbeated in their first 22 games.

Then a bad night in St. Louis resulted in the first loss of the year, followed by a pair of losses to the two best teams in the East. But the Panthers battled back. After the 3 game skid they would go on to win their next 13.

More recently, we saw the Panthers go on a rough 2-3-1 stretch. A 1-0 home loss to Pittsburgh was perhaps the worst of that run, but that's par for the course in an 82 games season.

Lets take a look at Cats season so far:

FORWARDS:

Henrik Sedin continues to live up to expectations. He been top 3 in points all season long. He's not just racking up assists either. His 15 goals are 3rd most on the team.

Jonthan Huberdeau scored 45 goals last season.
Could he put up 50 this year?

Jonathan Huberdeau shook off another slow start and is really hearing up. The All-Star selection is currently 2nd in goals league-wide with 28.

Since Peter Mueller went down a few weeks ago, the top 2 lines have been a juggling act. But over the last few games we've seen Pavelski stick on the top line with Sedin and Huberdeau. Weiss is centering a line with Antropov and Neal.

When Mueller comes back, it will be interesting to see who gets bumped down. Antropov is playing perhaps his best offensive hockey in a Panthers uniform so he might stay on the 2nd line LW.

Quinton Howden has become a regular on the 4th line. We're really excited about his game. He's a physical presence every night. He and Joe Saunders make up a young and exciting combo that can play good defensive hockey and chip in a goal every now and again.

Justin Fontaine recently got some playing time, scoring a pair of goals over the last three games. But last night in Colorado he suffered a groin injury which will sideline him for a few weeks.

DEFENSE

Norris Trophy Candidate

Dimitry Kulikov. Really what can you say. He's clearly the leading Norris trophy candidate. He's top 7 in points. We haven't seen a performance like this from a defenceman since maybe Erik Karlsson a few years ago. Erik Gudbranson has thrived in his top line pairing with Kulikov.

Ryan Ellis has certainly slowed down his scoring a bit, but is still on heck of an offensive defenseman. Him and Kulikov are money on the back end of the power play. It's currently 1st in the NHL at over 33%

Keaton Ellerby has been the subject of trade rumors, but is still putting up a career year. He already surpassed his point total from last year and is leading the club in hits.

Cam Barker has taken a back seat to Kulikov and Ellis as far as offensive production. He still has a strong 2-way game and has chipped in some big goals. His partner Simon Despres has also put up a solid season so far.

GOALTENDING

14-7 Postseason record for Marky

Jacob Markstrom is having a slightly less stellar season than last. He's letting in about half a goal more per game, but he has gotten his save % back up over 91%. In our opinion, he is still an elite goalie. This team is built to score goals. This isn't the 1990's Devils. So to see his numbers drop a bit isn't a problem to us.

Jonas Hiller came over in the Matthias trade and seems to be a solid backup. When Markstrom went down to injury, he filled in nicely. That's all you can ask for a goaltender.

WHAT'S AHEAD

The Cats are currently in 4th place in the East and 2nd in their division. The Canes are sitting in 1st in the Southeast. There's still 4 games left against Carolina so that will be huge in determining who wins the division.

The trade deadline looms. The Panthers have some prospects to shop around, maybe for a top 6 forward. Ellerby may or may not be on the block.

Last year, Lubomir Visnovsky was a huge pickup, so we hope the Panthers can pull off a similar deal to get a player who will help another run at the Cup.