Last night the Florida Panthers’ offense was stymied by a 31 year old back up goalie making just his 33rd career start. As usual, the Panthers were unable to carry over their good effort and performance of the last 3 games, losing 3-1 to the New Jersey Devils on the road.

The Devils, who lost their long time All-Star goalie Martin Brodeur for the season, essentially put their #3 goalie on the ice last night and were it not for a late goal, the Panthers would have given Devils’ goalie Scott Clemmensen his first shutout in 4 years.

The Devils put the heat on the Panthers early, outshooting Florida 12-5 in the 1st period, but at the first intermission the game was still tied at 0-0. Florida turned the tables outshooting the Devils 10-1 in the 2nd period but two things went wrong. The Devils one shot on goal went in to give them a 1-0 lead 6:47 into the period. Secondly, the Panthers were absolutely stoned by Clemmensen in their 10 shots on goal. Right after the Devils took the lead, Clemmensen denied David Booth, Nathan Horton, and Michael Frolik on excellent scoring chances, looking like he was the veteran All Star in goal.

The 3rd period just got worse for the Panthers. Florida again outshot the Devils, 9-6, but New Jersey would score 2 goals in 1:01 to go up 3-0. The Devils 3rd goal was embarassing as New Jersey connected on 3 passes in the zone leading to an easy tap in for an unmarked player right in front of the Florida net.

On a small plus side last night, the Panthers were not shut out as Michael Frolik would score on the power play at 8:42 of the 3rd period to save face, a little. The Panthers offense has been improving in one aspect at least, the power play. The Panthers are 7-20 on the power play in their past 5 games and have failed to score a power play goal in just 1 of the last 5 games, and scored two power play goals in 2 of the 5 games. Now if only the Panthers could get some wins.

If only the Panthers could play all their games this season against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they might record the most successful season in franchise history. Sadly other teams do need to be thrown into the mix in the interest of fairness, oh well. Last night the Panthers won their 2nd straight game over Tampa Bay in a little more thrilling fashion than last week’s 4-0 win in Sunrise, FL. Last night’s game in Tampa required a shootout, but still saw the Panthers emerge victorious over the Lightning, 4-3.

As with last week’s meeting, the Panthers seemingly could do no wrong through the first half of the game. Bryan McCabe got Florida out to a 1-0 lead at 7:50 in the 1st period, and David Booth scored his 8th of the season on the power play with just 17 seconds left in the 1st to put Florida up 2-0. McCabe would find the net again 7:48 into the 2nd period on the power play to put Florida up 3-0, but then Tampa would come storming back.

The Lighting scored at 14:42 of the 2nd period to give themselves a fighting chance at 3-1 to start the 3rd period. Tampa would score at 3:44 and 17:09 to erase Florida’s lead and send the game to overtime tied 3-3. Neither team could break the deadlock in OT as they managed a combined 5 shots on goal, so the game went to the decisive shootout. Tampa went first and goalie Tomas Vokoun would save their effort. Stephen Weiss went first for the Panthers, but missed the net. Tampa’s next effort missed the net as well, but Nathan Horton would not miss on Florida’s second chance. Vokoun would save Tampa’s last effort and give the Panthers the victory.

This week’s game against Tampa was not as sparkling an effort from the Panthers as last week. Tampa had a huge edge in shots on goal, 52-36, but the Panthers were more effective on special teams. Florida was 2-5 on the power play (a source of great concern most of the season) and 2-2 on the penalty kill.

Florida appears to have found a groove in the past week as they are 2-1 in their 3 games, and though they did lose to the toughest competition they faced in Detroit, they have been putting in tremendous effort in all 3 games. This trend will need to continue as Florida finishes this week with games @ New Jersey and @ Boston. For now though, there is no better way to start a road trip than with a win.

After a brief stop over at home in South Florida, the Panthers will head back out on the road this week for 3 scheduled games. After starting the month of November with a 5 game road trip, the Panthers returned home last week facing Tampa Bay (W) and Detroit (L), only to head back out on the road this week to face Tampa Bay, New Jersey, and Boston.

The Panthers aren’t exactly what you would call road warriors either. Their most recent road trip of 5 games resulted in 3 pts out of 10 possible pts. The Panthers have one of the worst road records in the NHL at 2-6-1 and are in the bottom 1/3 of the NHL in goals/game and powerplay goals/game on the road.

Offense is tough enough for the Panthers to muster up and things get harder on the road. The team has had 3 days off and the first game of the road trip is a short jaunt up the freeway to Tampa. The Panthers should take advantage of this and come out hungry in Tampa and set the tone for a good road trip with a solid victory.

Normally when the Panthers lose it is ugly, prompting criticism from the fans and media. Last night’s loss however is nothing the Panthers should be ashamed of, they should hold their heads high today. The Panthers fell 3-2 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. Florida held its own and gave the champs a tough fight, for that they should be proud.

The Red Wings took the lead late in the 1st period and extended their lead to 2-0 1:37 into the 2nd period before the Panthers fought back. Richard Zednik would answer back for the Panthers under 5 minutes later to make it a 2-1 game and midway through the period Stephen Weiss  would score to tie the game 2-2. Detroit however would take the lead for good 4:40 into the 3rd period and hold on for the 3-2 victory.

Panthers’ players should hold their heads high, Detroit is a tough team. Detroit is an NHL best 8-1-1 on the road this season and are the defending champs. The effort was there last night for the Panthers, they just didn’t get the result they were looking for. The Panthers were outshot 32-27 for the game, but did show ability to control the game, outshooting the Red Wings 13-7 in the 2nd period when they tied the game.

The Panthers are in the midst of a tough November schedule and while a win would have been nice last night, the Panthers will have plenty of chances to test their mettle in the coming days as they face Boston, New York (Rangers), and New Jersey. Last night’s showing was a positive step in the right direction, the Panthers showed they can hang in their with the big boys, the next step will be defeating those teams.

Panthers’ fans have to be wondering where this team has been all season. The Florida Panthers got their 2nd win in a row Wednesday night with a shutout 4-0 victory over division rival Tampa Bay Lightning. A complete, all around effort from the Panthers enabled them to secure a solid victory over the Lightning.

Bryan McCabe got his first goal of the season in the 1st period, scoring at the 16:33 mark. Florida solidified its victory in the 2nd period as Nathan Horton scored on the powerplay just 1:28 in and Gregory Campbell scored his first of the season at the 10:25 mark, again on the powerplay. Campbell got his second of the season in the 3rd period, scoring late on (16:28) to cap off a stellar effort from the Panthers.

Unlike most games, this one leaves us listing off the things the Panthers did perfectly to secure the win. Backup goalie Craig Anderson was outstanding in net, again, stopping all 24 shots he faced. The defense was solid going 5-5 on the penalty kill, and the offense arrived putting up 4 goals and going 2-6 on the powerplay. Florida outshot the Lightning 31-24 for the game, 8-4 in the 1st, 15-9 in the 2nd, and were outshot 8-11 in the 3rd.

As enjoyable as the Panthers’ victory was, I suppose it is only necessary for a dose of reality. Tampa Bay isn’t exactly dominating the league. Tampa Bay is last in the NHL at 2.00 goals per game, and are in the bottom 1/3 of the league in powerplay and penalty kill effectiveness. But, a win is a win and the Panthers will take ‘em however they can get ‘em.