Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Peepin' Foes: Florida Panthers

The Rangers start a three game road trip by facing the Panthers in Florida on Wednesday night (7:30 pm, MSG).

Where We Are: Seven. Yep, seven. Coming off of a win, and not just a win - a win where there were seven goals scored. By the Rangers. Wooooooo!!!!!

Where They Are: After beating us on Saturday, Florida returned home to play the Penguins on Monday and lost 3-2 in overtime. The Panthers blew a 2-0 lead after two periods to lose on a Crosby power play goal in OT. Tomas Vokoun made 42 saves in all but still came up without a win.

Who To Watch For: Nathan Horton is on a roll with eight points over his last six games. Steven Reinprecht is still good and still underrated and that Frolik kid isn't bad.

What To Watch For: The Rangers possibly to be a bit thrown off as Chris Drury returns, because after your roster explodes for seven goals, you need to make a change to it. (No, Drury's "talent" isn't something that needs to get in the lineup as soon as possible.) The Panthers' confidence level - either they are crushed after blowing the game to the Pens or they are still rolling, having not lost in regulation for the last seven games.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: Seven more goals. Donald Brashear to be scratched. Avery continue to be a difference maker. Hobey and MDZ to get themselves into good spots. Higgins to stick with the Gabby line. Cally, Dru and Lisin to find some kind of chemistry and not collectively suck. The Panthers not wearing those terrible third jerseys they debuted against the Penguins. I'm with the overwhelming majority over at Puck Daddy saying they are a massive FAIL - the colours don't work, the secondary logo is lame, the lettering is boring ... disappointing. Hopefully nothing about the Rangers will disappoint (but I doubt it).

Also Check Out: There aren't many blogs about the Cats but they do have The Rat Trick, On Frozen Pond (different from the Caps one) and SBN's Litter Box Cats.

4 comments:

Noah's Art said...

i wouldn't say the third jerseys are BAD...theyre just boring. a 4 out of 10. i'm deducting one point for that terrible shoulder patch.

mike said...

Those third jerseys are also conceptually stolen...Wyshinski's comment about a Penguins/Blues influence is right on the money.

They do look better than the regular Panther jerseys, which are some of the lamest in the entire NHL. Their color scheme has always been bad too.

Hockey in the South.....what a winning program this has been for the NHL.

Andrea said...

Yeah, the jerseys look like they're sponsored by the Penguin's third jersey. Maybe the NHL is branding them like that on purpose?

Although, if Vokoun's pads were baby penguin blue, would that give him an advantage to blend into the crease?

Unknown said...

I can't agree with mike. I actually liked the away jerseys the Panthers had upon first coming into the league where red was the primary color.