Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaskal
Since there's only two Panthers Flames games all year, I'm hoping Cali busts out a big fat juicy in-depth analysis.
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I was originally going to keep this brief, but I just kept writing...
The Panthers have struggled to score all year long, ranked 25th in the NHL behind the offensively challenged Vancouver Canucks. It's been ugly, and it hasn't helped that
Jonathan Huberdeau has missed the entire season to date with a skate laceration to his achilles. He won't play a game until early March. That's a major blow to any team's offense.
Nick Bjugstad, the team's leading scorer from 2 seasons ago, has missed a lot of time on two different injuries this year, this first being 18 games. He's managed just 2 points in 21 games and is has missed the past 5 games again.
Aleksander Barkov is now out of the lineup, leaving a hole not only offensively (27 pts. in 36 games after a slow start), but especially defensively. Barkov does it all. Top line shutdown center, offensive playmaker, power play, penalty kill. He's been sorely missed in the last 9 games, and there's still no timetable for his return.
Alex Petrovic isn't a top player for the Panthers, but his presence has been sorely missed for the last 29 games. He hits, he can score a little, and he's a strong presence on the 3rd pairing who can play on the 2nd pairing in a pinch.
The team's top scorer is
Vincent Trocheck, with 29 points in 45 games. Not bad for a second line center, but he's out of his depth as the team's top line center at the moment. He's good defensively when matched up against secondary opposition players, but he's not strong enough or capable enough to handle top line assignments defensively. After
Jonathan Marchessault's red hot start to the year where he put up 20 points in 20 games, he's cooled off significantly after he missed 7 games due to injury. After being rejuvenated by Huberdeau and Barkov last season,
Jaromir Jagr has started to show his age again. He can still create down low, but he doesn't have the line mates to put up regular points. He's still dangerous most nights if you give him time and space.
Reilly Smith has taken a big step backward after an excellent year and has 18 points in 43 games. not terrible, but he's been largely invisible most nights when he was a difference maker on both sides of the puck last year.
Jussi Jokinen has also disappointed, scoring just 11 points in his 37 games after a big year last year, partly due to a 9 game injury that kept him out of the lineup early in the season. The worst has been
Aaron Ekblad, who has stumbled this year after 2 excellent campaigns to start his NHL career. It's possibly because he no longer has the savvy Brian Campbell as his partner and has to deal with Keith Yandle's ill-timed offensive forays, but Ekblad has struggled on both sides of the puck, scoring just 12 points (albeit he has 7 goals) and sporting a team worst -16. He's still a great player, but like this team, has struggled to put together any consistent play.
All those players (besides Marchessault) were on the team last year, and there were a lot of new additions, with a mixed bag of results. The best has been the previously mentioned Marchessault, but
Keith Yandle has provided good value for his contract. Not nearly as defensively suspect as I have seen from him in the past, although he does have his moments where you scratch your head. Still, he leads the defense in points with 22 points in 45 games and has been the leader on the back end.
Michael Matheson has moved seamlessly into the 2nd pairing. The rookie had just 3 regular season games last year after his college career ended, but he was so good that he earned a regular spot in the lineup in the playoffs and hasn't missed a beat since. He's got some offensive skills and reads the play very well for a rookie. He's a player to watch tonight if you've never seen him before.
Jason Demers has also been very good on the 2nd pairing after coming over in free agency. He has a career high in goals with 8 and has been very solid defensively.
Mark Pysyk has stabilized the bottom pairing with physical play and smart puck moving abilities.
Jared McCann has been a massive disappointment so far, providing neither offense nor defense, and looking like a borderline NHLer in the process.
Colton Sceviour has provided good energy in a bottom line role, but due to injuries, he's regularly higher in the lineup than his abilities. The team has tried to find offense in several borderline players (Denis Malgin, Kyle Rau, Seth Griffith, Michael Sgarbossa) with little to no results.
The tandem of
Roberto Luongo and James Reimer have done solid to good work again this year. Luongo still gets the majority of the starts, but he's kept fresh due to Reimer taking regular games. Both goalies have decent to good GAAs and Sv%s.
Really the failure of this team seems to be in systems play. After a tough start to the year with so many key injuries, the Panthers were still in the hunt for a playoff spot. Then the much publicized firing of Gallant happens, and Rowe moves behind the bench. Since then, the focused defensive play that Gallant instilled has been very spotty, and the offensive system seems nonexistent. Firing Gallant was the worst thing this franchise has done in a long time and it's reflected in the standings.
Still, the Panthers give an honest effort every single night and they'll outwork you if you're not ready to play. Skill-wise, the team has missed some difference makers in the lineup, with some other players having very down years. Defensively, they're still good most nights, and they make it hard for the opposition to score. The team is quite small overall, so they can be pushed around at times. The PP is pretty terrible, mostly due to the lack of skill players, but the penalty kill is excellent, top 5 in the NHL.
I'm not going to lie, it's been a chore watching their games this year. They just seem to be missing something and they often lose close games because of it. They aren't a pushover by any means, but this is a very winnable game for the Flames.