Gameday – Panthers – 05 Mar 2009
Well, well, well. If it isn’t old Billy Guerin in the house. I like having him for the team, but I don’t know if it’s worth losing Satan himself to make it happen. The best part about this is, however, that Satan will be available for the playoffs, because the salary cap doesn’t mean diddly squat then.
Penguins record: 33-26-6 (72 points/1.11 PPG)
Panthers record: 33-23-8 (74 points/1.16 PPG)
Leading scorers: Evgeni Malkin (29g-64a) and Stephen Weiss (11g-37a)
Biggest offensive bang for the salary cap buck: temporarily out of order due to sites not being updated
The Panthers are 19-7-2 when they score first, 14-16-6 when they don’t. If Florida is up at the end of the first, they’re 14-5-2, and they’re 23-1-1 if they’re up at the end of two. Furthermore, they are 7-13-4 if they trail after one period, and 3-20-4 if they trail after two. Wide, wide splits. The Penguins need to score quickly in order to stave off defeat tonight.
Florida is 10-5-3 when they outshoot you, and 23-18-5 when they don’t. Florida doesn’t get many shots, and their goalies get a lot of pucks thrown at them.
Period by period, the Panthers are +4 in the first period, +1 in the second, -1 in the third, and +2 in overtime. They score 2.8 GF/G (tied for 14th in the league), compared to Pittsburgh’s 3.0, and they give up 2.7 GA/G (tied for 6th in the league), compared to Pittsburgh’s 3.0.
Prediction and Playoff watch: Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun are both probable to be in net tonight. Vokoun’s been great lately. Playoff chances, according to Sports Club Stats, currently sit all the way up at 64.9%. Today, root for the Penguins to get 2 points, preferably in regulation, and the Islanders to beat the Rangers in regulation.
