Don’t let Buffalo’s placement in the league standings fool you, they’ve been a hot team coming into their match with Florida with a record of 8-2-0. The Panthers opted to rest Barkov and Reinhart for this game, which meant that Puljujarvi and Asplund drew in. The night started with the Cats handing out their end-of-season awards, where Jesper Boqvist was named the Unsung Hero as voted by his teammates, Bobrovsky earned the Three-Stars Award, having earned the most points for each time he was named a star of the game, and Captain Aleksander Barkov was voted Fan Favorite. Florida’s depth players stepped up and made a big impact while Vitek Vanecek held down the fort in goal. It was a feisty match, especially after the Sabres took exception to a hit by Gadjovich in the second period. Lundell came in clutch with the OT winner and got the Panthers two more points in the standings, which allows them to fight for home ice.
Depth Runs Deep:
Jesse Puljujarvi may have finally found an NHL team that fits his style of game. In each match that he’s played for the Panthers, he’s led the team in hits, and Saturday was no different, where he tallied nine. He’s played well down in Charlotte and looked right at home in the Florida lineup. This time around, he also scored his first goal with the Cats on a one-handed deflection of Uvis Balinskis’ shot to give Florida the 2-1 lead. The Panthers seem interested in what he brings to the table, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rotate in during the playoffs on the fourth line or if they keep him next year and have him play for the big club. Carter Verhaeghe is starting to look like Carter Verhaeghe again, where he scored his second goal in three games, this time on a goalie and not an empty-netter. The day off against Detroit seems to have helped him have some extra jump in his step, and if he’s running at the level fans know he can, then that’s fantastic news for the playoffs. It’s been an ongoing discussion around him this season, but he’s just been incredibly unlucky in what has clearly been an outlier year. He had a two-point night with a goal and an assist on Puljujarvi’s goal. Rodrigues was on the scoresheet with a secondary assist on Verhaeghe’s goal, while Jones got the primary assist. With no Barkov or Reinhart in the lineup, Lundell led off the shootout and scored the only shootout goal. All in all, it was a good outing from the whole roster, apart from the PK, which struggled and gave up two power-play goals to Buffalo, the only goals they scored.
Vanecek Stonewalled Buffalo:
Vitek’s been on the bad side of some unlucky losses, but that doesn’t speak to how well he’s played for the Panthers. In each game he’s played for them, he’s given the team a chance to win. Vanecek put in another great performance, including a highlight save where he reached behind his back to prevent the puck from trickling over the goal line. He ended the night with a .929 SV%, stopping 26 of 28 shots, and most impressively, he stopped all three of Buffalo’s shootout players. OT demanded some big saves from him as well, but he was up for the challenge. It was a great feel-good win on fan appreciation night. When he spoke to the media about fan day, he said, “We play for the fans, I’m really happy we can make them happy.” He’ll either be playing Monday night against the Rangers or Tuesday night against the Lightning before the playoffs start as Florida ends their season on a back-to-back.
Fight Night In Sunrise:
If Jonah Gadjovich is on the ice, there’s always the chance of him dropping gloves with someone. He laid a clean hit on Kulich in the second period that set off all the Buffalo players on the ice. In real time, the officials called a major penalty so they could video-review it. Upon video review, the hit was deemed clean, and no penalties were handed out, although HC Paul Maurice was seen arguing with the refs that Buffalo should’ve gotten some for starting the fight at center ice. Gadjovich didn’t even really throw a hit, more that he stood in the way of Kulich, who had his head down, and that’s where the head contact came from. There’d been a couple of scrums before that play, but that really set things off, especially in the third period. Gadjovich dropped gloves with Tuch early in the second, where both were sent off for fighting. Mackie Samoskevich was hit in the face during one of the power plays but didn’t get a call. He was visibly pissed off about it and slammed the door to the bench shut and was chirping at the Sabres’ bench. The biggest fight of the night was midway through the final twenty minutes of play when Buffalo took exception to Balinskis finishing his check. Thompson went after Balinskis, Geer came flying in to defend his teammate, and then also got into a fight with Dahlin, and there was general chaos with everyone else going for someone on the opposing side. Penalties went to Thompson (roughing), Samoskevich (unsportsmanlike conduct), and a double roughing minor was given to Geer. It had the same kind of attitude as the Florida/Arizona games last season, although less penalty minutes were dished out. The Cats still have a chance at home ice if Tampa Bay loses more than one of its remaining games, but the players don’t seem worried about it too much. It’d be nice, but it’s not a necessity.
ITR 34: End Of The Road – Inside The Rink
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