It was an eventful night for the Panthers on their first game of the new year. Florida traveled to Arizona to play the Coyotes at Mullet Arena on Tuesday night. The Cats looked to open their four-game road trip with a win, and the Coyotes are trying to keep their hold on their Wild Card Spot. It was a game of specialty teams last night, with 63 total minutes given out in penalties between the two teams. With hostilities high between the Cats & Coyotes, here are my biggest takeaways from last night’s matchup.
Penalties and Specialty Teams:
Arizona gave Florida five total power plays last night and earned themselves 40 total minutes in penalties. Zucker was the biggest offender when he boarded Nick Cousins with the puck more than twenty feet down the ice from him. The hit led to Gustav Forsling’s first-ever fight as he dropped gloves to go head-to-head with Zucker to defend his teammate. After a lengthy review from the refs, Zucker was given five minutes for boarding, five minutes for fighting, and a game misconduct with less than a minute left on the 2nd Period clock. Forsling was given two minutes for instigating, five minutes for fighting, and a 10-minute misconduct. The other big penalty came in the 3rd period when O’Brien crosschecked Lundell after Lundell took a big hit from two Arizona players simultaneously. The crosscheck came halfway through the 3rd, and after another lengthy official review, O’Brien was given a 10-minute misconduct, so he was done for the night. Despite having five power plays last night, Florida was only able to capitalize on one in the 3rd period to score with the man advantage. Conversely, Arizona took advantage of the Panthers’ mishandling a puck during a power play and scored their only goal of the night short handed.
Offensive Zone Pressure:
Florida controlled most of the offensive pressure for the full 60 minutes. They led in shots, 38-22, and time spent in the offensive zone. During one of their power plays, the Cats spent a minute forty-five in the Coyotes zone with plenty of shots taken. Karel Vejmelka for Arizona looked sharp for the first two periods, only allowing in one goal despite all the chances Florida got. The Panthers controlled the puck from the faceoff dots, winning 38/58 (65%) and causing nine giveaways. Overall, a strong offensive presence from the Cats despite how clearly frustrated they were that they hadn’t scored more than one goal through 40 minutes of play.
Finishing Strong in the 3rd Period:
In what looks like it’s becoming a pattern, the Panthers finished the game with a very strong 3rd period. The game looked like it was going to head to OT after the Arizona shorty goal tied it up, but Florida was completely unbothered and went on to score three goals in the 3rd. The Barkov-Reinhart duo made magic again by scoring on the power play; the assist from Barkov gave him the Franchise Record for Assists. Then, just 42 seconds later, Matthew Tkachuck scored his 6th goal of the season, giving the Cats a 3-1 lead at the halfway point of the period. In what became a beautiful full-circle moment, Forsling scored an empty netter during his first shift back on the ice after the 10-minute misconduct penalty. Florida’s scored at least one goal in the 3rd period in their last four games and now have scored three goals in the 3rd back-to-back matches. On Thursday, the Panthers take on the Vegas Golden Knights, who are looking to rebound after being on the losing side of the first-ever shutout loss in the Winter Classic against the Seattle Kraken.
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