1 – SLUMP? WHAT SLUMP: Just one week ago in this space we chronicled the Florida Panthers’ four-game losing skid which knocked them out of first-place in the NHL’s Atlantic Division. What a difference a week makes! Since then the Panthers have rattled off three straight convincing victories over Eastern Conference heavyweights, including a 5-1 rout of Toronto last Wednesday and a home-and-home sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes (6-3 and 6-0) on the weekend. The hot streak put the Cats back in first-place in the Atlantic entering the week as they hit the road for two; Tuesday at Pittsburgh and Thursday at Philadelphia. Oh, and we told you the slump was nothing more than a blip.
2 – KNIGHT TIME: Spencer Knight may be the most talked-about and analyzed back-up goaltender in the NHL. What pressure! However Florida’s 2019 first round draft pick has been answering the bell, most recently Saturday’s win over Carolina where the Darien, CT product posted a 20-save shutout (the fourth of his career). The 23-year old is being called upon mightily this week, as #1 target Sergei Bobrovsky is staying back in Florida during the team’s road trip for the birth of their second child.
3 – JAWS: The next home game for both the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning is against the upstart San Jose Sharks. The Bay Area team visits Amalie Arena on Thursday and drops into Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday for a 5:00 pm start. It’s your chance to get out and see last year’s #1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini, the reigning NHL Rookie of the Month. The Boston University product has a Canadian passport but his father is the Director of Sports Medicine for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors so essentially, he’s a local boy and a great story. Also, Sharks GM Mike Grier is the brother of Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier so you can bet there will be some Sharks fans in the house!
4 – GO BOLTS: It’s time for our weekly look-in on the Tampa Bay Lightning season and it’s been up and down like a toilet seat. Their week includes a 5-4 home loss to Washington, a 3-2 OT win at Nashville, and a 5-3 home loss to Toronto. Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews returned to the lineup after a two week absence to post a pair of assists against the Lightning on Hockey Night In Canada. As the Bolts struggle to find consistency, they’ve slipped out of a playoff spot as of today, trailing Philadelphia by a single point for the final wild card berth. After the Sharks game, the Lightning head out on a four game western road swing with stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Seattle. All but the Kraken are playoff teams at the moment.
5 – FOUR NATIONS FACEOFF: Hockey fans are riddled with excitement as the NHL prepares to announce the rosters on Wednesday for February’s Four Nations Faceoff tournament which will be played in Montreal and Boston. A handful of players have already been announced and the Panthers and Lightning will be represented such as: Canada – Brayden Point, USA – Matthew Tkachuk, Finland – Aleksander Barkov, and Sweden – Victor Hedman & Gustav Forsling. However the goaltenders haven’t been named and we’re all waiting to see if 2023 #1 overall pick Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks will be included for Team Canada.
6 – BRUINS CENTENNIAL: There was a heckuva lot of hype coming out of Boston’s TD Garden on Sunday and for good reason. The Bruins celebrated the 100th anniversary of their first game and franchise greats Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque and Patrice Bergeron were on hand for the celebration. On Dec 1/1924 the hometown Bruins knocked off the visiting Montreal Maroons 2-1. 100 years later, the Bruins posted a 6-3 victory over the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Very special!
7 – SO LONG NOVEMBER: Who’s hot? The Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals were the only teams to register double digit wins (10) in the month of November, and the Wild’s hot streak landed them in a tie with Winnipeg for #1 overall. … Who’s not? Those same Winnipeg Jets have lost three straight games, and four of their past five, as they return from a six game road trip. … Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov notched 21 points in November and the only player hotter was Carolina’s Martin Necas, who netted 22.
8 – BROADWAY BLUES: The New York Rangers were dropped 5-1 Monday night in the latest edition of the Hudson River Rivalry, dropping the Blueshirts’ record to 13-10-1. They’ve won just four of their past 10 games and currently own the first wild card spot, but are slipping. There seems to be considerable unrest at MSG, with goalie Igor Shesterkin beefing over contract demands, and an internal memo being leaked which reportedly stated players Chris Krieder and Jacob Trouba are on the trading block. Yikes!
9 – THANKSGIVING: There’s an adage in hockey media circles that 80% of teams in a playoff spot at U.S. Thanksgiving (a Canadian term) will go on to make the playoffs. That’s good news for teams who missed the playoffs last season such as Buffalo, New Jersey, Minnesota and Calgary. It’s also bad news for teams who made the playoffs last season, but are below the cutoff this year like the NY Islanders, Boston, Nashville and Edmonton. However in retrospect, this stat is bunk. Both the Panthers and Oilers, respectively, rebounded over the past two seasons to reach the Stanley Cup Final despite being out of a playoff spot in the third week of November. Still, fun to talk about.
10 – TOP 5/BOTTOM 5: For those not paying close attention, here’s our weekly Top 5 and Bottom 5 teams in the NHL – 1) Winnipeg, 2) Minnesota, 3) Florida, 4) New Jersey, 5) Vegas, and 28) Seattle, 29) Ottawa, 30) Montreal, 31) Nashville and 32) Chicago.
See you at the rink!
(Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the award-winning weekly Cats N Bolts Podcast and the daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV and YouTube Live)
