GDT: March 17th, 2012: Sabres @ Panthers

[pb1300]

FSN FLORIDA & 560 WQAM

PANTHERS SOCIAL NETWORK TWITTER - FACEBOOK - YOUTUBE FLORIDAPANTHERS.COM GAME PREVIEW *** "ABOUT TIME" FOR MADDEN RAPID FIRE: REASONS TO LOVE PLAYOFF HOCKEY BEING BRIAN CAMPBELL PANTHERS PLAYING HOCKEYS VERSION OF MARCH MADNESS NEWCOMER WOJTEK WOLSKI PROVIDING A SPARK FOR FLORIDA PANTHERS GEORGE RICHARD'S ON FROZEN POND BLOG HARVEY FIALKOV'S SUN-SENTINEL BLOG *** SABRES HFBOARDS G.D.T. (NO TROLLING) SEKERA'S RETURN A BREATH OF FRESH AIR FOR SABRES SABRES EDGE BLOG LAST 10: Buffalo 6-2-2; Florida 6-3-1 SEASON SERIES: This is the fourth and final meeting between the teams. The Sabres have won twice, including the most recent clash in Buffalo on Dec. 9 when Sabres captain Jason Pominville scored at 2:19 of overtime, and Ryan Miller finished with 22 saves in a 2-1 win. BIG STORY: The Sabres entered Friday night's action ninth in the Eastern Conference playoff race with 75 points in 71 games -- three behind eighth-seeded Washington and one ahead of 10th-seeded Winnipeg, both of whom played Friday night. The club will be without young defenseman Tyler Myers for two more games as he serves the second of a three-game suspension he received for boarding Montreal's Scott Gomez on March 12. He missed Wednesday's 5-4 shootout loss to Colorado and will also sit out Monday's game in Tampa Bay. For the season, Myers has 8 goals, 21 points, a plus-2 rating and 73 hits in 50 games. SABRES: Ryan Miller stopped 38 of 42 shots through regulation and overtime, but it wasn't enough as the Sabres dropped a heartbreaking 5-4 shootout decision to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. The loss spoiled a big night for Marcus Foligno, who scored a pair of goals while his father, former Sabres captain Mike Foligno, watched from the stands. With the loss, Buffalo failed to extend its five-game winning streak at home -- falling one short of the franchise record. The Sabres haven't won six straight on home ice since 2006-07. PANTHERS: The Panthers have started out a four-game homestand with three straight wins, beating Carolina, Toronto and Boston by a combined 13-4. Florida scored the opening goal for the fourth straight game on Thursday when Mikael Samuelsson connected 17:57 into the first. The Panthers are 22-2-8 when scoring first. With its 6-2 victory over Boston, Florida moved within two points of the Bruins for the second seed in the East. The Panthers also extended their lead over Washington in the Southeast Division to three points; each team has 12 games remaining. WHO'S HOT: Sabres center Tyler Ennis has 6 goals and 14 points in his last 15 games. … Florida goalie Jose Theodore is 3-0-1 in his past four games and has allowed two goals or less in 11 of 14 appearances since returning from a four-game absence (knee) on Feb. 12. The 35-year-old goalie has gone 6-2-1 in his past nine games. SABRES INJURY REPORT: For the Sabres, Nathan Gerbe (muscle strain) is day-to-day and Jochen Hecht (concussion) is out indefinitely. Defenseman Andrej Sekera (pneumonia) has missed the last five games and is questionable. PANTHERS INJURY REPORT: Jack Skille (shoulder), Matt Bradley (upper body) and Scottie Upshall (sports hernia surgery) are on injured reserve for the Panthers. The team does expect to have Kris Versteeg (hip) and Dmitry Kulikov (knee) back in the lineup against the Sabres. STAT PACK: Florida left wing Tomas Fleischmann had 2 assists in the victory over Boston on Thursday and now leads the team with 51 points (22 goals), which equals the career-high total he set with the Washington Capitals two seasons ago. PUCK DROP: How much do the Panthers enjoy playing at BankAtlantic Center in front of their fans? The club is 27-2-4 when tallying at least three goals this season, including three shootout wins. The team is 13-0-2 on home ice when scoring three or more goals, which includes a stretch of 12 straight wins. UPCOMING MILESTONES: Jason Garrison is tied for three franchise records: most goals in a season by a defenseman (15, Jay Bouwmeester 2008-09 &2007-08, Bryan McCabe 2008-09), most power play goals by a defenseman in a season (9, Gord Murphy 1993-94 &Jay Bouwmeester 2008-09) and most GWG by a defenseman in a season (3, six times, most recently himself in 2010-11) FRANCHISE FIRST: The Panthers hold a three-point lead over Washington for first place in the Southeast Division and the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference (three points behind No. 2 Ottawa). Florida has now been in first place for 105 days on the season, including a current run of 20 straight days following a two-goal, third-period comeback in a 3-2 shootout win in Carolina (Florida is 7-3-1 since that win). According to Elias Sports Bureau, this is the latest the Panthers have ever been in first place in their division, previously sitting in the top spot through 68 games on March 10, 2000. ELUSIVE FOUR: The Panthers look to stretch their win streak to four games, the fifth time they will attempt to do so this season. Florida is looking to win four straight games for the first time since its franchise-record, seven-game win streak (two in OT) March 2-16, 2008. The Panthers haven’t won four straight games in regulation since Feb. 10-19, 2001. HOME SWEET HOME: The Panthers drop the puck on the final contest of a four-game homestand, tied for their longest of the season. Florida has won four straight home games, the longest streak since the most recent run of a franchise-record five straight home wins, Jan. 16-31, 2010. The Panthers’ nine regulation losses on home ice are third-fewest in the Eastern Conference, bested only by the Rangers’ and Pittsburgh’s eight. SEASON MILESTONES: At 34-23-13, Florida has its best record through 70 games since going 36-24-5-5 in 1999-2000. With 12 games left, the Panthers’ 81 points have already surpassed their full-season totals for each of the last two seasons. BETWEEN THE PIPES: Jose Theodore is 3-0-1 in his last four games, allowing just five goals in that span with a .959 SV%. He’s allowed two goals or less in four straight games and 11 of his 14 appearances since returning from a four-game absence (knee) on Feb. 12. He’s also 6-2-1 in his last nine games and 21-13-7 this season, and his .920 SV% is his best season number since earning a.931 SV% in 2001-02 with Montreal. WELCOME ADDITION: Wojtek Wolski has a four-game point streak, one game shy of his career high March 31-April 10, 2010. He’s totaled eight points (3-5-8) in 11 games with the Panthers since being acquired from the Rangers prior to the trade deadline G-52 BOMBER: Jason Garrison has a career-high, three-game assist streak (3), and is tied for his career high with a three-game point streak (1-3-4). He has totaled 29 points (15-14-29) in 65 games, demolishing his previous career high of 18 points (5-13-18) in 73 games with Florida last season. Despite missing five games with a lower-body injury, he ranks second among all NHL defensemen with 15 goals this season, the first 13 of which were all slapshots from the point. He’s tied for multiple franchise records for goals by a defenseman (see milestones, above). THE FLASH: Tomas Fleischmann used two assists Thursday to take over the Panthers scoring lead with 51 points (22-29-51) in 70 games this season, matching his career high (23-28-51 in 69 games with Washington in 2009-10). He has four points (2-2-4) in his last four games, 13 points (5-8-13) in his last 20 games and 17 points (7-10-17) in his last 24 contests. OH MY GOC: Marcel Goc has three goals in a three-game goal streak, tied for his career high and with Jason Garrison for longest goal streak on the Panthers this season. He has four points (3-1-4) in his last three games and 22 points (10-12-22) in 46 games this season, including 19 points (7-12-19) in 29 games since returning from a 22-game absence (upper-body injury) on Jan. 5. WINNER, WINNER: Stephen Weiss tallied his team-leading sixth game-winning goal of the season Thursday and moved into a tie with Pavel Bure for second place for most GWG in franchise history (23 –Jokinen, 36). He ranks second on the Panthers with 50 points (17-33-50) in 68 games this season.

[pb1300]

[Erick]

Great GDT. Let's win four in a row, for a change!

[StrangeVision]

I don't usually go out of my way to compliment GDTs, but fantastic effort on this one.

[pb1300]

Originally Posted by StrangeVision

I don't usually go out of my way to compliment GDTs, but fantastic effort on this one.

WOW, a compliment from Strange Thanks man, I appreciate it. It only took me almost five hours to do. I am learning Photoshop on the fly, and its a pain man.

[adam graves]

Awesome thread!!!! Pumped to " roar for four"!!!

[adam graves]

Originally Posted by StrangeVision

I don't usually go out of my way to compliment GDTs, but fantastic effort on this one.

OMG A POSITIVE FROM SV...PLAYOFFS HERE WE COME!!!!

[BoneThugsNHarmony]

Awesome GDT!

I'll be there tonight. Look for me during first intermission, rocking my HURRICANES jersey! No fan sign tho.

sent from my iPad2

[SoupyFIN]

Originally Posted by BoneThugsNHarmony

Awesome GDT!

I'll be there tonight. Look for me during first intermission, rocking my HURRICANES jersey! No fan sign tho.

sent from my iPad2

Use the iPad.

[Desert Panther]

DVR primed and ready (they seem to do better when I'm not watching them .. lol)

Awesome GDT pb1300!! BTW, is that the same rat graphic from the arena?

[PanthersHockey1]

Nicely Done PB nicely Done!

[pb1300]

Originally Posted by Desert Panther

DVR primed and ready (they seem to do better when I'm not watching them .. lol)

Awesome GDT pb1300!! BTW, is that the same rat graphic from the arena?

Yeah, Ive had it in my photobucket account for years now. I dont remember where I copied it from.

[KaylaJ]

Nice GDT. Happy to see Versteeg & Kulikov back!

[Panteras]

amazing ****ing thread dude, C'MON PANTHERS!!!!! Let's do this!!!

[Booootthh]

very well done PB1300. Well worth the wait .

Well, it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway -- Huge game tonight. Winning this one would go a long way in helping our chances! Come on boys, lets get it done!

[Frek]

Wow, that's quite the GDT pb1300.

Would be nice to complete the homestead with another 2 points.

GO PANTHERS!!!

[PBPantherfan]

Hope the Cats put as much effort in tonight as PB put into this GDT.

[CatscratchFever]

Great GDT!! LGP!!

[Boooooth10]

I'm so excited to finally have Kulikov and Versteeg back.

[freakstar]

Epic GDT, good job!

Pretty excited about this game, nice to have Steeg & Kuli back!!

[HockeyRulez]

Great GDT!

Time to beat Buffalo and sweep this home stand. The Playoffs are in our teams' future. We just gotta keep beating the teams would "should" beat.
Also, welcome back Steeg and Kuli!

Lets Go Panthers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jeff Shafer]

Amazing thread! A start to a great evening happy st. Party's day and go panthers! Good to have steeger and koulkov back.

[harv3317]

TWO BIG POINTS!!!!!!!!!
GETTER DONE BOYS!!!!!!!!
GGGGGOOOOOO PPPPPPAAAAAANNNNNTTTTHHHHHEEEERRRRSSSS!!!!!!!:hand clap:

[SoupyFIN]

At first I was like:



But then I:



Which lead to:



Glad that DT didn't overpay for Ms. Leino's (no, that's not a typo, it was his nickname [in finnish thou, Neiti Leino]- IMO Leino was the biggest diver in recent FEL history) services.

[DeepRedSea]

Lets kick some old school ass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owJZ9N_W6YU