- OVERVIEW -
The Florida Panthers haven't found their grove as of yet, as they have lost their first two games of the season on the road. They have two more games on the road before they get the chance to have the cheering fans of Florida behind their backs, so you know the players and Terence Baker would love to come home with these next two as a win. The line ups will be worked with and a new strategy will be made to see if we can get some chemistry going with the lines.
The Defensive parings will remain, the forward lines will be adjusted as followed:
First Line:
Left Wing: J. Huberdeau Center: R. Kesler Right Wing: N. Zherdev
Second Line:
Left Wing: T. Toffoli Center: N. Kadri Right Wing: B. Boyes
Third Line:
Left Wing: R. Bourque Center: D. Shore Right Wing: Z. Kassian
Fourth Line:
Left Wing: T. Fleischmann Center: G. Rallo Right Wing: S. Upshall
- T. Toffoli has gone up from the fourth line to the second, as he has proven he deserves a chance. He's played both games for the Florida Panthers, collecting 2 goals and a plus minus of +2 with getting only 5 minutes of ice time a game with the fourth line. T.Baker thinks that spicing things up and allowing Toffoli play on the second line will spark some motivation in his play.
- T. Fleischmann will take Toffoli's place on the fourth line as his play lately is not exactly what many would say good. He's also played the last two games, has recorded no points and is a minus -1 so far. Tho he isn't the worst performer out there, he certainly isn't proving to work well on the second line. Hopefully the demotion will up his play to try and get his place back on the second line.
- The empty captain position as now been made, and the assistant captains have also been made.
T.Baker traded away many of the other players that took those roles and wanted to wait to see whom the deserving players were to be appointed this new looking teams leaders. As many expected Ryan Kesler has taken the Captain's position for the Florida Panthers. T. Baker see's a lot of heart, determination, and leadership in him as the players respect him. Another no brainer for the first assistant captain was Drew Doughty. The dominating defenseman has a Stanley Cup win on his belt and is one of the most known defenceman out there. The surprised and last appointed assistant captain was T. Toffoli. Since being acquired from the L.A Kings, T. Baker has shown great interest in the young 21 Year old. The assigning of the assistant captain spot will not only give Toffoli that boost in knowing he's a key part of this team, but will allow him to show some leadership towards a struggling Florida team.
- Games -
Florida Panthers (0-2-0, 0pts) Vs Philadelphia Flyers(1-1-1, 3pts)
Location: Wells Fargo Center
Attendance : 19,313
- First Period Summary -
Goal, 3:44, Flyers, Scored by Erik Gustafsson - Assisted by Brayden Schenn and Braydon Coburn (0-1)
Goal, 18:28, Flyers, Scored by Sean Couturier - Assisted by Jakub Voracek and Andrew MacDonald (0-2)
- Penalties -
16:48, Flyers, Wayne Simmonds, 5 Minutes for Fighting.
16:48, Panthers, Zack Kassian, 5 Minutes for Fighting.
(End of the first Philadelphia leads 2-0 against the Florida Panthers. The Flyers outshot the Panthers 16-11 going into the second period)
- Second Period Summary -
Goal, 2:24, Panthers, Scored on the powerplay by Nazem Kadri - Assisted by Drew Doughty and Nikolai Zherdev (1-2)
Goal. 11:56, Flyers, Scored by Adam Hall - Assisted by Way Simmonds and Matt Read (1-3)
- Penalties -
2:22, Flyers, Steve Downie, 2 Minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct.
5:58, Panthers, Nikolai Zherdev, 2 Minutes for Tripping.
9:44, Flyers, Way Simmonds, 2 Minutes for Holding.
17:16, Panthers, Tom Gilbert, 2 Minutes for Cross-Checking.
(End of the second Philly continues to lead this game with a score of 3-1. The Flyers continued to outshoot the Panthers in this period 11-7. C. Price has done what he can to keep his team in this game as he's made 24/27 saves so far tonight. S. Mason has done well also making 17/18 shots he's faced after two periods)
An interview backstage with R. Kesler showed that the team was on the same page with T. Baker as he had this to say when asked during the intermission what his thoughts on the teams chemistry and performance was.
Ryan Kesler: You guys heard it from our GM and Coach. We still need to work these lines and find out who connects. This team is made of a lot of guys that aren't used to playing with each other. Due to the offseason moves that were needed for this team, we still need time to figure out who plays well with who. The performance from each player I feel is good, yeah we have been taking some bad penalties, but it's part of the game. All we need right now, is to find out who plays well with who.
-Third Period Summary -
Goal, 15:34, Flyers, Scored on the powerplay by Jakub Voracek - Assisted by Claude Giroux and Vincent Lecavalier (1-4)
- Penalties -
0:42, Flyers, Luke Schenn, 2 Minutes for Hooking.
2:46, Flyers, Luke Schenn, 2 Minutes for Hooking.
5:30, Panthers, Rene Bourque, 2 Minutes for Tripping.
14:12, Zack Kassian, 2 Minutes for Hooking.
(End of the third and Philly wins the game in a dominating fashion of a 4-1 game. Florida outshot the Flyers this period, but couldn't get the puck past S. Mason who made 37/38 saves to pick up the victory for his team. )
We weren't able to get any words from T.Baker after the game, as he seems to be staying low from the media. T.Baker joined the team back in August, and was looking to bring a team together that would push for the Playoffs. After losing the last three, T.Baker needs to find a way to get a win under his teams belt and boost some offense into the team
- Three Stars of the Game -
1st Star - J. Voracek (Phi - RW) 1G, 1A, 2Pts
2nd Star - A. MacDonald (Phi - D) 0G, 1A, 1Pt
3rd Star - V. Lecavalier (Phi - LW) 0G, 1A, 1 Pt