[moore4807]

When both defensive coaches are again sitting in the war room as Bonehead enters, "uh-oh" is his first thought... Setting his coffee down on the conference table, he grins at the coaches and says "what's shakin with our bacon?" Coach Tyulin looks at him blankly and Bonehead groans inwardly then quickly offers "what has you guys in here so early?" Coach Tyulin brightens and replies "We have come to a decision... Robak over Gilroy" and emphatically sets his coffee cup down! Bonehead glances at Coach McCabe who winces a little and then adds his agreement to the idea. Both coaches point out that the skills of both players are nearly identical and while overall they would like a better D man, having both players play exactly the same style isn't helping the team. With that, Bonehead asks them if Gilroy should be on the trade list and Coach Tyulin wastes no time agreeing... followed by Coach McCabe.

The opening lines have been set and Coach Ramsay inserts newcomer RW Ales Hemsky on the first line with C Gomez and LW Fleischmann who are the most offensively gifted and he sticks them together to see if there is any chemistry. All four lines are starting the game at equal time (15 mins) and Robak gets his second start on D while the previous set up of the top four getting 25 mins + the bulk of special teams will stay.

Finally the opening faceoff puck is ready to be dropped and... After one period the Panthers are already down 2-0. Shots are nearly equal at 11-10 Panthers and Gomez is given a questionable diving penalty that led to a Kings PP goal. The 1st line is now 20 mins and the third line is down to 10 mins. Defense is reverted to Kulikov/Robak is now 2nd pair and Gubranson/Weaver are back to third pair and all three pairings are at 20 mins. the third pair remain on PP/PK special teams.

The second period is definitely leaning the Panthers way as RW Brad Boyes scores an ES marker and the shot advantage grows for the Panthers to 22-17. Bonehead goes crazy when RW Dan Carcillo (7.0a/7.0a) virtually chases down and runs over LW Jonathan Huberdeau (7.0a/8.0a) to welcome him to the league. Huberdeau wastes no time and drops the gloves with Carcillo, but is clearly not in the same class as the noted pugilist. 1st Line and 4th line are given 20 min shifts and the 2 & 3rd lines have 10 mins each. Defense is same for the third period.

The tightly played third period yields no goals for either team and LA skates away with the victory. Bonehead defends the play of the team in the postgame press conference. There are several questions all coming back to continued offensive troubles, when the exasperated Bonehead interrupts and points out they just scored 7 goals the last game! He further points out that the Kings are considered a top team and they held that high flying offense to just two goals. No further questions occur and Bonehead wraps up the conference.