The NHL is HORRIFIED of THIS... | Florida Panthers News

The NHL should be horrified with the way the Florida Panthers are playing right now because they're getting better in every period that they're playing in their first round series. They're just going to keep getting better, especially because of the addition of a key defenseman who will finally take the ice for the first time in weeks in Game 3 of this series on Saturday. And Paul Maurice might have to make some line changes due to an injury. All of this is going to be coming up on this episode of Panthers Digest. Guys, thank you so much for joining me. I am Greg Andrews, and please hit that subscribe button down below so you can stay up-to-date with all news and information pre-post-game analysis about your defending Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers. Big win for the Cats yesterday. 2-0 victory. Big shout-out for Big Bob, who was just a wall in the net last night. He was spectacular, but more importantly, the Cats' defense was spectacular. Spectacular. And there's one stat on this stat sheet that I really want you guys to look at, which I think was the difference-maker, which allowed the Cats to keep their one-goal lead through pretty much 99% of the game until that last empty netter with two seconds left to go that sealed the deal for the Cats. And it's this stat line right there that's circled. 20 blocked shots compared to 6 for the Tampa Bay Lightning. All the other stat lines look pretty even. And they are. Even giveaways, takeaways, everything was fairly even except for that one stat line. And it was very similar in game number one as well in terms of the blocked shots. In game one, it was 18 blocked shots for the Cats, 8 for the Tampa Bay Lightning. So the Cats' defense, they are doing a lot more to help Bobrovsky so he doesn't have to go the extra mile and try to stop some of these harder shots. They're getting in those shooting lanes, and they're also getting in those passing lanes. Yes, physicality picked up in this second game. Clearly, you can see the hits. 38 for Tampa Bay, 34 for the Cats. And there was one big hit that we'll discuss in a minute. But the Cats' defense has been nothing short of spectacular through two games. They are shutting down one of the best offenses in the NHL, and they're making it look relatively easy. Yes, there were moments, and there always will be in any NHL game where a team's offense will finally start to be in sync and put a defense on their heels, which they've done to the Cats. But again, the Panthers keep getting in those shooting lanes. Bobrovsky's been making incredible saves in this series. He is looking like playoff Bobrovsky, and it's coming at the right time. And the same thing with this whole Cats team and their chemistry with how to penalty kills. My goodness, they were spectacular last night. Five penalty kills. Five. And didn't allow a single goal. Yes, the Cats also got shut out on the penalty kill, but they didn't need to get that extra help. And the smartest thing that I loved from head coach Paul Maurice was the fact that he used the clock. That clock management that he was able to do to hold on to that one goal lead was so smart. Yes, they had a five-minute major because of a really dirty hit. But what was more important to Paul Maurice was, yeah, of course they want to try to score a goal, but more importantly, use up that five minutes of time. When you've got just under nine minutes left in the game, cook off that clock. Let those seconds tick away, and let it be harder for the Lightning to try to get a goal to tie the game. And it was well done. He said, I'm sure he told that team, guys, we've got to pick up our defense. You know what's going to happen. You know who their shooters are. You know what they're going to try to do. They're going to try to get in your head. They're going to try to draw penalties. And they did a pretty good job, the Lightning, that is, of drawing penalties. They did. But the Cats did a better job on defense, on the special teams, for their penalty kill was nothing short of amazing last night. To hold on to a one-goal lead for literally pretty much three, almost three entire periods. Let's call it two and a half. Awesome job. Awesome job. So as we move forward here, these are some of the big-time game stats coming from Jameson Olive again, the beat writer for the Florida Panthers. Lundell, seven of nine in the face-off circle. Big-time wins when we needed them. So we can get the puck, we can make sure that we have it in our offensive zone, hold on to it, and try to throw those at the net. And yes, Vasilevsky was still very good last night. He looked more like the Vasilevsky of old. But, but, Nate Schmidt, man. Three goals in two games. Awesome. I think he's going to keep throwing them at the net and they're going to keep going in there because, man, he's just, I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is, but he's got Vasilevsky's number right now. He's throwing them at the net and they just seem to find the back of it very easily. So, Bobrovsky, fourth shutout. It is a franchise record for the Panthers. Congratulations to him. Big, again, big win. And when you're shutting out a team that's as high-powered offensively as the Tampa Bay Lightning, as talented as they are, that is a big-time shutout. A big statement win. And that is what I'm saying when I was like, the NHL needs to be horrified with the way this team is playing right now because they are clicking on all cylinders on offense and defense. They're playing really cerebral hockey. Very smart. And the coaching staff is making the right moves when they need to in terms of line changes. Picking up the defense. Picking up the offense. Making sure the puck, when it's in the corners, when they need to try to eat up some of that time to hold on to their leads. Very cerebral, smart hockey guys. And Florida only allowed six shot attempts on the five-on-five in the third. That is remarkable defense. Remarkable defense. So, the Cats are playing high-end, top-shelf hockey at the right time. And let's hope they keep this up through the future rounds of the playoffs. So, here's Paul Maurice Bobrovsky. We all know he puts in a ton of time. You can't be surprised with how great he is. That's pretty much what we're looking at here. He says, you know, Bob is great. Bob is Bob. He puts in the time. He puts in the effort. He's a phenomenal goaltender. And there is no update on Alexander Barkov. With that brutal hit he took from Hagel last night, that was a cheap shot. Clearly, he left his skates. And you're going to see right here, this is a still shot that I tried to get where you can see Hagel leaving the ice. But you can see Jameson Olive said, it was a dirty hit. The puck was nowhere near. And Hagel left the ice. He jumped off the ice and was targeting Barkov the whole time. Dirty hit. And what is more important now is the NHL has a scheduled phone call with the Tampa Bay Lightning to go over whether or not Hagel will have more time off of the ice because it was a cheap shot or an illegal hit. So we will see what happens with that possibly today. Maybe tomorrow we will see guys. I don't want to speculate too much on that because again, this is something that is an ongoing process with the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning to see what will happen with Hagel for game number three. So moving forward right now, Paul Maurice again is not sharing any information on what is going on with Barkov. There is no update. Literally when he was asked yesterday about the status for Barkov, does he have any update on him? His simple answer was, so there's nothing there. Nothing's come out as of yet. I'm sure we'll probably get something later today or something tomorrow before the game. But for being a Panthers fan and knowing this team as well as I do, Barkov, even when things happen like this, he's going to be ready to go. He looks shaken up. I bet he was a little dizzy because to me, I mean he could have gotten a concussion. I don't know. Again, speculation. And I don't want to do that, but we will see. I'm sure there'll be an update. Eventually we will find out soon. And as you can see here, Seth Jones said, you know, he's in a, in irreplaceable player. They need him on the ice. He is super important to this team to help them generate offense. And on the defensive side, I've said this so many times in all these episodes that he is such a difference maker on defense with that poke check, that four check, that long reach the body, the way he throws it around, the skill that he has with his hands on the stick is incredible. Incredible. And the other note that I want you guys to look at here is at the bottom there that says the Panthers blinked the lightning on their power play opportunities, all five of them. And Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 19 shots that he faced in those power plays. So great job by him going to be exciting hockey coming up for game number three. And obviously there's no love lost between these two teams. None at all. They hate each other. And I think they hate each other even more now because of that hit that Hagel had on Alexander Barkov and Sam Bennett, obviously he's going to voice his opinion and he's not happy. He's not happy. The rivalry is growing. We just hate them and more every time we play them. And it's worse now. I mean, he's even said the only real kind of update we have on, on Barkov is Bennett saying he's a tough guy. I'm sure he'll be back for game number three. That's pretty much all we have on Barkov at the moment, but with Sam Bennett, he is ready to go. He's going to be ready to rock in that game three. And with the return of Aaron Eckblad, this defense is going to be more fortified than it already is. They're dangerous guys that can score because of Nate Schmidt has been throwing them at the net. And they've also been able to hold their own. Seth Jones has been playing phenomenal on defense, 20, about 23, 24 minutes per game is what he's averaging in the series so far. And I'm going to look to say the same thing. I think their defense is going to be stout on Saturday. That place is, uh, Amherst bank arena is going to be rocking and with Eckblad's return and Chucky on the ice and that, and the team 100% back together. And this chemistry is working and flowing right now. They are dangerous. They are the most dangerous team in the NHL right now because they're going up against a very high powered, tough lightning team. And they are taking it to them right now with a two nothing series lead heading back home for game number three on Saturday at 1. PM guys. That's all I got for you today. Enjoy the game on Saturday. If there's any updates on Barkov, any line changes, which it doesn't look like there's going to be right now, but when Eckblad is inserted into the lineup again, I will have some updates for you. So check back with me tomorrow for another episode of Panthers digest. And don't forget to click that subscribe button down below and leave a comment. I want to hear what you guys have to say about the episodes as well as what is happening in your life with the Florida Panthers. And if there's any topics you'd like to talk about or have me do some research on, please feel free, leave a comment and subscribe. I will talk to you guys tomorrow. Have a wonderful Friday.