These Panthers sure know how to make things interesting. Despite a rough night from Tomas Vokoun, the Cats clawed back from a 3-1 deficit in the final seven minutes of the third period to tie the game at 3 with 13.9 seconds on the clock. When the game went to the shootout, though, Craig Anderson was beaten easily by Tampa's shooters and the Panthers would be forced to settle for a point.
Still, the shoddy goaltending helped mask the overall lousy play by the team tonight. Passes were sloppy or intercepted while shots were wide or never taken. Effort wasn't an issue tonight, though. I really just saw an amazing amount of inconsistency and just a general struggle from both clubs. One line would have a solid shift and then the next time out, they would look completely out of place. Can't really explain it, it was just a frustrating game even with the late rally.
I noticed a Rochester sweater tonight, which is quite a rarity. I can count the number of times I've seen one on one hand, so that was pretty neat. Which leads me to, of course, Rochester.
Hamilton was at the Blue Cross Arena to take on the Amerks and once again, Mike Brodeur stood tall, making 36 saves on 37 shots in the 2-1 Rochester victory. Chalk the goals up for Peter Aston and David Brine.
The World Junior Championships started today, as well. Team USA was in action early on in the afternoon against Germany, winning big -- 8-2.
Florida holds the rights to one of the U.S. players: college center Matt Rust. Rust (Florida's fourth pick in the 2007 Entry Draft) is in his second World Junior tournament and he most definitely made his first game in this year's WJC a good one.
His two-way play is teriffic and he's a great penalty killer. He did that today and he did it well, actually looking like one of the more impressive American players in the game, he's a hard worker and a big team player and beyond defensive responsibility, his all-around abilities are promising.
So, did he do anything else?
He scored a goal, and it was a beauty. With nine seconds left and Team USA already up 7-2, Rust picked up a loose puck deep in the defensive zone and carried out across center in to the offensive zone. He moved through two German defenders and threw a wrister blocker side high with one second left in the game, making the score 8-2 and making Panthers' fans proud in the process.
Two other Panthers' prospects were playing tonight: Evgeni Dadonov (Russia) and Jacob Markström (Sweden).
Dadonov is a small but chippy right wing playing in his third year with Chelyabinsk. The 19-year-old was Florida's third-round (71st overall) pick in the 2007 Entry Draft. recorded an assist in Russia's 4-1 win against Latvia, while Markström stopped 20 of 21 Finland shooters in goal, helping his team to a 3-1 victory.
Tomorrow night, the Panthers will be on Florida's west coast for game two of the home-and-home with the Lightning while the Rochester Americans take on the Albany River Rats at 5PM. As for juniors, there are two games (Slovakia-Latvia, Kazakhstan-Germany) and neither will feature any Panthers' prospects. The three nations (USA, Sweden, Russia) will all be back on the ice for games on Sunday.
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