Need Some Help: Florida Panthers @ Atlanta Thrashers ... It's Vokoun ... 'Dropping the Ball'

THE ATL -- The Panthers are definitely going to be keeping one eye on the out of town scoreboard tonight as their playoff fate does not rest in their own hands but in others.

First, Florida needs the New York Rangers to lose to the Flyers. The Panthers also need Montreal to lose to Boston.

Oh, and it would be nice if the Panthers would beat Atlanta. A loss tonight, and we're at the arena on Monday for locker clean out day.

-- The Panthers are going to go with Tomas Vokoun, with coach Pete DeBoer getting a little testy when we asked 'why Vokoun?' He didn't give us a 'why not?' but actually answered his own question. He said he didn't know why it was so controversial for him to be making a choice, adding that Craig Anderson's numbers have been better than Vokoun's of late.

But Vokoun is your starter, your 'money' guy. Good decision to go with him in this most crucial of games.

-- DeBo on how the Panthers get into the playoffs: ''I believe somebody is going to drop the ball on the other end."

-- DeBo also says this will not be a successful season unless the Panthers make the playoffs. He says he's never missed the postseason, and that's the only way to have a good season is to be in them. Even if the Panthers win the final two and just miss? ''I won't be slapping anyone on the back if we miss,'' he said, ''especially not my own.''

-- Thursday's Games (and who the Panthers would be rooting for if they were swimming with the dolphins at Georgia Aquarium)

Flyers @ Rangers, 7: The Panthers really like the Flyers today. A lot.

Canadiens @ Bruins, 7: The Panthers really like the Bruins today. A bunch.

Sabres @ Hurricanes, 7: Buffalo is still in it. In it to win it. Go Canes.

-- The Standings (presented by 1-800-NEED-HELP and courtesy of TSN.ca)

Eastern
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	PTS	GF	GA	Home	Away	Last 10	Streak
1	y-Boston	79	51	18	10	112	262	184	28-6-6	23-12-4	7-2-1	Lost 1
2	y-Washington	80	49	23	8	106	264	236	29-9-3	20-14-5	6-2-2	Won 2
3	x-New Jersey	80	49	27	4	102	238	205	27-12-1	22-15-3	3-6-1	Lost 1
4	x-Philadelphia	79	43	25	11	97	257	230	24-12-4	19-13-7	6-3-1	Won 1
5	x-Carolina	80	45	28	7	97	236	218	26-13-1	19-15-6	9-0-1	Won 9
6	x-Pittsburgh	80	43	28	9	95	255	237	24-13-3	19-15-6	7-2-1	Won 1
7	Montreal	80	41	29	10	92	244	239	24-9-7	17-20-3	5-4-1	Lost 2
8	NY Rangers	80	41	30	9	91	204	214	25-11-4	16-19-5	5-4-1	Won 1
9	Florida	80	39	30	11	89	224	225	21-12-7	18-18-4	5-4-1	Lost 1
10	Buffalo	80	39	32	9	87	239	232	22-15-3	17-17-6	5-4-1	Won 1
11	Ottawa	80	36	34	10	82	213	229	22-12-6	14-22-4	6-4-0	Won 3
12	Toronto	81	33	35	13	79	245	291	15-16-9	18-19-4	4-6-0	Lost 1
13	Atlanta	80	34	40	6	74	249	275	17-20-2	17-20-4	5-5-0	Lost 2
14	Tampa Bay	80	24	38	18	66	206	269	12-17-11	12-21-7	1-6-3	Lost 7
15	NY Islanders	79	26	44	9	61	196	264	17-16-6	9-28-3	3-6-1	Lost 1
Western
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	PTS	GF	GA	Home	Away	Last 10	Streak
1	y-San Jose	80	53	16	11	117	253	196	32-4-4	21-12-7	7-2-1	Won 2
2	y-Detroit	79	51	19	9	111	290	233	27-8-4	24-11-5	6-4-0	Won 2
3	x-Calgary	80	45	29	6	96	249	242	26-10-4	19-19-2	4-6-0	Lost 1
4	x-Chicago	80	44	24	12	100	257	214	23-9-8	21-15-4	7-2-1	Lost 1
5	x-Vancouver	80	43	27	10	96	244	220	23-12-5	20-15-5	5-4-1	Won 1
6	x-Columbus	80	41	29	10	92	222	221	25-12-3	16-17-7	5-1-4	Won 1
7	Anaheim	80	41	33	6	88	237	230	19-18-3	22-15-3	8-2-0	Lost 1
8	St. Louis	80	39	31	10	88	229	232	22-13-5	17-18-5	7-2-1	Won 1
9	Nashville	80	39	33	8	86	205	222	24-13-4	15-20-4	4-3-3	Lost 1
10	Minnesota	80	38	33	9	85	205	193	22-11-7	16-22-2	5-4-1	Won 1
11	Edmonton	80	37	34	9	83	228	243	17-17-6	20-17-3	3-7-0	Lost 1
12	Dallas	80	35	35	10	80	224	251	20-16-5	15-19-5	2-6-2	Lost 1
13	Los Angeles	80	33	36	11	77	203	230	17-15-8	16-21-3	3-6-1	Won 1
14	Phoenix	80	34	39	7	75	199	247	22-15-3	12-24-4	5-4-1	Lost 2
15	Colorado	79	32	44	3	67	197	252	18-20-0	14-24-3	1-7-2	Lost 1

Comments

[AG]

Either would be fine, Pete just stop playing head games with the goalies and rag on jaybo or missed empty nets from time to time

[vic b]

Terrific-putting in VOKOUN-expect another soft goal as the aggresive out of position flopping will increase chance against Atlanta loss-Stay awake Vokoun and remember to seal off post and dont let your 5 hole open-like you did against Washington,Columbus,and Buffalo!Maybe we can score 2 goals against Atlanta and win-keep hoping fools about playoffs-with this decision Im done.

[CATFAN927]

But Bye Vic B.......cant say we will miss ya!

[alex]

starting the better goalie in must win game....how dare he!!

::::::::sigh:::::;

some people are so stupid....

[AG]

Vic b ... So your p'oed he's starting last years all star who gave up 2 goals to the flyers?? Hmmmm

[Bo]

It doesn't matter who is in goal when the forwards only score one goal. There are two games left in the regular season, let's guess how many goals the Panthers forwards muster up to finish the year. One or two goals a game will not get you in the playoffs. My guess is Panthers forwards score a total of three goals in the remaining games. I hope I am wrong and they score two dozen but their track record tells me 3 goals.

[James]

So Vic, it's starting Vokoun over Andersen that drove you over the edge? You mean it wasn't the 8..i mean 9 straight years off missing the playoffs, the Luongo trade, all the botched draft picks, the entire Keenan era, Alan Cohen's shallow pockets, Nathan Horton's refusal to play to his potential, the Bure trade, the Luongo trade, management catering to their bottom line rather than to the fans, trading Kristian Huselius for Steve Montador, $12 Heinekens at the BAC, the Luongo trade, or the fact that the guy who played "McLovin" scores more than we do...it was this. THIS is what drove you over the edge?

[Eric]

Its all about scoring--The pressure needs to be on ALL 4 lines--not T-Vo and Andy. I'm just afraid that Atlanta is a little too thirsty for blood tonight, and I do NOT see Boston fiing on all thrusters tonight...I'm hoping for a miracle!

[matt]

It is disappointing. I don't believe we will be a next level team until Martin is out of here. Boumester should have been traded. We could have missed the playoofs without him!

[Slapshot1106]

The goalie doesn't matter. It's too bad we have to put that much pressure on either one of them that they pretty much have to be flawless for us to win....It's too bad that we don't have guys that don't turn it over left and right, know how to keep the play alive, and aren't afraid to muck and grind to win some battles....Therefore, we get outshot CONSTANTLY....Yes it would be nice to have some players out there that we were proud of... Sure we have a handful, but we need a lot more....and please stop with all the Markstrom stuff.....

Why do we always have to be a team that has to just be about a solid goaltender to contend?? Let's gradually build a team with character guys that know how to play the game.... I'd rather we have two $3 million goalies like Detroit. I only we wish we had half the talent and/or prospects that most organizations have. It's not fair to put all our marble in Markstrom...Maybe he makes it, maybe not, but what about drafting and developing some of our own talent....After all these years of picks, I wish we had more to show it than Booth, Frolik, J-BO(gone??), and Horton(should've been gone long ago)....Let's get some people here that can find talent and know how to build a TEAM!!!

[season ticket holder since day one]

Slapshot 1106 you are right on! until this organization decides to develop players and scout like the other teams.

I am tired of hearing at the draft can you believe the panthers drafted that guy and the Yormark and company say what a great pick up and this is who we wanted.