If one
person completely understands what Tomas Vokoun is going through right now,
it’s Roberto Luongo.
The former
Florida goaltender made sure to praise the current Panthers netminder prior to
Thursday’s game, one in which Luongo shutout his old team 3-0 at BankAtlantic
Center.
Despite
strong play by Vokoun, the Panthers have now lost five straight and six of
seven.
Those playoff hopes that were burning fairly bright a few days ago? All
but gone.
“Everyone is disappointed,’’ said defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, who may have played his final game with the Panthers on Thursday.
“This doesn’t help us. Everyone knows
what we’re playing for. But it’s not working.’’
And go ahead
and blame the offense. Afterward, it seemed like Vokoun wanted to not only
blame someone, but perhaps punch one. Vokoun angrily packed his bags while
muttering unprintable words under his breath. He declined official requests for
comment.
Hard to
blame him. Florida’s been shutout four times since Jan. 7 and has scored two
goals or less for a franchise record 12 straight games. The previous record of
11 came during Luongo’s regime.
The Panthers
are 4-7-1 in this 12 game offensive swoon, a stretch that has seriously
hampered their progress in a tight Eastern Conference.
Florida is six
points out of the final playoff spot and could have a different roster if
general manager Randy Sexton can swing some deals before Friday’s 3 p.m.
Olympic trade deadline.
“I’ll coach
whatever we have here,’’ said coach Pete DeBoer, whose team will almost
assuredly miss the playoffs for an NHL record-tying ninth straight season. “We
have practice at 10:30 and whomever shows up is who we will work with.’’
As for
Luongo, Thursday’s win was his 17th shutout in Sunrise – his adopted
hometown. Luongo played for the Panthers from 2000-06.
The Panthers
did challenge Luongo on Thursday, with six shots saved by the iron surrounding
the Vancouver captain. A Bryan McCabe shot in the third period looked to be
going in before defenseman Christian Ehrhoff swept it away before it went in.
“We hit a
lot of pipes,’’ Keith Ballard said. “This was huge for us. We needed to get
back, a little closer. This is two more points we didn’t get.’’
Luongo made 31
saves in the shutout, the 51st of his career.
Vokoun stopped 32 of
35 shots as his record dropped to 19-21-9.
The carnage in Florida continues.
At least, Sexton is FINALLY doing something about it (it only took the whole first half of the season for him to make a trade). I'm willing to give Sexton, the benefit of the doubt and see what he does with these trades. Especially since he is FINALLY admitting the truth, the second -fourth lines of the Panthers supposed offense is talentless and does not have much heart in their play. Let's hope he can get something for these guys on the trade market or next season will be even worse.
Posted by: FLA Kittens | February 12, 2010 at 12:06 AM
Good to hear Goldie, Craig, Billy and Randy calling them all out too. I was getting tired of sugar-coating everthing.
I have a feeling we are losing a chunk of weight tomorrow morning!
Posted by: Eric | February 12, 2010 at 01:40 AM
I only see 1 deal getting done today. Sexton is all talk.
Posted by: JoeSchmoe | February 12, 2010 at 08:25 AM
It take two partners to dance. Who in their right mind would want some of these bums?
Posted by: Fred | February 12, 2010 at 08:57 AM
I can see Sexton get restless as the day goes on--he might have to dump some bigger names with nothing in return...
Posted by: Eric | February 12, 2010 at 10:04 AM
The salary cap puts a damper on alot of trades, especially if the ceiling is lower next year.
If Randy could get rid of Stillman and Reinprecht today, I'd say he's doing a decent job. But like Fred says above, who in their right mind would want some of these bums?
Posted by: EJ | February 12, 2010 at 11:16 AM