South Florida Tribune: PEDERSEN 10 NHL Things
1 – OUT LIKE A LION: The Florida Panthers closed the book on a very successful 2024 calendar year with a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers Monday evening before 19,556 fans at Amerant Bank Arena. It was the Cats’ final game of 2024 – a year which saw them capture the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title back on June 24 – and allowed them to takeover first place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 23-13-2. Jesper Boqvist led the attack with a pair of goals, with Eetu Luostarinen, Mackie Samoskevich and Aleksander Barkov netting singles and Sergei Bobrovsky collecting the win in goal with a 33-save effort.
2 – LIGHTING THE LAMP: Monday’s offensive outburst had to be a relief for Florida, as they’d been shutout 4-0 by Tampa Bay and 4-0 by Montreal in the first two games of this five-game homestand. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice admitted to being concerned about the team’s lack of offensive production of late but also explained the team was weary after logging the most road miles of any NHL team during the unofficial first half of the season. A three day rest over the Christmas holidays had to be a welcome respite. The Cats host Carolina on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Friday to close out the homestand.
3 – OLE, OLE, OLE: The cellar-dwelling Montreal Canadiens gave Florida teams all they could handle over the weekend. With their boisterous fans filling the arenas in Sunrise and Tampa Bay, the NHL’s winningest all-time franchise blanked the Cats on Saturday as previously mentioned, then walked into Amalie Arena and stunned the Bolts 5-2 on Sunday. Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes earned a 34-save shutout in his NHL debut on Saturday in Sunrise. The Canadiens are the second-youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 26.1 – only the Buffalo Sabres are younger – and are in Year 4 of a rebuild after bowing out to the Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. Hopefully Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis is around to see the fruits of their labor.
4 – #GOBOLTS: Despite the year-end loss to Montreal, the Lightning seem to be gaining steam. They’ve won seven of their past 10 games and with a record of 20-12-2, hold down the first wild card playoff spot by two points over Ottawa, and trail third place Boston by just two points. The Lightning’s 134 goals scored are second only to the Winnipeg Jets’ 137, and have played three less games.
5 – HEDDY: On Sunday, Lightning captain Victor Hedman became the franchise leader in all-time games played (1,083), surpassing team icon Steven Stamkos. … Meanwhile Tampa Bay forward Anthony Cirelli on Sunday became the fourth Lightning player to snipe two shorthanded goals in a game, and moved past Rob Zamuner for the second-most shorthanded goals in club history (15).
6 – LALONDE OUT: We’ve had another coach firing. On Thursday the Detroit Red Wings fired head coach Derek Lalonde and replaced him with veteran NHL coach Todd McLellan. The Wings had been off to a disappointing 13-7-4 start, placing them seventh in the Atlantic Division and 28th overall. “Our team isn’t performing up to what my expectations are,” said Wings GM Steve Yzerman. “Whether anybody agrees or not, I have expectations for the team, and they aren’t meeting them because our players aren’t playing to each of their own individual expectations.” Detroit lost 5-2 to Toronto on Friday in their first game under McLellan, but rebounded with a 4-2 win over Washington on Sunday.
7 – WHO’S NEXT: NHL coaches have been dropping like flies since Jim Montgomery was fired by Boston in mid-November. Five days later he replaced Drew Bannister with the St. Louis Blues. In early December, the last-place Chicago Blackhawks terminated Luke Richardson, replacing him with Anders Sorenson. Now the crosshairs seem to have targeted Peter Laviollette of the New York Rangers. Following Monday’s loss at Florida, the Blueshirts fell to 16-19-1 and tumbled to 14th in the Eastern Conference. They’ve lost eight of their last 10 games. What’s the problem? “Nothing that a new coach and GM wouldn’t fix,” quipped an NHL insider in the press box at Amerant Bank Arena.
8 – TAKING IT OUTSIDE: The Chicago Blackhawks will face the St. Louis Blues at Chicago’s Wrigley Field in the NHL’s Outdoor Classic on New Years Eve at 5:00 pm ET. The NHL’s 42nd outdoor game will definitely be worth tuning into as the next Face Of The League, Chicago’s Connor Bedard, leads the Hawks into battle at the home of MLB’s Cubs. Bedard’s 60 points as a teenager in the 2024 calendar year are the most ever by a Blackhawk, but well behind Sidney Crosby’s league record of 118 set in 2006.
9 – THE GREAT 8: Alexander Ovechkin is back, with a vengeance. The Washington Capitals captain returned from a leg injury on the weekend and immediately continued his assault on Wayne Gretzky’s career NHL goals record of 894. The Russia sniper scored a pair of goals in two games on the weekend to move within 25 goals of breaking The Great One’s longstanding mark. According to NHL Stats, Ovechkin will set the mark within the next 31 games if he continues his career rate of scoring 0.83 goals per game.
10 – #TIMETOHUNT: We wind up this week’s column with a closer look at the Cats. From the outside, it really does appear like they have everything they need for a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, and a chance to defend last year’s championship. After all, they lead the Atlantic Division and the toughest part of their travel schedule is behind them. But don’t think for a second that GM Bill Zito isn’t closely scanning his roster and deliberating moves leading up to the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline. Two years ago Zito made exactly zero moves but last year he was extremely active at the deadline. Don’t be fooled; this is not the same team which won the Stanley Cup last season with nine players departed from that roster. Bobrovsky has held the fort extremely well in his starts but back-up Spencer Knight has been spotty in relief. Generally teams play better, and with extra effort, when the back-up gets the call but that hasn’t been the case with this bunch. The next two months will be very interesting to watch.
See you at the rink!
(Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the award-winning Cats N Bolts Podcast and the daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV & YouTube Live)
