WEDNESDAY COMMENTARY – BIG BOY HOCKEY
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)
IT WAS THE KIND OF HOCKEY GAME WHERE BOTH TEAMS LEARNED A VALUABLE LESSON.
TUESDAY NIGHT HERE IN SUNRISE, FLORIDA BEFORE 13,164 FANS, THE NHL’S #1 ROAD TEAM (THE CALGARY FLAMES) TOOK ON THE NHL’S #1 HOME TEAM (THE FLORIDA PANTHERS).
SPEAKING WITH MEMBERS OF THE FLAMES BEFORE THE GAME, THEY WERE EXCITED ABOUT FACING FLORIDA, ONE OF THE TOP TEAMS IN THE EAST.
AND VERY EARLY ON, I COULD SEE CALGARY WAS READY. IN TRUE DARRYL SUTTER-STYLE, THE FLAMES ATTEMPTED TO RUN THE PANTHERS OUT OF THEIR OWN RINK.
IN THE EARLY GOING, THEY DID. FLORIDA WAS HELD WITHOUT A SHOT FOR THE FIRST FOUR MINUTES; WHICH IS RARE FOR A TEAM WHO’S LED THE NHL IN FIRST PERIOD GOALS.
CALGARY EVEN JUMPED OUT TO A 2-1 FIRST PERIOD LEAD AND IT LOOKED LIKE AN UPSET WAS IN THE MAKING.
BUT THEN, LIKE A BOXER WHO GOT KNOCKED AGAINST THE ROPES BUT NEVER WENT DOWN, THE FLORIDA PANTHERS CAME BACK.
DID THEY EVER.
WHEN YOU PLAY A ROUGH-HOUSE STYLE, YOU’RE GOING TO GET INTO PENALTY TROUBLE AND THE PANTHERS MADE THE VISITORS PAY FOR THAT.
IN FACT FLORIDA SCORED THE NEXT FIVE UNANSWERED GOALS AND WENT ON TO EMBARRASS THE FLAMES 6-2, EARNING THEIR NHL-LEADING 18TH HOME WIN IN THE PROCESS.
THE NHL’S BUZZING ABOUT THE SHOT TOTAL IN THE GAME – 94 IN ALL – AS CALGARY OUTSHOT FLORIDA 49-45.
SERGEI BOBROVSKY ASSUREDLY WON A GOALTENDER’S BATTLE AGAINST HIS COUNTERPART JACOB MARKSTROM, BUT BOTH SPARKLED TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
AFTER THE GAME FLAMES COACH DARRYL SUTTER SAID THE PANTHERS ARE “A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF TEAM” THAN WHAT THEY’RE USED TO FACING, AND A TEAM THAT’S BUILT FOR THE PLAYOFFS.
SO IN THE END, BOTH TEAMS LEARNED A LESSON. FLORIDA LEARNED THEY’RE NOT JUST A TEAM BUILT ON FINESSE AND THEY CAN STAND UP TO THE BULLIES TOO.
THE FLAMES LEARNED THEY’VE STILL GOT SOME WORK TO DO.
IT WAS BIG BOY HOCKEY IN SOUTH FLORIDA LAST NIGHT.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV. Call your cable provider for details. You can also watch daily on YouTube Live, or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)
Sounds like a great game to watch with all those shots!
Florida can try all they want but in the end come playoff time Carolina Hurricanes are the much better team. Lets hope hockey fans that the NHL season doesn’t get canceled out by Covid.
Great content! Keep up the good work!