Panthers hold off Lightning with 6-4 victory

What a nail bitter. If it wasn't for that 5-on-3 present from the refs this might have turned into another Panthers 3rd period meltdown disaster. Fortunately Vokoun played well and we held on for the win. Way too many shots on Vokoun. Our offense is now firing on all cylinders, but our defense still needs serious work. The only exception is Cory Murphy who looked simply like a rock star out there. He makes Bouwmeester look like a 3rd pairing d-man and he's tiny. He even tried to lay hits on Lightning players towering over him. Talk about tenacity. Where was this guy the past five seasons? We've needed a point man like this for years. He's like a mini Dan Boyle. I hope we don't give him away for nothing like we did with Boyle. Murphy has rejuventated our PP like I have never seen it for the last several years. He actually gets pucks on the net... what a concept! It's nice to finally see this team capitalize on the man advantage instead of dumping the puck in all the time (which never worked). Good job. Let's go for the next win now. Don't quit now guys.

other than the heart attack I almost suffered after 7 minutes of the third, the Panthers played well for the most part. Definitely creating chances and using their speed to get some odd man rushes. Great games by Jokinen, Murphy, Weiss and Horton. I don't think Bouw played as well as he has been, but Vokoun was stellar again. I feel bad that the 3rd and 4th TB goals had to happen, the defence can be blamed 100% for those. Vokoun is definitely proving why he is a bonafide no.1 goalie and if we can get the effort from him at the beginning of games like the past two wins the Panthers will have a great chance to make the playoffs. But damn those hurricanes are looking solid, it looks like we may be fighting with TB all year for second in the division. We will see in the next 5-10 games whether or not the Panthers are going to be able to complete for the division title. Canadian road trip coming up, let's win 2/3 and make it an enjoyable week!!

Yes, the game could have easily turned out differently but the fact is that it didn't. Your are correct in saying that our defense needs to get better. Vokoun was literally being attacked right and left and I felt that these guys were forgetting to protect the guy the depend on.

But after all is said and done, I had a wonderful time at the game. No one cared that I was the loudest fan cheering in my section or that sometinmes I even did it in Spanish.

For sure we need to build on these two past wins. This is just the beginning of the season - certainly not the time to give up.GO CATS!!!

Was a great game. Sad the arena looked maybe 65% full on a Saturday night against our in state rivals. C'mon people let's show this team some support. This is arguably the best Panthers team since 2000. Dolphins or Hurricanes sure aren't worth watching anymore.

Hey Red Baron! It's nice to dig the Panthers...so I'm sorry for being a jerk. Let's all root for these guys to achieve to the highest potential. Panthers fan unite!!!

Tough game coming up against Montreal. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going to make it to .500 and beyond.