Backstrom's 4 assists lead Capitals over Panthers 5-3

2nd from last in the East. This team sure is making strides. The only positive out of this game was the line of Horton Jokinen and of course Matthias who I am very happy about having for the future, what a great talent.

Gee Jacques,
You think as a coach who just got his 500th victory last night, you might know a little something about coaching.... HOW ABOUT GOING WITH A HOT GOALTENDER..... EVEN IF HE'S A NUMBER TWO THAT HAS LOOKED FRESHER THAN THE #1? Seriously Mr. Cohen.... Save your investment and tell jacques it's one or the other, this team is too young not to have a dedicated head coach... The hot and cold, win one or two, lose three, four or five. Jokinen is not a strong enough personality to lead the young guns, he gets too frustrated and its evident by his play. You have a nice mix of young talent and they need to be developed into winners, not guys who grow accustom to just playing hard and not winning. I dont know who is available that would make a great GM, but its evident that Jacques cannot do both, and its gonna tear this team apart.... The core is young and impressionable..... Dont let the impression of the first couple years for the kids be bad ones.... Your the owner, pull the trigger for crying out loud...

cbc reported sat nite that ollie wants a trade. calgary is a good fit with keenan.strange as it seems, a few wins puts the panthers close to 1st in the southleast. of course, no one really cares cuz its all about parcells

Here go the Olli rumours again. Olli in Calgary would be sickening. Calgary would be incredible, but what is there cap situation? Do they have the room with Kipper and Iginla to sign their own "big three"? I don;t see why Jacques doesn't just move upstiars and Kitchen take over as head coach. He is more than competent and has a decent track record so far.

Another year without the playoffs...:(

These comments are all from a year ago.

cat fan wrote:

These comments are all from a year ago.

So is the story

There's a rumor that Wayne might sell the team and they might bring on Mike Keenan!!!

panthers = can't win when it matters

It wouldn't surprise me to see the Panthers trade Jokinen in the summer of 2008 for a couple of defensemen. I am sure JM will be under scrutiny for how to replace his scoring, but I believe the team will start to have a more balanced attack which will include the defensemen in a big way. I am concerned that in the upcoming game on January 19th 2009 against the Sabres that Campbell may score on against his own team. Just some thoughts about the future...........

Great game... Fun to be at....bufallo got 2 silly goals ... We really are lousy at the shootout..however still getting points every game and if we get 1.2 points per game we r in...

I think something is a bit fishy with these comments.

The Sabres didn't drive the puck in until the shoot out. So take the Panthers scoring against themselves, twice, along with Vokoun's terrible goal defense during the shoot out and a game that could have been won goes in the toilet. Overall, the Panthers' defense was great. A couple of silly mistakes, but what the heck was Vokoun thinking; coming off the goal as far as he did, not retracting quick enough leaving the sides wide open? He was behind the 8 ball all night long. Had it not been because his teammates blocked a few shots, it could have been worse. Personally, I think Anderson is a better goalie.

Well, according to the picture used here, Tomas Vokoun was murdered at the game last night

It looks like Bouw will be traded if he doesn't sign. Maybe he's just waiting until after the All-Star game to pull the trigger....

Difference in game was goaltenders.Vokoun is a B- and Miller is an A- goaltender.Skraskins could not clear puck on 2nd goal and was standing in crease on first goal so Buffalo player could shoot it off his skates.Dumb penalty by Bouw that put us in that position to.Booth was great and Horton is really coming around.WE have a shot to make playoffs in spite of all this!DeBoer has done an A+ job here folks as thr culture is changing.

bleh wrote:

Well, according to the picture used here, Tomas Vokoun was murdered at the game last night

LOL!

Nice work Scum Sentinel, check the article headline for these comments. It is the year 2009 and the Panthers just lost to the Sabres in the shootout. About the game, Panthers played good. A very exciting game to watch. The season is half over, isn't it about time to name a Captain for this team? My vote goes to Ballard!!!

I must admit I'm surprised to see the Panthers have a record over .500 ITS AMAZING....They basically have an AHL team playing in the NHL....Other than Vokoun and Anderson, I coudn't name one more of their players...just a bunch of young kids and old castoffs....kinda like '96....so hey, maybe they'll do something wild and get into the playoffs....So maybe I'll have something worth watching this spring other than Boring Old baseball for the next 8 months or so.....A baseball game will usually knock me out cold by the start of the 2nd inning....BORING BORING BORING......Playoff hockey is exciting and we still have to wait 8 months until football returns...The only sport really worth watching, where there is action on every play....And the 2009 season where the Fins take the next step and pull an Arizona on the league.....