"You've got to respond right away," forward Brett Connolly said after last night's defeat. "You can't let losses accumulate. You've got to stop the bleeding right away. Tomorrow is a huge game. We need to respond. We're going to get the exact same Dallas Stars team tomorrow."
Shut out for the first time this season, Connolly and his teammates threw everything they had at Anton Khudobin last night, but simply couldn't get anything past the Stars red-hot goaltender. A game removed from making 49 saves, the 34-year-old stopped all 43 shots that came his way.
That being said, the numbers tell us that the Panthers played well enough to win if not for those heroics in net. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, by the time the final buzzer sounded they owned large advantages in shot attempts (67-42), high-danger attempts (11-6) and scoring chances (29-16).
But with Khudobin needing minimal goal support, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell and Joel Kiviranta all found the back of the net to help the Stars break out of a six-game losing streak with the win.
"Goalies can win games at times," coach Joel Quenneville said. "You get some goalie wins our way, and you can get beat by some goalie wins like tonight. I think their goalie was pretty good, but I still thought it was a pretty even game."
The good news is that the Panthers likely won't see Khudobin again tonight.
While no starting goaltender has been announced yet for either team, the tiring nature of back-to-backs - as well as this season's grueling schedule in general - could mean that rookie Jake Oettinger, who owns a 2-0-3 record with a .910 save percentage, gets the nod in net for Dallas.
As for the Panthers, Quenneville said before yesterday's game that Sergei Bobrovsky would "very likely" start today's game after backing up Chris Driedger last night. In eight games this season, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has gone 5-2-1 on top of a .889 save percentage.
Taking a look at each team's top offensive players, Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Panthers in scoring with 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists), while Aleksander Barkov ranks second with 19 (seven goals, 12 assists). Patric Hornqvist, meanwhile, ranks first on the team with eight goals.
At the other end of the ice, Joe Pavelski leads the Stars in goals (9) and points (19), including racking up two assists in last night's win. Behind him, John Klingberg has recorded 13 points (three goals, 10 assists), which places him tied for 11th among NHL defensemen in scoring.
"You want to get points and you want to win," Quenneville said. "We're in a competitive division. They know how to win and had a good response. We'll get the three-game set sorted out."
Honoring those that have served or are currently serving, the Panthers will also celebrate their annual Military Appreciation Night during the game. As of right now, a limited number of tickets have been donated for military members that wish to attend the matchup. These tickets will be handed out on a first come, first severed basis and can be acquired by heading to
VetTix.org
.
Additionally, Panthers players will be wearing special military-themed jerseys during tonight's warm-ups. Select jerseys will then be available for purchase at
FLATeamShop.com
following the game with a portion of the proceeds from those sales going directly to local veteran's charities.
