A year ago, the Florida Panthers put together a tremendous season that saw them win the Southeast division and push the eventual Eastern Conference New Jersey Devils to seven games in the Stanley Cup quarterfinals. Many expected the Panthers to continue their ascent in the NHL, but the team has moved in the complete opposite direction and has become the worst team in the league. The Panthers will look to improve when they take on Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
The Panthers are coming off a tough 7-1 loss to the Washington Capitals that saw them give up four goals in the first eight and half minutes. More importantly, the team's goaltenders gave up the four tallies on just eight shots on goal.
"I don't like to hang out anybody to dry, but obviously I don't think Jacob Markstrom was ready to play tonight," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said after the game. Markstrom gave up two goals on two shots and was pulled after just three minutes and 10 seconds of play. According to the Florida Panthers' official website it was "the fastest yanking of an NHL goalie for something other than an injury in more than a year."
"I don't know what to say. I couldn't stop the puck in the first two shots or whatever, first 3 minutes," said the rookie goaltender Markstrom. "No excuse for that. It was terrible. I feel like I let the team down. I'm there to stop pucks and I didn't do that tonight."
The Jets are coming off a hard fought victory that saw them defeat the potent Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1.
"I thought right from the onset we were in the game and we played hard," said head coach Claude Noel. "I thought we got some really good efforts from a lot of people.
Prediction: Winnipeg wins 4-2.
Start Time: 7:30 PM EST
TV: FS-F, TSN-JETS
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