Home Talk 2 Us Instagram
Preview
 
  • PRINT
  • RSS
Panthers-Stars Preview
Associated Press

***Update (1:17pm)*** The Panthers will go with the same lineup as Thursday, meaning Craig Anderson will be between the pipes while Nick Tarnasky, Anthony Stewart and Steve Eminger will be the healthy scratches.

Anderson is coming off of a 40-save effort in a 4-2 victory over the Flyers in Philadelphia.


Florida Panthers coach Peter DeBoer says his team will need to rely heavily on strong goaltending to emerge from the heated Eastern Conference playoff race and secure its first postseason berth in nearly a decade.

He just doesn't know which goalie he'll be turning to.

It's unclear who will be in net Saturday night when the Panthers try to build on their first victory in a week by taking advantage of a road game against the reeling Dallas Stars.

Tomas Vokoun has been Florida's top goalie all season but he's struggled down the stretch in recent games, including his last start Wednesday night. He gave up three unanswered goals - while facing 20 shots - in the third period as Florida (36-28-11) blew a two-goal lead to fall 5-3 at Buffalo.

Vokoun's inconsistency led DeBoer to turn to Craig Anderson on Thursday night, and he made 40 saves in a 4-2 win over Philadelphia. Anderson, who hadn't played since a March 1 win at Washington, helped snap the Panthers' three-game losing streak (0-2-1).

"The other guy hadn't been getting it done for us," DeBoer said. "We had been in this position earlier in the year and made a change. The team responded and Craig responded."

 

Five Things to Know: Cats vs. Stars
Floridapanthers.com has the five things everyone should know about tonight's matchup between the Panthers and Stars. Puckdrop is set for 8:00pm and can be seen on FS Florida or heard on 790 The Ticket.  ...more
Links:
-
  Buy Tickets vs. Senators (3/31)!
-   Photos: vs. Stars (01-21-09)
-   Video:    vs. Stars (01-21-09) 
 

Though he was pleased with the effort, DeBoer hasn't committed to a goaltender for Saturday. It's an important decision with only seven regular-season games left for the Panthers, who are two points behind eighth-place Montreal.

"We need great goaltending down the stretch," DeBoer told the team's official Web site. "I know that puts a lot of pressure on one position, but that's the type of team we are. We feed off good goaltending. Tomas Vokoun gave us that. He got us here. He played two months of fantastic hockey. We need that down the stretch from both those guys."

The Stars (33-32-9) got great goaltending from Marty Turco on Thursday night but still suffered a 1-0 shootout loss to Los Angeles. They've gone 0-4-1 in their last five and 2-7-1 in their last 10 at home to fall into 12th place in the West.

"We left a point out there," Turco said. "We had a lot of chances that didn't go our way. Unfortunately, we're just running out of time. We're going to fight until they tell us to go home."

The Stars, who came within two wins of reaching last year's Stanley Cup final, are in danger of missing the playoffs for the second time in 12 seasons.

"We have lots of try from a lot of people, but we needed to bury one of those chances," coach Dave Tippett said. "We have to win games to keep ourselves in the race. Each game we scratch and claw. We still have this in our hands."

Turco made 27 saves and Mike Ribeiro had his first NHL hat trick as the Stars took a 4-1 road win Jan. 21 in their only previous meeting with the Panthers this season.

Neither Panthers goaltender has had much success against the Stars. Vokoun's 6-17-0 with one tie and a 2.54 goals-against average, while Anderson has posted a 6.72 GAA in two games - no starts.

Though those numbers don't bode well for Florida's chances at its first postseason berth since the 1999-2000 season, DeBoer remains optimistic.

"We hadn't been getting the bounces or timely goal or timely saves, and it all came together (Thursday)," he said. "Hopefully, that will send us in the right direction in these last seven games."





 

OUR PARTNERS
Pillar Partner
 

SSE GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK
TICKETS
2012-13 Ticket Plans
3D Seat Maps
Group Tickets
Duffy's Sky Club
Premium Seating
Ticketmaster
Ticket Exchange
Season Seat Owners
BB&T Center
Panther Pass
TEAM
Roster
In The System
2011-12 Transactions
2011-12 Injury Report
Den Of Honor
Front Office
Redline Lady Panthers
SCHEDULE/STATS
Schedule
Past Schedule/Results
Player Stats
Standings
G-By-G Breakdown
Team Comparisons
Season In Review
vs All Teams
NEWS
Recent News
Community News
Blogs: GM Journal
Blogs: MY 360
Blogs: Peeke's Points
Blogs: VanMurph's
View
Players On The Move
Panthers Insider
MULTIMEDIA
Panthers Vision Online
Photo Galleries
Wallpapers
Panthers Browser
Panthers Twitter
Panthers Facebook
Panthers Youtube
FAN ZONE/OTHER
Message Boards
Fan Development
Foundation
Promotions
Hockey 101
Stanley C. Panther
Booster Club

ABOUT US
Suggestions
Contact Us
Employment
Map & Parking
Store
FloridaPanthers.com is the official Web site of the Florida Panthers. Florida Panthers and floridapanthers.com are trademarks of Sunrise Sports & Entertainment. NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2013 Sunrise Sports & Entertainment and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved. AdChoices