The Panthers quickly took that four-game winless skid and turned it into a four-game point streak with back-to-back wins to start the homestand; back-to-back convincing wins. The victories over the Islanders on Tuesday and Devils last night weren't free of adversity, however. Captain Aleksander Barkov is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained Tuesday, and the Panthers overcame an early deficit before running away with a Thursday's game against New Jersey.
What did the last two games teach us? First, the team will still be very good, even without the captain for the time being. You can't replace Barkov; he's a top-five all-around player in the world. The Panthers are the deepest team in the East, though, and add that to the start to the season they've had, and they'll do much better than just keep the boat afloat during the Barkov's absence.
Doug Plagens' Panthers Mailbag: Knight Bounces Back, Favorite Video Games
The other thing we learned (And I had zero doubt about this one; I told Marc Hochman as much when I joined him on WQAM Thursday afternoon): there's absolutely nothing to worry about with Spencer Knight's game after he endured the first two regulation losses of his young career during last week's road trip. Knight is mature beyond his years, and it's apparent the rookie phenom has the mental strength of a 10-year NHL veteran after weathering the storm of shots put forth by the Devils in the first period last night. By the end of the evening- 45 saves later- Knight took home number-one star honors and posted a gem of a goaltending performance in game two of the homestand.
One final note: in preparing last night's "This Day in Panthers History", I noticed that the Panthers lost the first seven games they played as a franchise on November 18th. The date just wasn't kind to the Panthers over the years. It wasn't until 11/18/08 that the Panthers won a November 18th matchup, and it was a 4-3 shootout win in Tampa. Bryan McCabe scored twice, Nathan Horton netted the shootout winner, and Tomas Vokoun outdueled Mike Smith in net. For Tampa Bay, a rookie named Steven Stamkos had an assist in the matchup.
Now, your questions…
@Jreidy56: Can you outline your game day routine; from morning skate to the final sign off of the broadcast?
Great question! The home game day gets going early…
6:30 AM: Workout. Lift, cardio, maybe both. Afterward, I head home, eat something, and make my way to FLA Live Arena.
10:00 AM: Morning skate at FLA Live Arena! This is where we get a sense of who will be in the lineup, and afterward, we hear from the players and coach. These are the soundbites you'll hear during that night's pregame.
12:00-12:30 PM: Usually this is when I get home for lunch. I'll eat something, then record the "5-Minute Morning Skate", which you can hear on www.floridapanthers.com! If you've never listened to it, you should! After that, I'll cut the soundbites for the pregame show and email them to that night's in-studio producer.
1:00 PM-2:30 PM: Gameday nap, then make myself presentable for the evening.
3:00 PM: Arrive at FLA Live Arena once again. I have my game prep down to a formula. I jot notes for each team on a sheet of paper, and I try to have at least a nugget or two for every player in the game. Generally, I don't even get to a quarter of the information I prepare for a game, but it's better to be over-prepared! I'll also make sure I have all the in-game reads, have a nugget for that night's "This Day in Panthers History" (I always try to find something that'll surprise Billy Lindsay), and grab something to eat! I don't function well when I'm hungry.
4:35 PM: Yesterday, I joined my friends Hochman & Crowder on 560 WQAM at this time. This is a pretty regular occurrence before Panthers home games.
6:00 PM: Referencing sports obscurities of the 1980's and 1990's with Kevin Rogers. We've half-jokingly talked about how it should be a podcast.
6:30 PM: If we have a pregame show, we're on the air!
7:00 PM: Game time!
10:15 PM: Usually the Cats Recap Show comes to an end. I'll post some highlights online, finish writing this mailbag if it's a Thursday night game, and already start looking ahead to the next game.
11:00 PM: Hopefully I'm home to watch Seinfeld re-runs on The CW South Florida. That's a summarized outline of what a gameday looks like!
@Griffin__hockey: Dear Doug!!! How is Eetu Luostareinen pronounced? I've heard at least 10 different ways on radio, tv, and podcast.
Eh-tu Lu-Oh-Stir-E-Nen!
And Eetu Luostarinen is a name to know, folks! He's developing into a really solid two-way center before our eyes. He brings great size at 6'3", has a nice scoring touch with 6 goals in 14 games this season, including one last night, and the potential has always been noticeable: Carolina originally drafted him in the second round, 42nd overall, in 2017. He has become part of a deep group of Panthers centers, and we should expect to see him shoulder a bit more responsibility in the near future with Aleksander Barkov week-to-week with a lower body injury.
@fakejedega: #askdoug do you and @LindsayBHockey have favorite restaurants you like to eat at in the different cities the team plays at on the road?
For me, the best out-of-town dining experience is In-N-Out Burger; it's my favorite food on Earth, and I highly recommend it to anyone.
After In-N-Out, the following come to mind: Illegal Pete's (Burritos/Denver, CO); Torchy's Tacos (Tacos/Denver, CO & Dallas, TX); Café Rio (Mexican/Phoenix, AZ; Denver, CO); Al's Italian Beef & Portillo's (Chicago, which I also consider to be the best restaurant city in America); Sonny's (Cheesesteaks/Philadelphia); Dinosaur BBQ (Buffalo, NY & Newark, NJ).
It's not in the NHL, but if you're ever in San Diego, try Sombrero. It's the Mexican restaurant referenced in blink-182's "Josie". My friend and I went to the one in Poway, CA- Blink's hometown- during our 2019 baseball road trip, and the men's room is somewhat of an homage to blink-182.
@HardleyKurt: #DearDoug what was your favorite Christmas gift you ever got growing up?
The first one that comes to mind: the Sega Genesis, complete with NHLPA '93; the game with Randy Moller on the box. It was Christmas, 1992. It came in a large box, and it had to be one of the most popular, if not THE most popular item at the time. It was the first generation console, and it came with Sonic the Hedgehog- complete with a big 'NOT FOR RESALE' label across the front of the game cartridge- and a game called Quackshot starring Donald Duck, which was actually pretty fun. No game compared, however, to NHLPA '93. This brings me a to a hockey video game tangent…
First of all, it was "NHLPA" '93 because the game had the license of the players association, but not the league. Therefore, there were no team logos in the game, and the Islanders were known as "Long Island". The Panthers and Ducks weren't in the game, because they wouldn't debut until the following season. That said, I still hold NHLPA '93 and NHL '04 as the best two hockey video games of all-time. Everyone always loves NHL '94 and it seems to be known as the original, the gold standard, the true beginning of the NHL game franchise. Sure, it had team logos and memorable menu music. However, NHL '94 didn't have fighting, and for that reason, NHL '94 is flawed. In '93, we threw down! In '95, we threw down again, and were able to make trades!
NHL '04 was, in my opinion, the best combination of simulation and arcade-ness, plus the concept of goalie fighting was briefly introduced into the NHL game franchise for the first time ever in '04. Add that to the fact that it had the best soundtrack in video game history, and this was a classic. Plus, I was a freshman in college in '03-04, and spent waaaaaaaay too much time perfecting my NHL '04 skills.
I still have my Sega Genesis console, and it's still fully functional. I don't have a current video game console, though. After years collecting dust, my XBOX One moved to Jameson Olive's house sometime around 2019. If you ever play an XBOX game online with Jameson, that's my system he's using!
Kurt: sorry about the tangent! But yes… the Sega Genesis was my favorite Christmas present as a kid.
'Til next time, folks!
