clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Minnesota Wild @ Florida Panthers: Game 3

By nathaneide

Florida_logo_mediumMinnesotawild_medium

Florida Panthers (1-1-0) vs. Minnesota Wild (2-0-0)

BankAtlantic Center @ 6:30 CDT

Television: FSN-N
Listen live on WCCO.com, or locally at 830 AM

For the Panthers perspective, check out the Panthers Blog from the Sun-Sentinel

Tonight's lines:

Minnesota Wild

Florida Panthers

Brunette - Koivu - Miettinen
Gillies - Belanger - Clutterbuck
Weller - Sheppard - Veilleux
Mojzis - Pouliot - Boogaard

Schultz - Burns
Johnsson - Skoula
Bergeron - Reitz

Backstrom
Harding

David Booth - Stephen Weiss - Richard Zednik
Cory Stillman - Nathan Horton - Rostislav Olesz
Radek Dvorak - Brett McLean - Kamil Kreps
Ville Peltonen - Gregory Campbell - Wade Belak

Jay Bouwmeester - Nick Boynton
Noah Welch - Cory Murphy
Karlis Skrastins - Keith Ballard

Tomas Vokoun
Craig Anderson

Notes

News on Gabby

From Wild.com

Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard (back) and Owen Nolan (lower body) are day-to-day. The Wild, though, will be without Marek Zidlicky after the defenseman was placed on injured reserve (right ankle) on Wednesday.

Florida (1-1-0) enters this contest looking for back-to-back home wins for the first time since taking four straight to open 2006. David Booth scored his second goal of the game 1:06 into overtime in a 3-2 win over Atlanta on Saturday, giving first-year coach Peter DeBoer his first win.

Booth, now in his third NHL season, has three goals and an assist so far this season to lead the Panthers. He had 22 goals and 40 points in 73 games in 2007-08.

"He's playing unbelievable," said goaltender Tomas Vokoun, who made 31 saves. "He works really hard on and off the ice and it's starting to pay off for him. Every good thing that happens, he definitely deserves because he puts in the time."

Vokoun is 6-5-3 with a 2.26 goals-against average and two shutouts in his career against Minnesota.

Absolutely love this bit every game from panthers.nhl.com

5 THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE GAME:

5. Florida will be looking for only their second ever victory against the Wild. Florida's only victory came on Feb. 7, 2001 in a 2-1 victory over Minnesota at the BankAtlantic Center.

4. LW David Booth has three goals and an assist along with a plus-4 rating and a GWG through the first two games this season.

3. Through the first two games of the season, Panthers D Jay Bouwmeester by far and away leads the NHL in time on ice per game. Bouwmeester is averaging 32:45 minutes per game which is 2:57 better then second place in the NHL (Duncan Keith - CHI).

2. Minnesota is the first Western Conference opponent the Panthers will face this season. Last year Florida went 4-3-3 in 10 games against Western Conference opponents.

1. Tomorrow begins a stretch of 6 games in 10 days for the Panthers. Florida will play every other night from today through next Friday and concluding this tough stretch with back-to-back games at home on Fri., Oct. 24 vs. San Jose and on Sat., Oct. 25 at St. Louis.

Interesting Fact: Tonight's game will feature the NHL's oldest and youngest head coaches. Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer is the youngest head coach in the NHL having just turned 40 this past June 16. Minnesota's head coach Jacques Lemaire is the oldest head coach in the NHL at age 63.

Questions to Answer

  1. With Marian Gaborik, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Owen Nolan out, who step it up tonight?
  2. Can the special teams continue their good stellar play?
  3. Can Tomas Mojzis provide anything as a forward?
  4. Will Cal Clutterbuck puke in the locker room?
  5. Will the Panthers outsell the Thrashers??

More From Hockey Wilderness