There's a "Keenan Returns!" subtext to today's match between the Flames and Panthers. Iron Mike didn't leave that Franchise on the best of terms and is now routinely vilified by the few Floridians that actually still care about hockey down there. Not that I blame them; if Sutter traded Kipper and Giordano for Alex Auld, Bryan Allen and 7 games of Todd Bertuzzi, there'd be plenty of burning effigies around these parts as well. Expect boos, cat calls and more than one rubber rat to rain down on Keenan this evening.
Course, the Flames coach has much bigger problems to worry about. His team needs every single point it can squeeze out of this trip, so Im sure the collective hatred of the hundred or so folks at the arena tonight will fade to a distant hum should the Flames manage to pull out a win.
Aside from the desire to beat the crap out of Keenan, the Panthers have their own reasons to press for victory this evening - they're currently 14th in Eastern Conference are only 3 points up on last place Washington. It was assumed by many (myself included) that the Cats would challenge for a play-off spot this season with the addition of Vokoun and maturation of guys like Horton, Bouwmeester and Weiss. But...they look as mediocre as ever so far.
Probably the only thing the Flames have to worry about tonight is the Panther's PP: they've scored 27 goals on 113 opportunities, good for a 2nd best rate of 23.9%. Aside from that...meh. Calgary is clearly the superior 5on5 team, having scored 13 more goals at ES.
Also under the "Yay!" column:
The long awaited re-awakening of Kiprusoff may finally be occurring. He stole his first game of the season from the Hawks on Sunday and his SV% is starting to creep closer to a respectable .900 (.892). Not counting shoot-outs, Kipper has allowed more than 3 goals against only once in the last 9 games (and more than 2 goals against only 3 times in that span). More importantly, his SV% over the most recent 3 game span has been a stellar 0.947. Now THAT'S the Kiprusoff I've come to know and love. If can keep it up, perhaps all is not lost.
Anyways, I haven't made a prediction in awhile. Let's stick with ol' faithful -
4-1 Flames. Iginla (2), Boyd and Phaneuf for Calgary. Booth for Florida.
