NHL Preview: Florida Panthers at Atlanta Thrashers

Added on Mar 05, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NHL

Two struggling NHL teams will go head to head on Saturday night as the Florida Panthers head to Phillips Arena in Atlanta to take on the Thrashers. Both teams are currently out of the postseason picture–Thrashers have lost 8 of 10 (2-7-1) while the Panthers have lost 7 of 10.

Florida Panthers at Atlanta Thrashers
March 5, 2011 4:00 PM Pacific

We’ve used the Panthers quite a bit this season and have been impressed with their overall energy and commitment to defense. So while this may look like a ‘bad vs. bad’ situation we’re of the opinion that Florida offers much more upside than the Thrashers and particularly as a decent priced road underdog. Our preference for the Panthers starts in net where they have a significant edge with Tomas Vokoun against the Thrashers’ journeyman netminder Chris Mason. Atlanta doesn’t play good defense in front of Mason which compounds the difficulty of his task. Florida may not be the Boston Bruins or New Jersey Devils, but they’re a cut above Atlanta in their own zone.

Florida has also demonstrated a strong resolve after a bad game and during a losing streak. Panthers coming off a 4-0 loss to Montreal on Thursday night and they’re 10-6 this year after allowing 4 or more goals and 4-1 after 3 or more consecutive losses. That’s the sign of a team that doesn’t like losing and will exert a strong effort to change it. We don’t see the same tendency in the Thrashers–they’re 7-15 this year after a loss by 2 or more goals in their previous game. Atlanta isn’t scoring a lot of goals lately with just 7 in their last 5 games. Things won’t come any easier against a solid Florida defense and a decent goaltender in Vokoun. These teams played in Florida on February 25 with the Panthers winning 2-1. We expect a similar style of game here and that greatly favors the visitor. The big factor is the price–we’re getting what we consider the better team as an underdog in this spot. Thrashers just 14-14-6 at Phillips Arena, so they’re not a particularly formidable home team. We look for the Panthers to dictate tempo and take a win over the listless and sloppy host.

Bet Florida Panthers +125 over Atlanta Thrashers