Training Camp 2015: Florida Panthers Conclude Day 2 With Exciting Scrimmage

Roberto Luongo prepares for the final scrimmage of Panthers Training camp.

On Saturday morning, the Panthers held their second and final day of Training Camp at the Panthers Ice Den. All three groups got a workout session, but Group C and Group A (the winner of yesterday’s scrimmage) took the ice on the stadium rink for this intrasquad game. Here is the full roster.

---

Group A wore the home reds and essentially had the same lines as yesterday. There were a couple minor changes as Jussi Jokinen was added to Group A as the extra forward. Here are the lines:

Group A

Jagr – Megan – Havlat

Rau – Bjugstad – Shaw

Crouse – McKegg – Hawrlyuk

Extra Lines

Jokinen – Megan – Havlat

Jokinen – Bjugstad – Crouse

Defense:

Campbell – Olsen

Gaunce – Petrovic

Regner – Sauve

4 on 4 Combinations:

Bjugstad – Crouse

Jokinen – Havlat

Jagr – Havlat

Rau – Bjugstad

McKegg – Shaw

The goaltenders were Al Montoya and Sam Brittain.

Group C wore the road whites and had a couple interesting line combinations, but most notably, the Panthers had Vincent Trocheck used as a winger while they had Rocco Grimaldi play center. Michael Matheson and Aaron Ekblad joined Group C for this game, as this group only had two defense pairings. Jonathan Huberdeau was the “extra” forward. Here are the lines:

Group C

Balisy – Knight – Trocheck

Howden – Bolland – Harper

Pirri – Grimaldi – Thornton

Extra Lines

Huberdeau – Knight – Trocheck

Huberdeau – Grimaldi – Thornton

Defense:

Aaron Ekblad gets ready to field a pass during the day two scrimmage.

Matheson – Ekblad

Acolatse – Kampfer

Mitchell – Weegar

The goaltenders were Roberto Luongo and Samuel Montembeault.

Five minutes into the first period, which was during 5 on 5 play, Logan Shaw buried one down low on a little miscommunication in the crease, giving Red the 1-0 lead. For the next minute, the Howden | Bolland | Harper line used their speed to get into the offensive zone and stay there. Howden had set up Bolland for a beautiful opportunity, which was stopped by Montoya. Not long after that, Howden dangled a defenseman and found Vincent Trocheck, whom had come on the ice on the rush for the equalizer. Roberto Luongo played very well after the first goal he gave up, making some quality saves.

The Panthers leave the ice after finishing their scrimmage.

The second period was the 4 on 4 segment. Three minutes into the segment, Alex Petrovic broke in on the rush and put one top shelf past Montembeault to give Red the 2-1 lead. This was a common theme with Petrovic all scrimmage, he consistently joined the rush, found himself in deep on the forecheck and at times even led the play. Three minutes later, Aaron Ekblad tied it up with a wrister that deflected off the glove of Sam Brittain and in. Near the end of the 4 on 4 period, Sena Acolatse scored a nice goal to give Team White the 3-2 lead.

The third period was played 3 on 3. The large crowd on hand was buzzing when 3 on 3 started as there was an expectation for goals but the first six or so minutes of this period things were very quiet. I had made a joke about how 3 on 3 was supposed to be more exciting but was failing, then this happened:

https://twitter.com/EthanG0515/status/645305902661279744

This was the final goal in the contest as the White team took the match 4-2. Some additional notes:

• Michael Matheson looked absolutely tremendous. His vision and decision making are constantly improving and those skills are fast approaching his skating ability.
• The Matheson | Ekblad pairing has been like a glance into the future. Those two are going to be the cornerstone pieces to success on our back end.
• As mentioned, Alex Petrovic was very active offensively. Having that added aspect to his NHL game could be the thing that solidifies playing time for him.
• Dave Bolland and Vincent Trocheck looked impressive out there. Both made positive impacts on both sides of the puck at many points.
• Lawson Crouse did not really stand out in either scrimmage he participated in, but we will get a much better look at him this preseason.
• Group B did some on ice drills post scrimmage.
• The Panthers begin the preseason with a double-header in Nashville on Sunday. Game One is at 4:30 while Game Two starts at 8:00.

Here are a few more videos from today:

https://twitter.com/EthanG0515/status/645303524839038976

https://twitter.com/EthanG0515/status/645304142211215360

https://twitter.com/EthanG0515/status/645304875874689024

https://twitter.com/EthanG0515/status/645305043189657600

---

Thank you for reading. As always feedback is welcome in the comments section below.