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[SBN Florida Panthers blog - Litterbox Cats]

Simply put, the Panthers are beating some pretty good teams lately.  Florida's 6-2-1 for the month of November, picking up at least a point in each of the last six games.  On Saturday it was the Rangers in a 3-2 win.  The night before in Detroit they took down the Wings in OT by the score of 2-1.  And last Wednesday it was a 6-2 win over the Sabres to kick off the short three-game trip.  Tonight they return home to host the Pens at the BankAtlantic Center for the first time this year.

The Pens took the 'W' during the first meeting between the two back in October, a 3-2 shootout win capped off by a Crosby goal. 

Florida's currently sitting 13th in the East, but to be honest I think this team is better than the record would indicate.  Although half of their wins have come by means of either overtime or a shootout, they are still looking to extend their current three-game win streak to four with a win on home ice.

Tomas Vokoun will get the start in net for the Cats.  He's 7-8-2 on the season but once again his last five starts really indicate the direction of this team: 4-0-1.  The guy sure got off to a rough start (as did Florida for that matter) but is starting to really find his groove.  In fact things were looking pretty dismal for Vokoun back in October as illustrated by his 2-7-1 record.  In his only start against the Pens this season, he faced 43 shots, stopped 41 and picked up a point in the aforementioned shootout loss.

Keep an eye on: Team-leading goal scorer and point leader Steven Reinprecht (10g, 7a), Nathan Horton (6g, 11a) and Stephen Weiss (7g, 7a). 

David Booth, who you may remember as being the victim of a questionable and debatable hit from Mike Richards last month, is still unable to resume play.  Additionally, any chances he had of making Team USA may have gone out the window as well according to Litterbox Cats.

Puck and thread drop at 7:30.  Get on it.