A preview of the Panthers.

Record: 27-28-6

Leading Scorer: Olli Jokinen 59 points (29 goals, 30 assists).

Last Game: 5-4 shootout loss at home to Carolina Saturday.

Last Game Against The Penguins: 3-1 home loss Jan. 8.

Panthers Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Nathan Horton. He's been hot in February. He has 11 points (8 goals, 3 assists) in nine games this month.

Ex-Penguins: Noah Welch, D (injured).

Useless Panthers Trivia: With their first three picks in the 1993 expansion draft, the Panthers drafted goaltenders: John Vanbiesbrouck (Vancouver Canucks), Mark Fitzpatrick (Quebec Nordiques) and Daren Puppa (Toronto Maple Leafs.)

Best Panthers YouTube video We Could Find: The last fight of Mario Lemieux's career came against Florida's Brad Ference.

NOTES:

-Panthers center Stephen Weiss will miss two weeks with a broken finger.

-Evgeni Malkin could claim the scoring lead tonight.

GREEN HORNS

In Monday's post we asked what was the deal with those green decals the Sabres wore on their helmets Sunday. Well quite a few of you pointed us in the right direction.

The Sabres are taking initiatives to a make their team and fans more eco-friendly.

(Kudos to EN Readers Craig Cross, Matt Dailey, Sean Gorman, Jason Long, Tony Napoleone, Zach Olsavicky, Josh Townson, Ann Vrabel, Jill Whitmarsh and Kevin Zimmerman for the heads up.)

MAD TOWN

EN Reader Jarrett Rathke took in a Wisconsin hockey game in Madison, Wisc. this past weekend and filed this report:

"This past weekend, I took my dad to a University of Wisconsin Badgers hockey game in Madison. This was my second time to see a game there and it was as enjoyable as the first. The place is raucous and has some of the most energetic fans I've ever seen at a hockey game, no matter the level of play. They also have a Bob Johnson banner hanging from the rafters.

The link to the video is the student section doing a choreographed dance to "Tequila," a la Pee-Wee Herman. Throughout the game, they never sit and are always dancing or chanting to the opposing goalie. Chants of "sieve" are the most popular after the Badgers score a goal, something the entire arena gets in to."

-Jarrett Rathke, Milwaukee, Wisc.

EN-Jarrett sent along the following picture and video. Should Pittsburgh be successful in its bid for the 2013 Frozen Four, we hope Wisconsin makes it.

EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS

Penguins

-Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves and Alex Goligoski had a goal and an assist for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-2 win at Binghamton.

-Fleury went back to his roots in a big way last night.

-Jarkko Ruutu's first goal of the season was a pretty big deal.

-What options do the Penguins have with Ty Conklin and Dany Sabourin when Marc-Andre Fleury returns?

-Hope your schedule is free at 3 p.m. on March 2nd.

-In case you forgot what Gary Roberts is all about, EN contributor Eric Politowski put together this reminder:

Atlantic Division

-Travis Zajac had a goal and an assist for the Devils in a 5-1 defeat of the Hurricanes.

-A goal and an assist by former Penguin Andy Hilbert helped the Islanders edge the Sharks, 3-2.

-Check out this move Islanders center Mike Comrie put on Sharks defenseman Kyle McLaren yesterday:

-The Flyers are beat up. Forward Steve Downie, Joffrey Lupul and defenseman Derian Hatcher will all miss time with various injuries.

-Philadelphia recalled forwards Andre Giroux and Stefan Ruzicka from their AHL affiliate.

Southeast Division

-Vincent Lecavalier doesn't want out of Tampa Bay.

-Former Penguins prospect Joe Jensen, who was called up by the Hurricanes to replace injured center Rod Brind'Amour, was sent to the hospital after falling violently ill during a loss to New Jersey.

Central Division

-Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals and Chris Osgood made 18 saves in a 4-0 shutout win at Colorado. The win broke a six-game losing streak for Detroit.

-Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom injured his knee after being hit by Colorado forward Ian Laperriere in the first period.

-This game has some shades of the bitterness this rivalry used to possess in the 1990's:

-Lidstrom's injury is not believed to be serious.

-The Blues are modeling their rebuilding plan after the Penguins.

-Random Bench-Clearing YouTube Video Find of the Day: The Red Wings and Bruins going at it back in 1991:

We love how people will romantically refer to Red Wings goon Bob Probert as a nobel "policeman" of his era who kept opposing players honest. In all reality, Probert was one of the biggest cheap-shot artists ever in the NHL.

Northwest Division

-Flames prospect Mickey Renaud collapsed in his home and died. He was the captain of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL.

-The NHL showed a lack of guts and failed to suspend Oilers defenseman Steve Staios for his slash on Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows Saturday.

-Check out this one-on-four goal Minnesota forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored against the Predators Sunday:

Pacific Division

-Radim Vrbata had a goal and two assists while Mikael Tellqvist made 34 saves for the Coyotes in a 4-0 shutout win at Los Angeles.

-The Sharks placed forward Patrick Marleau on injured reserve. They also made a few other roster moves.

-Anaheim general manager Brian Burke is pushing for one-minute penalties in overtime.

-We don't like the idea. The threat of playing down a man for two minutes in a sudden death keeps players honest and it opens up play. Why give players some incentive to bog down the flow of a game by lessening the punishment for a penalty?

Wales Conference

-The agent for Free agent forward Peter Forsberg announced he will not return this season due to his chronic foot injury.

First Published: February 19, 2008, 1:00 p.m.