The Florida Panthers are the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. However, the Panthers have not started well this season with Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Dmitry Kulikov all out of the lineup due to injuries. Florida’s current record is 6-6-1 and they are in last place in the Atlantic Division.
The Panthers’ ECHL affiliate, the Savannah Ghost Pirates, are currently 2-1-1-1 and ranked 10th in the Eastern Conference. Here’s a closer look at the Ghost Pirates’ season so far.
Ghost Pirates is off to a shaky start
This season marks number four in the Ghost Pirates franchise and the second season for head coach Jared Staal. Savannah started the regular season with back-to-back games at home on October 17 and 18.
Savannah faced the Norfolk Admirals in their first game of the regular season and lost in overtime 4-3. Forward Bryce Brodzinski scored two goals in the game and currently has six points in five games. The Ghost Pirates’ first win of the season came on October 23 when they defeated the South Carolina Stingrays 9–4, with Riley Hughes and Nicholas Zabaneh each scoring two goals. Hughes has three goals and one assist in five games, and Zabaneh has two goals and four assists in five games.
On October 25, the Ghost Pirates defeated the Jacksonville Icemen 3-1. The Icemen came into the game undefeated. Jacksonville’s only goal of the game came in the first period and opened the scoring. Defenseman Noah Carroll scored his first goal of the season near the end of the first period to tie the game. Robert Mastrosimone scored in the second period, making it his third straight game with a goal.
Mastrosimone’s goal came on a four-on-four, making it the team’s fourth straight game with a four-on-four goal. He currently has seven points from five games. The Ghost Pirates were on the front foot throughout the match and played with good intensity for sixty minutes.
Ghost pirates who struggle to stay consistent
Savannah lost their most recent match 4-2 to the Atlanta Gladiators on November 1. Evan Cormier was in net for the Ghost Pirates and stopped 19 of 23 shots. Cormier is back with the team this season after being called up from Florida last season. He is in his third season with the organization and currently has a one-year contract the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers Affiliated with the American Hockey League (AHL).
Cormier spent most of last season with the Ghost Pirates, where he had a 3.38 goals against average (GAA) and an .887 save percentage (SV%). Staal hopes that having a goaltender with NHL experience will be a game changer for his team this season. The head coach has a lot of new players in the fray and it seems like they are still trying to find chemistry with each other.
The Ghost Pirates have shown good speed and physicality so far. Defender Dennis Cesana currently leads the team in points with seven from five games. However, the The defense as a whole has struggled sometimes with turnovers and beating the rush.
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Captain Logan Drevitch is the only player in franchise history to sign a contract in all four seasons of the team’s existence. Last season he played in every game and led the team with 40 assists. The Ghost Pirates have yet to make the playoffs and after seeing the success of their NHL affiliate, they are eagerly chasing a playoff berth. Savannah returns to action on November 5 against the Icemen.
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