You correctly highlight Thomas Vokoun in this article. He has been beaming of late and his performance against his former employers Nashville was outstanding. Being benched by Coach DeBoer obviously had the positive effect of making Vokoun battle even harder for his spot. He knows now that Craig Anderson can competently step in if he fails to live up his own lofty standards.

While Vokoun has been performing admirably in these last three games, credit must go to the entire team, from staff to players. They play with a real fire in their bellies and the success of late should be seen in this context.

With injuries to key players, other players have stepped up. So much in fact, that first liners like Nathan Horton should take a look over his shoulder, if he doesn�t start performing there are no guarantees he�ll stay on the team. Meanwhile rookie Michael Frolik is relishing the increased ice-time he�s getting. He�ll be one for the future for sure.

With the Panthers finally starting to perform, Christmas seems a little merrier this season�