The Panthers are now out of first place in the Southeast division and have fallen to eighth in the conference after Thursday night's 3-2 loss to Minnesota in a shootout.
Losing in a shootout is no surprise, as that is what Florida does. No team in the league has been worse in shootouts than the Panthers post-lockout. Jose Theodore, who has played well over the last three games, looked terrible as he gave up easy goals to Christensen and Cullen to seal the Panthers' fate in what was a disaster of a 4-game homestand.
After sweeping the Devils and Islanders on back to back days on their last road trip(which now seems like an aberration), the Panthers were licking their chops to get home for four games and pad their division lead. Now it is gone. All gone. Earning one point out of a possible eight after going 0-3-1 has the Panthers in a tenuous position with nowhere to look but inwards.
While it could be argued the Panthers played their best game of the homestand against the Wild, dominating play and peppering Niklas Backstrom with 43 shots, it is what it is. Another brutal loss at the hands of a team they should beat.
Maybe getting out of town is just what this team needs as they head to Raleigh to play the Hurricanes Saturday night. Anything to get out of their own heads, and their comfort zones at home.
Dale Tallon might be in the most precarious position he's been in since becoming an NHL general manager. He is in tune with every facet of the franchise, especially what it would mean to an organization that has not been able to reap the benefits of playoff ticket sales for ten consecutive seasons.
With the success of the last two drafts, there is no way he will sacrifice any of his young talent(Huberdeau, Howden, Bjugstad, Markstrom, Petrovic) that is on the way over the next few years. The current injury-plagued roster does not have much high-end talent to get a lot back in return.
In a way Tallon has painted himself into a corner for overpaying for several of the signed free agents last summer, but it was a spending spree that was needed to quickly change the culture of this club. Most of the contracts would be hard to move, as the NHL cap doesn't leave a lot of teams room to maneuver.
If there is any silver lining the Panthers have four games in hand on the first place Jets, two on the Hurricanes, and one on both Washington and Tampa. The Southeast is suddenly up for grabs after the Panthers' slide, and the playoffs practically start now.
It is no excuse, but the Panthers have not been healthy all season. While Jovanovski returned tonight from a hand injury, he looked every bit his age. Garrison is expected back this weekend and Kulikov over the next few weeks. Invaluable Marcel Goc left Wednesday's practice with the dreaded "lower body injury" but he is listed as day-to-day. Marco Sturm is expected back over the next few games. Matt Bradley is out indefinitely with a concussion and Scottie Upshall might not return this year after sports hernia surgery.
There is no question the team is banged up, and with the expensive contracts and limited assets to move, it looks as if Tallon will have stand pat against his will and see how this mad dash to the finish plays out.
For a guy that likes to wheel and deal this must be stressful times indeed...
Twitter @DanSpiegel
Florida Panthers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»