It was just last week that we were riding the wave of the Panthers going for ten wins in a row, and now the boys are in the midst of a three-game skid.
That’s the ebbs and flows of the game.
Yep…some nights you’re Ric Flair on top of Space Mountain. Other nights you’re some jobber putting the next superstar over.
Of the three recent losses, last night’s 3-2 OT defeat was the least disappointing - as the Panthers were in it against a hot Wings team.
The 4-1 beating by the New Jersey Devils was bad because NJ has so many injuries that they were plugging the roster with random guys. But at least that one felt like it was just one of those fluky “off” games after being on a heater.
It was the Anaheim game that was the worst of the three for me. I’ll preface this by saying I think Florida will be fine and get out of this skid, but what was concerning from the loss to the Ducks was that we saw some bad habits creep back in.
The two big ones I noticed:
1. Florida lacked the ability to put Anaheim away. They allowed them to hang around all game, eventually getting the W.
2. I credit Stolarz with one weak goal that game. The other three were a result of defensive lapses all around. Specifically, Florida made it easy for Anaheim to get into dangerous areas of the ice - often times shredding the defense and getting deadly chances right out in front. Randy even commented on how Ducks’ players were walking right in.
The above points go hand in hand. You can’t put a team away if you continually give them looks and opportunities.
Again, I think the Panthers will bounce back and be fine, specifically the defense. It’s just very disappointing to lose three in a row at home.
The Panthers will have a chance to get back on the right track tonight when they take on the Minnesota Wild.
Thought to be a team at the top of the Central Division at the start of the season, Minnesota currently sits in seventh with an 18-21-5 record. That’s one spot higher than the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks.
There has even been rumors they may move Fleury prior to TDL if they don’t start improving.
Winners and Whiners takes a look at the Wild by the numbers:
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Minnesota is averaging 2.86 goals per game which is 27th in the NHL while taking an average of 30 shots per game which is 20th. Minnesota wins 46.4% of its face offs, which is 30th. The Wild are scoring 18.0% of the time on the power play which is only 21st in the NHL. Joel Ericksson Ek is the leading goal scorer for Minnesota 17 and Matt Boldy is second with 15. Mats Zuccarello is the leader in assists with 25 and Kirill Kaprizov is second with 22. Kaprizov is the leader in points with 35 and Zuccarello is second with 32.
Minnesota has a goals against average of 3.30, which is 25th in the NHL and the Wild are allowing an average of 30.3 shots per game which is 17th. Minnesota's penalty kill unit is successful only 71.8% of the time which is 30th in hockey. Marc-Andre Fleury is 8-9-3 with a 2.97 goals against average and .897 save percentage, while Filip Gustavsson is 10-10-2 with a 3.13 goals against average and .898 save percentage.“
That PK stat is pretty wild…
Hey, speaking of wild stats, did you all see this?
Panthers have a good shot here to snap their losing streak. They are desperate for a win (and should play like it), and are going against a struggling Wild team that is playing the second game of a back-to-back.
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Let’s get back in the win column! Go Panthers!
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