The mid-season woes continue for the Panthers as they lose 4-1 to a St. Louis Blues team they should have thumped.
It’s not hugely concerning or a surprise for teams to hit rough patches throughout the long NHL season, but it’s certain frustrating, especially when you see Florida has lost four of their last five games while being outscored 12-6.
Where’s the offense?
It’s all but dried up right now. But it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. The Cats had 38 SOG against the Blues. What’s more, they went 37/54 at the dot, good enough for 69% faceoff wins. But despite all the rubber on net and controlling the dot, the goals just didn’t come.
The current offensive struggles highlight an area of the Panthers game that could be their Achilles Heel: the inability to manufacture goals.
I don’t mean just score goals. What I mean is getting depth scoring from across your lines. Pounding the net in close and getting greasy goals. Essentially willing the puck into the net, not relying on pretty setups and one-and-done opportunities.
Translation: If the Cats want to start winning again, they better get ugly.
“
We’re not feeling particularly fresh right now, and that’s fine. But we’ve just got to just deal with it. We’ll deal with it. We’ll talk about it and the language won’t all be clean because that’s not the way we play.” - Paul Maurice
And what better time to get back to feeling like yourselves than today when they take on the defending champions (and current second place in the Pacific Division) Las Vegas Golden Knights?
Vegas has been a machine since entering the league. They seem to always have good teams that are consistently near the top of the standings. They’re just impossible to like for a number of reasons, but that’s for a different blog…
Anyways, the Panthers will undoubtedly have their hands full today. However, while they should try and match the speed/pace of VGK, I believe Florida should not try to keep up with the skill of the Knights. This is a great game to get down and dirty. Florida needs to throw the body around and slow down/disrupt Vegas’ rush and rhythm.
Look, if you can’t score goals doing what you’re currently doing, it’s time to change it up. The approach should be to get gritty around the net look for those second and third opportunities. This is where that idea of manufacturing goals comes from. It’s not from a blue line clapper with no traffic out front. It’s from battling in the blue paint and making the day miserable for the opposition’s defensemen and goalie.
Per
Litter Box Cats:
“
The Golden Knights, who have lost two in a row, will be looking to leave the Sunshine State with a win after getting nipped 5-4 by the Tampa Bay Lightning while the Panthers were busy getting beaten by the Blues. Jack Eichel leads the Golden Knights in scoring with 39 points. Former Panther Jonathan Marchessault’s 17 goals in tops on the club.”
Let’s jump on this Vegas team who have dropped their last two!
New Practice Facility
The big news yesterday was the Panthers hitting the ice of their new practice facility for the first time. This place looks sweet!
Hey…maybe they’ll let us broken down beer leaguers play there. What do you think? LOL.
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Ready to enjoy some afternoon hockey…GO PANTHERS!
Florida Panthers Blogger • 
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