The Panthers had a chance to take down the big dogs of the Pacific Division on Thursday night in Las Vegas but failed to complete a 60-minute effort and lost 4-2, ending their road trip on a 2-2-0 note.
Thursday’s loss to the Knights marked another note in this frustratingly (below) average season of play and inched Florida closer to the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings. At 19-20-4, the Cats sit in sixth place, just above Ottawa and Montreal.
Granted, Lundell’s goal was called back — which would have put the Panthers up 3-1 — but they took the foot off the gas in the third period and allowed Vegas to come back in. Then with a little over two minutes left and Bob pulled, Florida squandered a PP opportunity when Bennett lost control of the puck and the Knights scored the empty-net dagger to ice the game at 4-2. It’s a shame because they wasted a good effort by Bob and a solid effort as a whole for the first two periods.
And so the Panthers return home for a brief minute to host the Vancouver Canucks tonight. Like the Panthers, the 17-21-3 Canucks are in sixth place for the Pacific Division. Vancouver has been in the spotlight of sorts for a while now due to their poor season and rumors-a-plenty that they could be looking to move anyone and everyone (save for Elias Pettersson) in an attempt to overhaul their roster and get back to winning.
The Panthers are the better team in this tilt — err, they should be the better team in this tilt — but the confidence to say they will get a win tonight just isn’t there. If they can play the way they did for the first 40 minutes in Vegas, where they were dictating the play, had strong rushes, crisp passing, etc., they will be good. But if they play like the third period, it will be a tough night.
#TimeToHunt projected lineup:
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) January 14, 2023
Lundell - Barkov - Reinhart
Verhaeghe - Bennett - Tkachuk
Luostarinen - Staal - Cousins
Lomberg - White - Smith
Forsling - Ekblad
Staal - Montour
Mahura - Gudas
Bobrovsky
Lyon
Hoping to see Fitzgerald in the lineup today. Could be a good match up to “break… him in.
Something I’ve been thinking about and want to run by you guys:
The more this season progresses the more it feels like a transition year to me. “Transition… in terms of Florida’s DNA. I believe the Tkachuk, Smith, and now Fitzgerald (who plays a tough/physical game), are all indicators that Zito is looking to move this team away from the “softer… image/play of guys like Huberdeau, Barkov, etc. This, coupled with the fact that Barky has been pretty silent both on and off the ice with Tkachuk seemingly taking over as both the leader and mouthpiece of the team, leads me to believe that this crew is changing within the locker room.
Just a thought… ___________________
Go Panthers!