It’s been a tough go for the Florida Panthers, who are currently on a two-game losing streak since starting their most recent five-game road trip.
The past two games can only be described as “oof.… In those two tilts, the Cats have surrendered eight goals and scored zero.
ZERO.
The Panthers need a win and they need one bad. Unfortunately for them…they are hampered by the injury and illness bugs. On top of that, they play an Oilers team tonight who seems to be turning things around since firing their head coach and hiring Kris Knoblauch.
Ekblad (lower body) will not play tonight for precautionary reasons, per Maurice.
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) December 16, 2023
Lundell and Gadjovich remain out with an illness.
Lockwood and Mahura are both in.
Bobrovsky in net.
Here's my guess for tonight w/ all the changes:
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) December 16, 2023
Rodrigues - Barkov - Reinhart
Verhaeghe - Bennett - Tkachuk
Luostarinen - Stenlund - Cousins
Lomberg - Lorentz - Lockwood
Forsling - OEL
Mikkola - Montour
Mahura - Kulikov
Bobrovksy
Stolarz
Tonight has to be about simplicity. Led by McDavid, Edmonton’s offense can be extremely deadly (we know that). With how the Panthers have been playing, focusing on making the simple play and keeping up with/dictating the pace should be the emphasis here. But the real place to capitalize on is the Oilers defense, and especially their goaltending. Edmonton has a major goalie problem they have been trying to fix for a long time now. It seems whoever they plug in the blue paint just doesn’t work out. Panthers have to snap this goalless streak and coming out firing early and often at the Edmonton net!
If you look at the numbers from the Seattle and Vancouver games, Florida was pretty even with both opponents in all major categories. They’re just playing bad and laying serious eggs.
These two losses also show how important depth scoring is, because there has been a serious lack of it lately.
Let’s chalk it up to a couple of stinkers and see what the guys can do tonight to avoid a three-game losing streak… _________________
Go Panthers!