It is widely known this is a big week of games for the Florida Panthers. Division leaders and teams they are chasing visit the Sunshine State for their annual Christmas/New Years homestand. If Sunday night was any indication of what the Panthers may be able to do in the second half of the season, look out NHL. The perennial league laughing stock might be growing up to fight back.
The Panthers 6-4 victory, one in which they scored four unanswered goals in the third period for a much needed regulation win, was a good litmus test. The Maple Leafs came in as the best offensive team in the league and ripped off 11 wins in 15 games before Sunday to grab a firm hold of a playoff spot. Toronto fans calling for a full housecleaning just a month were shaken into remorse over this stretch.
But as the Panthers have done all year, they stuck with their system and came through when it mattered. Toronto looked to run away with the game after scoring two late goals in the second period to make it 4-2. However, the score did not dictate who was the better team at that point, and it was a matter of time before that started to shine through.
After what was surely a stern talking to in the locker room by head coach Gerard Gallant, the Panthers responded.
Dmitry Kulikov, Willie Mitchell, Brad Boyes, and Scottie Upshall all came through with huge goals in the third period. 11 players had at least a point in the game. Florida continues to be one of the big surprises in the league.
That is not to say they looked amazing throughout the entire game. The Panthers had a few defensive breakdowns that lead to easy goals for the Leafs. But in the third period their game was solid. To hold Toronto to just 22 shots is a feat in itself. Giving up 4 goals on that number is not good, so there is obviously work to do. But Toronto is a very skilled team and they made the Panthers pay for most of their mistakes. The Panthers 34 shots were the difference, as well as destroying Toronto in faceoffs 43-21. That is probably the most surprising stat of the night because Florida has struggled most of the year on the draw.
What does this victory mean for the Panthers? Not much the coaches and team would say. What is most important is the next game. But as home fan attendance continues to grow, and the northerners fill up the rest of the arena hoping for an easy win, a sense of pride and momentum is growing in South Florida.
This team is no pushover.
They have held their own or beaten the very best teams in this league.
Only three teams have fewer regulation losses than the Panthers(Anaheim, Pittsburgh,Detroit), and Florida has beaten each of them.
But most importantly, the team looks like they are having fun competing. That could not be said for the majority of the last dozen years. Gallant has this team believing in themselves, and no deficit is too big to overcome.
While last night was huge, the next two games are just as big. Montreal visits on the second game of a back to back Tuesday and then the Rangers visit Wednesday. Florida is six points behind 3rd place Montreal with two games in hand. The Panthers are looking to gain ground and should they pull out victories in both or 3 out of 4 points they will be sitting right in the thick of playoff hunt going into 2015.
What a difference a year makes. It's still early, but comeback wins like Sunday show this revived Panther team is not going down easy to anyone.
Dan Spiegel...