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Panthers and Stars, Q Update (of sorts)

March 19, 2019, 8:00 AM ET [2 Comments]
Matt Ross
Florida Panthers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Quick one here as the work schedule is getting a bit hectic this week…

The Panthers were on a roll up until losing to the Ducks 3-2 on Sunday night.

Always tough losing to a team that’s lower than you in the standings – actually, it’s more frustrating than anything. Yep, any team can be beat on any night and Florida proved that with this performance.

You can point to them having played the day before as a way to sort of justify the loss.

Ehh…unfortunately that doesn’t work at this juncture/position the Cats find themselves in.

The reality is that there’s 10 games left in the season and they trail the Blue Jackets by eighty points…they can’t afford any nights off. Every night needs to end in the win column.

With that in mind…

They have a chance to bounce back tonight by beating the Stars – a team looking to continue soaking up wins for the post-season.

If they have any chance of getting a victory in Big D, they’ll need to avoid the sloppy (at times) play and self-destructive tendencies on the defensive side that plague them. Man…the turnovers, leaving guys in front of the net and defensemen pinching in so low in the offensive zone just drives me nuts…

It’s hard to believe that a team who outshoots their opponent 39-22 would lose the game.

As nice as it would be to end this road trip 3-1, it would have been so much better to be 4-0; and that’s the story of the Panthers’ season, really – close, yet (strangely) far away.

Florida better be rocking in Dallas tonight.

Coach Q

Dan Roan from WGN had a nice interview with Joel Quennville

As a fan of Q and the Hawks, it was sad to hear him say he tries to not watch as many Blackhawks games as he used to. That hit right in the feels.

For other fans of Q, and people hopeful he’ll land behind Florida’s bench, it was encouraging to hear him kind of hint that he could be looking to return to coaching duties after assessing things this offseason.

Personally, I think him coming to Florida is probably a long shot (though I think it would be awesome). The reason I think this is because he’s more along the lines of Gallant type coach. He’s not a ‘yes man’ and will go to bat against the suits for his players and ideas he thinks will improve the team. While I don’t really know, I’m just not so sure Panthers brass is receptive to that kind of guy – which is a shame if true. But then again…if a three-time Stanley Cup champion coach can be obtained, I would hope you make it happen.

A lot of people have him ending up in Seattle, which would make sense. Brand new team that he could mold from the ground up and be able to put his own stamp on.

Who knows. We'll just have to wait and see...

Go Panthers!

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