Florida Panthers Are Mathematically Eliminated After Loss To Habs

After losing 6-2 against the Montreal Canadiens, the Florida Panthers are officially eliminated from playoff contentions.

Where do I start? The Florida Panthers got crushed by the Habs 6-2 tonight. No Barkov and Ekblad didn’t help matters either. From the start of the game to the end of the game, the boys just didn’t look into it at all. There was no fore-check, back check, or even passion shown on the ice. Too many guys were coasting, and it looked like a Saturday leisure skate at the local rink. Let’s get right into what happened tonight!

The Cats didn’t start off to bad, but were being pressure hard early on. They escaped some real scoring chances in their own-end, when Montreal scared them with some dangerous chances. Eventually, the Habs struck first with seven minutes into the period. Paul Byron wristed his 21st of the season, to give the Habs a 1-0 lead.

Shortly after the first goal, Tomas Plekanec struck second for the Canadiens, to give his side a 2-0 lead. At this point, the Habs were starting to run away with the game. The first couldn’t have gone any worse, after Byron scored his second goal on the night to extend the lead to 3-0. At this point I knew it was over. We all did.

The Panthers started the second off on a better foot, as Reilly Smith scored his 15th goal of the season, to cut the lead down to two (3-1). The second period wouldn’t offer any other goals, as the Canadiens would go into the second intermission with a two goal lead. The Habs decided to really put the petal to the metal as Max Pacioretty wasted no time in scoring the opening goal of the period.

With three minutes into the third, Pacioretty scored, as I mentioned above. The goal gave the Habs a three goal lead, and the game was pretty much over. Five minutes later, Michael Matheson grabbed his 6th goal of the year, and cuts the lead down to two (4-2).

Next: Florida Panthers: The Next Direction Headed

Shortly after Matheson’s goal, Brendan Gallagher notched the 5th goal of the game for the Habs, to restore their three goal lead. This game started to turn into a teeter totter between the Habs restoring their three goal lead, and the Panthers cutting the lead down to two. Eventually, that teeter totter ride would shortly end as the Habs scored their sixth goal of the game (6-2). The game officially ended 6-2 in favor of the Habs, and so did our playoff chances.

My Thoughts, Seeing That This Season Is Over

As we all know, the Florida Panther are officially eliminated from playoff contention. For all the optimistic fans (you know who you are), you no longer can be optimistic unfortunately. This season has honestly been a living nightmare for the players, and a depressing one for us fans.

After seeing Huberdeau go down with a five month injury in preseason, and seeing other guys like Barkov, Bjugstad, Jokinen, and Petrovic miss extensive time because of injury, it honestly hurt the momentum this team had going forward after last season. Injuries were a big part of this disappointing season, but to be fair, we had ample amount of time to get ourselves into a post-season position, when our top guys came back. In fact, we did.

After sweeping the California road trip, the Florida Panthers saw themselves in a playoff position for the first time this season. Unfortunately, that did not last long, as the Cats lost eight out of nine, totally losing ground on a playoff position. It all just sorta crumbled on us.

More from The Rat Trick

One of the biggest areas of concern this year was the firing of Gerald Gallant. Gallant was never the best coach in the league, or the coach some of us wanted, but he was a player first coach, who made sure that this players had the trust from him, knowing that they can go far if they worked as a team. As we saw last year, this was totally the case as the Panthers has their best season ever in franchise history, putting 103 points in the standings. In result, the Cats won the Atlantic division, and were seen as a “solid young team” who would scare many down the road.

After the firing of Gallant, Tom Rowe stepped down from GM duties and decided to take the head coaching responsibilities. Needless to say, things didn’t go as planned for him. Tom and the Cats found it very difficult to put any points on the board. It took the players some time to try and get use to Rowe’s new system. “inconsistency” is the term to describe this season. Apart from winning the California road trip, the Panthers found it difficult to string two consecutive wins together. In the end, that’s what really killed us.

Final. 6. 152. 2. 97

Going forward, the Cats will need to hire a new coach, as Tom Rowe did not take us to the promise land. I think it’s safe to say, that Tom is really not the coach we are looking for (no offense Tom). Proven winners like Ken, Lindy, and possibly Michel are all good candidates for the Panthers to look at. Secondly, the Cats need to pick up a couple of bottom six forwards, to strengthen both the third and fourth line (more so the fourth). Thirdly and finally, we need to add a defensive defenseman. Our defense is strong with skill and is loaded with depth, but we could use a tough gritty defenseman to add to our lineup. Our defense may be skilled, but has shown their “soft side” far too often this year.

The Florida Panthers are not “screwed” going forward, as long as they don’t make anymore dumb decisions/mistakes. Make a decision on Tom, hire a new coach who can implement his system over the summer to the boys, fill out the bottom six with more talent, and add a defensive defenseman. You tackle each and every one of those points, this team will be golden. Lastly, please hockey God’s, please bless us with better luck towards injuries. This team cannot afford another injury ridiculed season like this year. Please hockey God’s. I’ll end there for you all.

Home/Panthers News