After going 5-0-0 on a tremendous Western Conference road trip, which gave them a tremendous boost in the sinking Atlantic Division, the Florida Panthers have lost their last 3 games, all at home, by the way.
As the Florida Panthers took to the ice against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday February 22, they were looking to extend their win streak to 6 games, which would tie them with the Ottawa Senators, and put them 2 points back of the Montreal Canadiens, who held the Atlantic Division lead. But the Panthers came up just short, as they struggled to capitalize many, many times, and had to play from behind almost all game, which would cost them in the end.
two days later, Friday the 24th, the Cats looked to rebound with a win over the suddenly hot Calgary Flames, who are also in a tight playoff race, as they are battling for the two wild card spots in the Western Conference. Once again the Panthers’ offense came up short, and their defense was absolutely horrific, as the Panthers fell to Calgary 4-2, which set them back of the top two spots in the Atlantic even further.
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Then on Sunday, the Cats would finally play an Eastern Conference team, in fact this would be the first time the Cats played an Eastern Conference team since the return of their two stars- Huberdeau and Barkov. Like the previous two games, the Panthers allowed the first goal, which eventually cost them, as Ottawa scored early in the second period to regain their lead. This now leaves them 3 points back of the closest playoff spot, which is held by Toronto.
Who’s To Blame?
When skids like this happen, to any sports team, people start pointing fingers, and in this situation, the person being most blamed and used as a scapegoat is interim head coach Tom Rowe. As he has been almost all his tenure here, Rowe is being blamed for what can only be explained as the players’ lack of effort on the ice, and poor and sloppy play. Now, I’m not here to defend Rowe, but there is no way in this universe that he can be blamed for how much effort the players put in on the ice. Sure, he can yell and scream at them in practice and make them do rigorous drills to punish them, but at the end of the day, he can’t control what his players do.
I’ve also seen a good amount of complaining about the refs from fellow Panther fans. And trust me, I hate NHL officials with a burning passion, but good teams will find a way to win even with terrible officiating. And, lets be honest here, over the past 3 games, the Panthers have not been a good team.
Why Is This Happening?
There have to be reasons why this skid is happening though, right? One could argue that the players could be very fatigued. And that is a very valid argument, as the last time the Panthers had a 2+ day break was the 12th-14th, which took place before the second game of that 5 game Western Conference road trip.
Another argument that one could make is that the Panthers play better on the road then they do at home. This is very true, as we are known to play much better when in someone else’s barn, but we haven’t lost 3 straight regulation games since October, so something must be up. People have been blaming the defense a lot lately, but really the defense was only bad in the Calgary game. It played extremely well in the Ottawa game, and played pretty decent in the Edmonton game. Not to mention that it was incredible in the last 3 games of the road trip. (ANA, LA, STL)
So I don’t really have an answer myself as to why this skid has happened, but here’s to hoping that Tome Rowe and co. can figure it out.