Florida Panthers drop three straight, lose to Blue Jackets 7-3

The Florida Panthers previously dropped their last two games and were looking to bounce back against Columbus tonight. Were they able to do it?

As usual, the Florida Panthers came storming out to start the game and were applying loads of pressure in the Jackets zone. Just before the five-minute mark hit, Vinnie Trocheck drove to the net and centered a pass right to Mark Pysyk in the goalie’s crease. Pysyk was left with a wide open net and easily slotted his second goal of the season.

It was then seven minutes after Mark Pysyk’s goal where the Blue Jackets evened out the game. As the Panthers looked to extend their lead, Josh Anderson stepped in and spoiled the party for the Cats. Less than five minutes later and Anderson grabbed his second goal of the night, to give his side a 2-1 lead. The Panthers defense was starting to crumble and out came the flood gates it seemed.

Anderson’s goal would be the final one of the period, meaning that the Cats would head into the locker room a goal down. While many expected the Panthers to fully collapse, Ian McCoshen came in, saved the day and tied the game at two:

McCoshen’s goal would shortly be cancelled out, as Markus Hannikainen would grab his first goal of the season and regained the Jackets lead. Shortly after, it was Vinnie Trocheck (on the PK) who tied the game three minutes later and leveled the scoring at three goals a piece.

Like before, it was Columbus who struck again and broke the deadlock. This time, Oliver Bjorkstrand ripped a shot top-shelf on the initial power play. The Jackets weren’t done there as Oliver recorded his second goal of the night and extended his team’s lead to two: 

Tyler Motte put the nail in the coffin early on in the third and put the game out of reach for the Florida Panthers. The Cats were experiencing what they faced last game: Poor defending. Poor defending has also been the direct cause of Reimer being pulled in two consecutive games.

Unfortunately for Florida’s sake, the game only got worse as Boone Jenner added some more salt to the Panthers’ wound. His goal would be the final one of the game and would conclude the match with a score line of 7-3 Blue Jackets.

Tonight’s game was truthfully brutal defensively and is a reflection of the high amount of goals given up. Allowing 15 goals in your last two games is just horrendous and isn’t deserving of winning any hockey games. The Florida Panthers will look to bounce back against the New York Rangers on Saturday, November 4th @7:00pm.