Florida Panthers: Tough road ahead against the West

COLUMBUS, OH - JANUARY 07: Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Florida Panthers on January 07, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. Blue Jackets defeated the Panthers 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - JANUARY 07: Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Florida Panthers on January 07, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. Blue Jackets defeated the Panthers 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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After coming up victorious in St. Louis last night, the Florida Panthers need another win streak to materialize. However, a difficult stretch of games stand in their way.

ST. LOUIS, MO – JANUARY 9: The Florida Panthers celebrate their victory over the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on January 9, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO – JANUARY 9: The Florida Panthers celebrate their victory over the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on January 9, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Florida Panthers pulled off a nice five-game winning steak to close out December. The streak began in Arizona, where the Panthers pulled off three straight goals to come back from a 2-0 deficit.

They rode that momentum back into the BB&T center with home wins against Minnesota, Ottawa, Philadelphia, and Montreal. The key to the streak was goaltender James Reimer. He let in only six goals during the five game streak, and shutout the Senators and Canadiens.

2018, however, has not been kind to Florida. After losses in Minnesota and Detroit, the Cats got their first point in January against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, but lost their third game in a row (3-2 in SO).

The Panthers managed to snap out of their three-game losing streak, with a 7-4 win against the St. Louis Blues last night. Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, and Aleksander Barkov all managed to tally three points each in last night’s victory.

The win streak really helped bring the Panthers back into the playoff conversation, but they cannot have any kind of slide if they want to keep up with the other teams in the Atlantic.

Another stretch of points in every game would be helpful, but five consecutive battles against some of the best teams in the Western conference will make such a streak difficult.

January 12th, Calgary Flames @ Florida Panthers, 7:30 PM

SUNRISE, FL – FEBRUARY 24: Goaltender Chad Johnson
SUNRISE, FL – FEBRUARY 24: Goaltender Chad Johnson /

The Panthers will return to Sunrise to host the Calgary Flames on Friday, January 12th. This presents perhaps the most winnable of the five games for Florida, as the Flames currently sit 5th out of the 8 teams in the Pacific division.

Right now, Calgary is on a three-game win streak, but they might be cooled off by road games against the Wild or Lightning before they face off against the Panthers. The Cats will need to do a good job defensively against the Flames’ top line.

Top line specialist (Johnny Gaudreau) leads the team with 46 points. Many of those have been assisted by his partner in crime (Sean Monahan), who leads Calgary with 19 goals and 7 game-winners.

January 19th, Vegas Golden Knights @ Florida Panthers, 7:30 PM

LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 17: Vegas Golden Knights Defenceman Shea Theodore (27) goes after the puck during the third period of a regular season NHL game between the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017, in Las Vegas. The Vegas Golden Knights would defeat the Florida Panthers 5-2. (Photo by: Marc Sanchez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 17: Vegas Golden Knights Defenceman Shea Theodore (27) goes after the puck during the third period of a regular season NHL game between the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017, in Las Vegas. The Vegas Golden Knights would defeat the Florida Panthers 5-2. (Photo by: Marc Sanchez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

After Calgary, Florida has an entire week off before the Vegas Golden Knights ride into the BB&T center for the first time on the 19th of January. Vegas boasts the best record in the Western conference with an incredible 60 points in early January.

This could definitely be considered a revenge game for the Panthers. When the teams first met on December 17, Florida blew an early two-goal lead, and lost 5-2. Also, it was Vegas that took Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault, as well as former head coach Gerard Gallant.

It would be very nice for the Cats to emphatically prove that they have moved on from those three losses against MIN, DET, and CBJ, by beating the Knights in Sunrise. One glimmer of hope is that Vegas has been good but beatable on the road with a record of 11-8-1 as visitors this season.

January 20th, Florida Panthers @ Nashville Predators, 8:00 PM

NASHVILLE, TN – FEBRUARY 11: Viktor Arvidsson
NASHVILLE, TN – FEBRUARY 11: Viktor Arvidsson /

The Cats will have a quick turnaround as they head up to Nashville for their second game in as many days. They will face another formidable foe in Nashville, as the Preds are currently only three points out of the Central division lead.

Scoring will be difficult for Florida if they have to face goaltender Pekka Rinne. Rinne is having another strong season with a 20-8-1 record, and a .924 save percentage. The Panthers had success against the Predators last season with a 2-1 win in Sunrise, and a 7-4 win in Nashville.

January 23rd, Florida Panthers @ Dallas Stars, 8:30 PM

SUNRISE, FL – NOVEMBER 14: Goaltender Kari Lehtonen
SUNRISE, FL – NOVEMBER 14: Goaltender Kari Lehtonen /

January 23rd brings the last of the five straight games against the Western conference. Once again, the Panthers are on the road against a tough team from the Central division, the Dallas Stars.

Dallas is 4th out of 7 teams in their division, but their 51 points prove that this will not be an easy game for Florida to win. The Stars have been especially strong at home this year with a 16-5-1 home record.

The Cats should focus on stopping Tyler Seguin, who leads Dallas with 21 goals and 40 points. The Panthers might face a familiar foe in this game as Ben Bishop, the longtime goalie of the Tampa Bay Lightning, is now the usual starter for the Dallas Stars.

Wrap-up

ST. LOUIS, MO – JANUARY 9: James Reimer
ST. LOUIS, MO – JANUARY 9: James Reimer /

Division games are usually the most important games for any team. They present the opportunity to get two points while preventing a main competitor from getting any at the same time. However, the division games of February and March will not matter if the Panthers fall behind in the standings in January.

One thing to keep in mind is that unlike games against the east, it doesn’t affect the Panthers if a team from the west gets zero, one, or two points. Obviously, Florida’s players, coaches, and fans would love to see the Cats win all five of these games in regulation.

However, considering the class of the opponents that probably isn’t realistic. If the Panthers can get points in all of the next five games, even if they don’t always win, that would still go a long way towards keeping the Panthers in the hunt for a possible playoff berth.

Next: Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov have been playing amongst the league’s best

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