For the second consecutive night, the Florida Panthers struggled to score goals and are now on a two-game losing streak following a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night. After a tough game against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, Brady Tkachuk’s first game against his former team, the Cats left Akira Schmid out to dry, losing 5-1. Now, with Jacob Markström missing time due to an undisclosed injury, Paul Maurice started 6-foot-9 Cooper Black, who made his NHL debut. Unfortunately, the team gave him little to no support, and after a barrage of goals in four games, Florida now has only one in their past six periods.
Claw: Cooper Black makes NHL history
Although Black gave up three goals, including one to future Hall of Famer Evgeni Malkin, he will go down in NHL history as the tallest goalie to ever appear in a game. Moreover, he became just the fifth goalie to make his debut in Panthers history and the latest one since Spencer Knight in 2021. As mentioned, for the second consecutive night, Florida provided little to no support for their goalies, getting caught up in after-whistle scrums and continuing their daily march to the penalty box. In the end, the 25-year-old Black made 18 saves against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.
Flaw: Panthers' penalty troubles continue
After 11 games, the Panthers have drawn the most penalties in the NHL, which means plenty of power-play opportunities…or does it? Because at the same time, Florida has collected the most penalty minutes, so welcome to the yin and yang of this year’s club. Thankfully, the Penguins didn’t score on their three advantages, but the Panthers failed to convert on their four chances. After opening the season 1-for-28 on the power play, Florida converted nine of its next 20 opportunities over five games before coming up empty again in Pittsburgh. At least the penalty killers are doing their job, killing off 38 of 46 thus far.
Flaw: Florida's offensive intensity disappears
There is a difference between being feisty and getting into scrums between whistles, standing up for teammates, and protecting the house when needed. Then there is an aggressive offensive attack, one the team deployed to register an obscene number of hat tricks in just a short amount of time. Where did that Panthers team go from last week? Did they get thrown off their game by Tkachuk's return to Ottawa, and just too tired to compete in Pittsburgh? The entire team, from the star forwards to the defensemen, had point streaks, and everything came crashing down on Thursday in the Panthers' first shutout loss of the season. Of course, there will be peaks and valleys through an 84-game schedule, but with sub-par goaltending and a lack of scoring, some of these games are going to be head scratchers for fans who will wonder where the roar is.
What’s next for the Panthers?
Florida won’t play again until Sunday, giving the team plenty of opportunity to relax, reset, and be prepared for the young Chicago Blackhawks led by Connor Bedard and veteran Patrick Kane. After their Sunday afternoon matchup, the Panthers will return to Canada to face the Winnipeg Jets, who will be coming off their Heritage Classic appearance against the Montreal Canadiens. Ultimately, the question at the time will be whether or not Connor Hellebuyck will still be part of the organization or if he’ll be traded.
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