Florida got outworked by the Canadiens in the first game after the Christmas break. The Panthers looked a step slow and were feeling the strain of having Niko Mikkola out of the lineup. Obviously, there are still some growing pains with this team as they figure things out as the season ebbs and flows. It feels like they’ve been shut out a lot, but that’s all recency bias, with all their shutout games coming in a single month. The Panthers are still in the same spot they were at this point last season, and injuries and illnesses have been circling the locker room. I wouldn’t hit the panic button yet as I stated previously, I think the January-March block of games will be more indicative of where the team is at as compared to last season. With that said, the defense still needs more work, and Knight is hot & cold at the moment.
Outworked:
There are only a select few ways to beat the Panthers and outworking them is one of them. Montreal did just that on Saturday to take the 0-4 win, with Dobes getting the shutout in his NHL debut. The Canadiens had great 1-on-1 defensive coverage, similar to how Florida plays, and kept the Panther offensive zone time to a minimum. Looking at last season, the Cats, for the most part, haven’t played well coming out of a multi-day break, and they looked a step slow against the Montreal top line that boasts a lot of speed. While the Panthers got 34 SOG, the Canadiens also blocked 21 shots, compared to the Cats’ 10. The Habs worked hard to keep Florida boxed out near the net while Dobes gave up minimal rebound chances for the Panthers to pounce on. Florida needed to get more traffic to the net to take away Dobes’ eyes, which they finally started doing in the third period. By the,n it was too little too late for the Cats to make any type of comeback. Both the players and HC Paul Maurice took responsibility for the loss, citing a lack of intensity in their play and a failure to generate chances.
Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers:
It’s been an ongoing battle against cleaning up the turnovers for Florida. When they play with their emotional intensity, the issue decreases, and the crisper they play. When that emotional intensity isn’t there, the puck handling and communication struggles, resulting in turnovers more often than not. All the Montreal goals came off turnovers, and the Habs were able to take advantage of their few chances. Twice Dach was left unmarked by the Panthers which allowed him to score each time, a risky pass by Reinhart intercepted by Montreal led to the 2-on-1 short-handed goal by Evans, and a Caufield breakaway made it 0-4 in the third period. These are simple mistakes that can and will need to be cleaned up by the time the playoffs roll around. While Mikkola was unavailable, the team needs to learn how to win when players are out injured. They were able to do it early in the season when Barkov and Tkachuk were both out, so now they need to be able to figure out how to cover things defensively when one of their best isn’t able to play. If the Panthers make any moves near the trade deadline, I expect them to possibly be in the market for a defenseman unless a greater need emerges.
Hot & Cold:
Knight had a few fantastic saves on Saturday and also let in a couple of goals you’d like him to make a save on. While the loss isn’t entirely on his shoulders, he also didn’t have his greatest game to date. Fans have a short memory and seem to have already forgotten the great game he played against Tampa Bay about a week ago when the Cats won. Knight still made timely saves against Montreal, including a glove save on a puck shot through traffic and a save on a Habs shot right off a faceoff win. Florida was blessed with an extremely strong tandem in Bobrovsky & Stolarz last season, but Knight has shown flashes of brilliance and potential. He still made some big & difficult saves against the Canadiens, but the soft shots that got through sting when the Panther offense had nothing going. The young goalie still has plenty of growing room to improve and Florida will need a bit more consistency out of him as the season goes along into the back half.
The Panthers take on New York on Monday.
ITR 50: Atlantic Division Preview – Inside The Rink
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