The Panthers sport one of the toughest schedules in the NHL this season, both in terms of travel and back-to-backs. On their second west coast trip this season that was out in full force as the tougher of the two games in LA and Vegas were the second half of two back-to-backs this week. Their schedule still has five back-to-backs left including two in consecutive weekends in March and two in April. Brutal schedule aside, the Panthers’ top players are struggling to find the net as of late against playoff-caliber teams. The team is playing the right way to be successful, but the finishes for players like Tkachuk and Verhaeghe haven’t been there this season. A big issue they had against Vegas was giving up breakaways, which eventually led to a goal while not getting traffic consistently in front of Adin Hill. Florida found more success when HC Paul Maurice opted to switch up the forward lines in the third period.
Playing The Right Way:
Regular season success doesn’t always translate to postseason success and with the amount of hockey the Cats have played in the last two years, it’s understandable that they could simply be having a bit of a down year, especially compared to last year. However, the eye test and stats will tell you that the team is playing the right way to get wins and be ready for the playoffs. Be it bad luck, other teams playing the Cats even harder than last year, or getting goalied as some like to say, the team is playing the type of hockey that leads to success in May and June even if they aren’t racking up the wins like last season. The Panthers are only one point out of first place in their division and are still in the top 10 in the league, they may be a bit down but are by no means out. Florida had 33 SOG, with 12 of them being in or near the blue paint. There’s been so many chances near the net this season that the Cats just haven’t turned into goals for one reason or another. The goal they did score came from Anton Lundell tipping in a shot from Luostarinen after the pair were reunited in the third period. The Cats were plenty physical, holding the 36-14 advantage in hits and blocking 14 shots to Vegas’ 16. They’ve been more disciplined and have taken fewer penalties over their last 6-7 games; they killed off both penalties against the Golden Knights.
Breakaways & Goalies:
Florida plays on a fine line between aggressive and irresponsible with how they want the defense deployed. The aggressiveness came back to bite them as the Cats gave up four breakaways during the game eventually leading to a Jack Eichel goal on the third one to give Vegas the 3-1 lead. The breakaways have been an ongoing problem, and while most of the time the goalies have been able to make a stop or one of the defensemen has been able to get back and cover, it’s also resulted in a goal more times than the team would probably like. The Panthers had good chances, especially in the opening minutes of the first period. The first line had multiple chances that could’ve resulted in a goal, but Adin Hill was fully on his game. Florida was buzzing around the net all night but didn’t have consistent traffic in front of Hill to make his night especially difficult. When Lundell did get to the net to screen Hill it resulted in a goal. On the flip side, this was a big test for Spencer Knight as he got the start. He made some impressive saves but also had bad positioning on a couple of shots which resulted in goals for the Golden Knights. Spencer’s still been one of the best goalies in the league during the month of January, and getting more starts against high-quality teams will only improve his development. Splitting the season series with a good team isn’t a bad thing, Florida played against two different goaltenders and had much more success against the backup than the starter. If the Cats can get Verhaeghe, Tkachuk, and even Barkov going offensively, then Florida will be in a good spot moving forward.
Line Mixes:
One of the biggest advantages of the way the Florida roster is constructed is that it allows for great mobility within the lineup. The multiple combinations of players who’ve played together gives Paul Maurice the freedom to completely mix the lines and not worry about whether the mix will work or have chemistry. In the third period, Maurice made the decision to mix the lines and it led to the only goal for the Cats. They started the third period with a top line of Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart, a second line of Tkachuk-Bennett-Samoskevich, at third line they had Luostarinen-Lundell-Rodrigues, and the fourth line had Greer-Nosek-J. Boqvist. One of the best line combinations they’ve ran this season was a top line of Verhaeghe-Barkov-Tkachuk and then a second line of Luostarinen–Lundell–Reinhart. I doubt we’ll see those lines again unless Sam Bennett gets injured or is unavailable again, but that top six was very effective. However, Bennett is an important piece to the playoff picture for the team, and personally, I’d rather see the team go into the playoffs with him than without. The mixing of the lines also gives Florida more options for the playoffs is injuries do take someone out. HC Paul Maurice may opt to run more mixed lines over the next few games as we head toward the Four Nations break. Not that the break will be much of a break for the Cats, with the team having eight players and multiple staff members spread across all four teams. It was a disappointing loss against Vegas and Florida will look to rebound against LA in Sunrise.
ITR 35: Round One – Inside The Rink
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