It’s been a frustrating week for the Florida Panthers.
Saturday’s 3-0 loss in Ottawa was the fourth in a row for the Panthers, which on its own, is troubling.
Taking a closer look at the defeats, it’s hard to say that Florida got outplayed in any of them.
Some perhaps more even than others, but the Panthers have been playing some solid hockey lately – despite missing several key contributors – and not getting much in terms of results.
Fortunately for the Cats, they’re right back at it on Sunday in Detroit.
Before we get to the Red Wings, here are Saturday’s takeaways:
LOTS TO LIKE
While the Panthers can be rightly unsatisfied with playing four games and only earning a single point in the standings, nobody is anywhere close to hitting the panic button.
The Panthers have been playing some sound hockey, and that’s both according to the underlying metrics and the eye test.
As long as this team continues to play the right way, with a aggreesive defensive mindset, it’s only logical that things will turn back in their favor.
“There would be a big chunk of our game that looks the way it's supposed to look, and I thought our gap was really good,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “Hunt backs were good, we were pretty direct to their net. We made a handful of small mistakes five-on-five but not many to worry about. So the game was played right.”
PROGRESS BEING MADE
Florida has also been working several new players into the swing of things.
Over the past few weeks, the Panthers have added players on both the front and back end in hopes of solidifying a roster worthy of another deep playoff run.
There are also players filling in due to various injuries, but that hasn’t stopped the newbies from picking things up on the fly, and doing so quite well.
On Saturday, Maurice pointed praise at a particular piece of the Cats’ defensive game that is not easy to master when the forwards and defensemen aren’t used to playing with each other.
When it comes to playing a tight gap game, the forwards and defensemen have to be on the same page.
“We were good in the areas that we're trying to be good at tonight,” said Maurice. “Those defensemen, even if they haven't been with us this year, they’re starting to get the gap right. The forwards are starting to allow it, by the way they're working. So we're good.”
LOOKING AT DIFFERENT OPTIONS
Something we saw Maurice do last season in the weeks before the playoffs began was try out a bunch of different forward combinations.
Evan Rodrigues and Vladimir Tarasenko seemed to be on a different group nearly every game down the stretch, as Maurice and his staff gauged how each player performed and tried to find the perfect combinations.
Two of the new-look lines Maurice pointed to on Saturday were Brad Marchand’s addition to the Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen pairing and the high-energy fourth line of Tomas Nosek centering A.J. Greer and Jonah Gadjovich.
“Nosek’s line was fantastic tonight,” Maurice said. “Physical, on the puck, had a lot of action around the net. And I think Brad Marchand and (Anton) Lundell and (Eetu Luostarinen) will get a little action. They were good on the other side of the puck.”
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