Woe Is C: Flames Shut Out Panthers as Offense Struggles Again

It looks like the Florida Panthers left their scoring at customs when they crossed over into Canada as their cold streak continued Saturday night against the Calgary Flames.

Either that, or they simply forgot to pack correctly.

After being shutout Thursday in Vancouver, the Panthers struggled to get anything past Dustin Wolf in a 3-0 loss to the Flames.

Before flying west for this five-game road trip, the Panthers had averaged a touch over five goals per game in their previous six.

Tuesday, the Panthers were held to a single goal in a 2-1 shootout win against the Kraken.

Florida has now gone 2 hours 26:01 without scoring.

Saturday, the Flames took a 1-0 lead on a slick move from Nazem Kadri on Spencer Knight after Dmitry Kulikov turned over the puck.

Kulikov also was part of a turnover late in the second, one in which Blake Coleman scored to make it 2-0.

Calgary, coming off an 8-3 home loss to the Lightning on Thursday night, had a goal taken off the board earlier in the second when Mikael Backlund kicked the puck past Knight.

In the third, Backlund used his stick to fly one over Knight’s glove to make it 3-0.

Florida had a few scoring chances of their own — including a pair of posts hit by Aaron Ekblad and a third-period breakaway from Sam Bennett that Wolf stopped.

Wolf made 31 saves in the win; Knight made 24.

— The Panthers played without captain Sasha Barkov due to illness. Barkov scored Florida’s previous goal with 1:01 left in the second period Tuesday night in Seattle.

— Florida has not won in Calgary since 2018 when Bob Boughner was in his first season as Panthers coach.

HOW THEY SCORED

• Flames 1, Panthers 0 (8:57 1st): Dmitry Kulikov’s turnover deep in the Florida zone leads to a slick goal from Nazem Kadri.
• Flames 2, Panthers 0 (19:05 2nd): The Panthers give up the puck in the neutral zone and Blake Coleman scores off the rush, slicing a wrist shot past Spencer Knight from the left circle.
• Flames 3, Panthers 0 (6:17 3rd): Mikael Backlund had one goal taken off the board for playing footy with the puck, but he got one back with a wrist shot to put this one on ice.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Dustin Wolf, Calgary
• 2. Nazem Kadri, Calgary
• 3. Mikael Backlund, Calgary

ON DECK: GAME 32

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT EDMONTON OILERS 

• When: Monday, 8:30 p.m.
• Where: Rogers Place; Edmonton, Alberta
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season — At Florida: Feb. 27. At Edmonton: Monday.
• Last Regular Season: Florida Won 2-0
• Last Postseason: Florida Won Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-16-0, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting
• Up Next for the Panthers: Wednesday at Minnesota Wild, 9:30 p.m. (TNT)