Florida Panthers Back Home After Pretty Good Road Trip

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice says he does not believe in the word ‘momentum.’

Once the puck drops, Maurice says, what happened the game before is not relevant.

The Panthers ended up going 2-2 on their California/Vegas roadtrip which was certainly not overwhelming.

Considering the list of Panthers on the injured list, recovering from an ugly 7-3 loss in Anaheim to start things off must be considered commendable.

The Panthers played closer to their style in a decisive win in Los Angeles, did everything but win in San Jose, then pulled out a gritty 3-2 win Monday in Vegas despite being outshot 32-20.

In the losing effort in San Jose, the Panthers fired 39 shots at super-hot goalie Yaroslav Askarov but could only get one puck past him. Florida backup Daniil Tarasov was impressive, stopping 20 of 22 shots.

“I think we’ve been good in our last three. Really good,’’ Maurice said after the Vegas win. “Even if you’ve won some games in the past, you have to fight for your confidence. So now, [with the] style of game and energy level, you can bring that back home and feel really good about your last three.”

Florida got some bad news on the injury front while away as well.

As if Matthew Tkachuk, Sasha Barkov, Dmitry Kulikov, and Tomas Nosek being out long term isn’t enough, on Saturday, the Panthers announced that Jonah Gadjovich, who was injured in the home win over Vegas on Oct. 25, will be out three months after needing surgery.

With fourth-liners Nosek and Gadjovich out, Luke Kunin, Cole Schwindt, and Noah Gregor, timely depth acquisitions, were able to see action.

The Panthers will miss Gadjovich’s pugilistic readiness.

Another depth acquisition who shows signs of being a major contributor is newcomer Donovan Sebrango, who played a total of four NHL games with Ottawa prior to joining the Panthers.

It’s too early to compare him with Gus Forsling as a waiver pickup gem, but in the five games he played with the Panthers, Sebrango he is a very noticeable plus-5.

Against Vegas he got two assists, his first NHL points.

Sebrango is another under-the-radar acquisition by Bill Zito and his front office.

With Kuilikov out long term and the third defensive pairing of Uvis Balinskis and Jeff Petry showing weak spots, Zito again needed low-priced, under-appreciated talent.

Sebrango can also drop the gloves when needed.

“I think he’s played the same game and that’s a really impressive thing because he doesn’t have a lot of NHL experience,’’ Maurice said. “He’s still a young man but he has been very, very consistent in his style of game and what we expect from him and that is highly unusual in a young player.

“We play a different game than he’s been experiencing so we’re really impressed with his composure in the game, and we like his bite. He didn’t wait a long time for the first fight. We like that a lot.”

The Panthers play 11 of the next 12 at home starting with Washington on Thursday night.

The Capitals, like Florida, are struggling a bit after finishing atop the Eastern Conference last season.

Alex Ovechkin has but three goals, but he’s still Ovechkin.

Logan Thompson leads all No. 1 goaltenders with a 1.61 GAA.

The Capitals (8-7-1) beat the host Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday and have won three straight.

The Panthers, also 8-7-1, were swept in their three games with the Caps last season.

Thursday should be fun.

ON DECK: GAME No. 17

WASHINGTON CAPITALS at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season — At Washington: Jan. 17. At Florida: Thursday; Dec. 29. 
• Last Season: Capitals won 3-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Washington leads 69-48-13, 9 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 5 p.m.