Florida Panthers Have Not Looked Like Themselves Much Lately

The Florida Panthers are in a rut right now.

Ever since they got beat by the New Jersey Devils last Tuesday, the defending Stanley Cup champions have appeared to lose a little bit of their mojo.

Now, sure, Florida did smoke the top team in the NHL when it trashed Winnipeg 5-0 last Saturday night.

But that game is the lone highlight of a 1-4-0 stretch which now has them in second place in the Atlantic Division behind the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It certainly is not the end of the world, and, is not really cause for too great a concern.

The Panthers went through a few of these stretches over the past couple of seasons. Every team does.

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They just have not looked much like themselves much lately save for stretches against the Jets — including Tuesday’s loss in Winnipeg.

The style the Panthers play is a tough one and you cannot fake it.

The Panthers just seem to be in a little lull right now.

Coach Paul Maurice and his staff are going to try and pull them out of it but it starts with the players.

“For what we need to do, we were late and behind the puck and not on top of it,” Maurice said after Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks. “We had a bunch of chances to score, and I don’t care about those. We didn’t give up a lot, either.

“But in terms of how we are supposed to look? We’re not there. There is a defined way that we play, and we are not at it right now.”

On Thursday night in Chicago, the Panthers were down a goal for much of the game yet a comeback did not feel like it was coming despite the slim deficit.

Florida did not start on the right foot, and Chicago did a nice job of keeping the Panthers off the puck and bottling them up through the neutral zone.

Although the Panthers have been known for their comebacks the past few years, we have not seen one this season.

Florida is now 0-7-0 when trailing coming into the third period.

Even against the worst team in the NHL as Chicago was coming into the game.

The Panthers have lost three straight in Chicago despite icing the better team in all three.

Thursday should have been the one that ended that Windy City Slide, only the Panthers found themselves down 2-0 off a couple of defensive lapses before Sam Reinhart struck again for his NHL-leading 15th goal of the season.

Florida kept the puck for a lot of the game — Sasha Barkov winning 15 of 17 faceoffs certainly helped — but could not find the equalizer.

“We need to be ready when the puck drops,” Gus Forsling said. “We made some simple mistakes and it cost us a little bit. We came back and played a little better. But we need to get back to our game.”

ON DECK: GAME 21

COLORADO AVALANCHE AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
• 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
• Last Season: Panthers Won 2-0
• This Season — At Colorado: Jan. 6. At Florida: Saturday.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Colorado leads 27-14-5, 3 ties
• Postseason Series: Colorado d. Florida 4-0, 1996 Stanley Cup Final
• Up Next for the Panthers: Monday vs. Washington Capitals, 7 p.m.