Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers Late Loss ‘Heartbreaking.’ Marchand Hurt, Too
Thursday was not the best of nights for the Florida Panthers.
Not by a long shot.
Niko Mikkola was hit with a late penalty for goalie interference giving the St. Louis Blues a power play in a tied game.
The Panthers killed off 40 seconds of the Blues’ 4-on-3 advantage.
They also came within 8.4 seconds of at least forcing overtime and getting a point out a game they once trailed by a pair of goals.
But, alas.
Jimmy Snuggerud scored off a one-timer from the left circle with those 8.4 seconds left on the clock, his power-play goal giving the Blues a 5-4 win and sending the Panthers home with a second straight loss.
“It’s heartbreaking,’’ Paul Maurice said. “You fight and you get back into it, and you get so close to killing it off. Great blocks, great battles. That’s a tough one.”
Said Sam Reinhart: “Tough one to swallow. We will obviously take a look at it, but disappointed right now.’’
To add insult to the loss, the Panthers also played the third period without Brad Marchand.
Marchand had missed seven straight games with an undisclosed lower body injury before returning Saturday in Minnesota.
Maurice did not offer an update on Marchand, saying only that he would be evaluated.
The Panthers play host to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon.
They certainly could use a win.
The Panthers had closed the gap in the playoff race to three points after winning their third straight Sunday in Chicago.
Today, Florida is eight points behind Buffalo, Montreal, and Boston for a playoff spot with a game in hand on the Canadiens, two on the Bruins.
Losing to a St. Louis team which had lost five straight has to sting a little bit.
Florida took a 1-0 lead on a goal by A.J. Greer, but then trailed 2-1.
Reinhart scored on the power play in the first to tie the score — but the Blues scored the next two and held a 4-2 lead 41 seconds into the second.
“We did some things we don’t do in the first period and gave them some really good chances,” Maurice said. “After that, I liked a lot of what we did. I liked our game.”
Matthew Tkachuk continued to torment his hometown team, scoring his first two goals of the season within a span of 1:47 to tie the score going into the third.
It remained 4-4 all the way until the end of regulation.
That’s when Mikkola appeared to be nudged into goalie Joel Hofer by St. Louis’ Jonatan Berggren during 4-on-4.
The Blues came hard at the Panthers and simply wore them down, Snuggerud blistering a shot while wide open from the circle.
“Some tired guys on the ice,” he said. “It was a great play.”
The Panthers now have four games left before the Olympic break with three of them on home ice starting Saturday.
They need to make up some ground beforehand.
“Urgency is high,’’ Reinhart said. “You’re going to need these and these next couple of games are as important as ever. It’s disappointing right now to let some points slip away. There’s nothing else to say about it, really.’’
ON DECK: GAME 54
WINNIPEG JETS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Saturday, 4 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: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Last season: Tied 1-1
- This season (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Saturday. At Winnipeg: Panthers 2, Jets 1 SO (Jan. 22).
- All-time regular season series: Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets lead 55-32-9, 5 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Monday vs. Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m.
