Florida Panthers Need to Regain Momentum Against Winnipeg

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers could not have picked a worse time for a cold spell as it comes just before playing a back-to-back set against the Winnipeg Jets which just happens to be the hottest team in the NHL.

Perhaps the Panthers finally had a post-Finland hangover, or perhaps they became complacent after their seven-game win streak. 

Or, they faced a strong New Jersey team that played well against them.

With a new coach, Sheldon Keefe, and key new acquisitions such as goalie Jacob Markstrom, the Devils are much improved from their disappointing non-playoff season last year.

Hockey is all about numbers, and Florida’s were horrendous in their back-to-back losses against the Devils. 

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Spencer Knight and Sergei Bobrovsky allowed a combined total of eight goals on 51 shots on goal.

If you do the math, that’s a .843 save percentage.

In fairness, goalies can hardly be blamed for defensive lapses, of which there were more than a few.

Before the two-game set, the Panthers were clicking at 25 percent on the power play (seventh in the NHL) and 86.7 percent on the penalty kill (fifth).

By going 0-for-5 on the power play Thursday and an anemic 2-for-5 on the penalty kill, their league rankings dropped to eight on the power play and 11th on the kill. 

To add insult to injury, the Panthers gave up a shorthanded goal as well — although that was into an empty net with Bobrosky pulled for the extra attacker. 

Jesper Bratt picked up a loose puck and put it down the ice for his second NHL hat trick. 

Earlier in the period, Bratt also benefited from sloppy play, intercepting a pass and scoring an unassisted goal.

“There were probably six or seven hard puck battles when they could have cleared the puck and we keep the puck in the zone,” Bratt said. “An unbelievable job of winning some hard puck battles.”

Hopefully, coach Paul Maurice did not hear that quote because his mantra has always been to win those hard battles, especially along the wall.

The entire New Jersey episode is not what the Panthers want to think about as they face the high-flying Jets, who lead the NHL with a very impressive 38 percent success rate on the power play. 

Veteran Kyle Connor, on a career-season pace, leads the Jets with four power-play goals.

The line of Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Gabriel Vilardi have a combined 27 goals after 17 games.

Neal Pionk is second only to Cale Makar in scoring by a defenseman.

Fortunately, hockey players are trained to forget their errors and move forward quickly.

One only has to go back to last season for a prime example.

On January 19, the Panthers gave up five power-play goals to Minnesota to lose their fourth consecutive game.

Bobrovsky gave up four goals on 15 shots before being relieved by Anthony Stolarz.

They followed that debacle by winning 10 of the  next 11.

Everyone knows what happened after that.

ON DECK: GAME 18

WINNIPEG JETS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Saturday, 7 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: Winnipeg won 2-0
• This season — At Florida: Saturday. At Winnipeg: Tuesday.
• All-time regular season series: Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets lead 54-31-8, 5 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at Winnipeg Jets, 8 p.m. ET