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Paul Maurice Frustrated with the Florida Panthers Tough Schedule

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Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice, pictured here on Nov. 25, was not all that pleased after his team lost in Las Vegas on Sunday, less than 24 hours after they took the ice in San Jose. Sunday was Florida’s eighth of 13 back-to-back games this season. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not seem to be in the mood to be reminded that after Sunday’s loss in Las Vegas, his team’s schedule starts to loosen up a bit.



Sunday’s game, after all, was their last west of the Rockies this season with Florida leaving its time zone for games in St. Louis and Nashville.

The Panthers went 2-2 on their final west coast swing of the regular season.

“I’m glad it’s over,’’ he said. “We go .500 and we’re not going to brag about that. But we’ve been .500 for a month. But we’ve just played 16 road games and went back-to-back, a challenge we’re going to deal with the rest of the year. We want to keep these games tight, and, for the most part, we were able to do that.’’

Still, Maurice was not all that thrilled after his team played its eighth set of back-to-backs with five more on the way.

Including this coming weekend.

That’s three sets of back-to-back games in a span of less than two weeks.

“Get this team home, get them a bit of rest,’’ Maurice said with plenty of sarcasm.

“Hell, we don’t play back-to-back games for two games. That’s awesome.”

The Panthers, according to DailyFaceoff.com, rank tied for 20th in the NHL with 13 sets of back-to-backs — two off Montreal’s league-leading 15.

Florida also only gets eight games against its opponent playing in the second half of a back-to-back (including the game in Finland where both the Panthers and Stars were in the same boat) which ranks 31st in the NHL.

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The Panthers’ travel of 51,000 miles this season also ranks 31st — giving them the toughest schedule in the league when those three factors are put together.

Winnipeg, for instance, only plays six back-to-backs; Columbus gets 18 opponents on the second night of a back-to-back.

That said, the Panthers did not look tired nor out of gas on Sunday as they kept after the Golden Knights throughout.

Florida trailed 2-0 after two periods despite dominating play for large stretches of the game, cut it to 2-1 on Anton Lundell’s goal before the Golden Knights pulled out a 4-1 win thanks to a breakaway goal from Jack Eichel and a Tomas Hertl empty-netter.

It was obvious both Maurice and the Panthers wanted this one.

It just was not their night.

“There was a lot to like about the game, it got away from us in the third and we were chasing it a little bit,” Maurice said. “We came out right … our hands just weren’t really working for us too well. But they tried to compete. I thought when Lundell scored his goal, we were back in the game a little bit. It just didn’t happen for us.’’

Florida does open a three-game homestand this week, starting with Los Angeles on Wednesday.

On Saturday afternoon, the Panthers play host to the Blackhawks — then play the Islanders on Sunday.

Yippee, apparently.

With the NHL shutting down for a couple of weeks to hold the 4 Nations Face-Off, all teams are playing a compressed schedule.

”You have to be real careful in assessing your team after a loss on a back-to-back because you’re always angry when you lose,’’ Maurice said. “You always want more; sometimes they don’t have it to give you because you have to play hard to win the first one. I was just grinding my teeth a little bit. I’ll watch [the game] tomorrow.’’

The Panthers have, for the most part, survived the most challenging aspects of it although it is by no means a walk through the Brian Piccolo Park.

With 31 games left, Tankathon.com ranks the Panthers with the 10th easiest strength of schedule with their opponents currently holding a .545 winning percentage.

Detroit, fighting for its playoff life, has the toughest at .585.

The Panthers will come home a point back of Toronto for first place in the Atlantic Division with a five-point lead on Ottawa for third.

The Senators and Maple Leafs do have a game in hand on the Panthers.

Three teams — Detroit, Buffalo, and Boston — have a tougher schedule left than Florida does per Tankathon, but the Panthers are the only team in the Atlantic who are done playing Carolina.

Montreal and Toronto (which has the easiest schedule in the division) are the only Atlantic teams who are done with Washington.

And, of Florida’s 31 games left, 17 are at home.

Of course, the longest roadie of the season, six games from March 11-22, is still to come.

That trip goes up the east coast and offers the team a chance to come home in the middle of it if they choose.

So, things could be better for the Panthers — but they could be worse.

Unless the bottom falls out, Florida is primed to make the playoffs for the fifth straight season and sixth if you count the expanded Covid-bubble thing.

Before this road trip, Florida was 5-1 on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Panthers are now 5-3.

ON DECK: GAME No. 52
LOS ANGELES KINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERS

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