Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers Running Into Trouble, Drop Third Straight in Sunrise
SUNRISE — Is it time for the Florida Panthers to panic?
Probably not.
But … maybe?
Things are certainly not going good right now for the beat-up, two-time defending Stanley Cup champs.
On Friday, for the second straight game, the Panthers jumped to an early lead.
They looked good. Real good.
In the end, things did not look good. At all.
After scoring two goals within the first 3 minutes of play, the Panthers gave up a pair of shots from the point — remember Wednesday against the Flyers? — and ended up losing 5-3 to the Calgary Flames.
Like the Flyers, Calgary may just be playing pretty well right now despite coming off a loss to the Lightning.
Maybe the Flames are better than their record.
We will see about all of that in the coming weeks and months.
But the Panthers appear to be giving up goals they cannot afford to allow, losing games they honestly should not be losing much less giving away.
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As things stand right now, the Panthers are three points out of the playoffs after losing three straight home games for the first time since March of 2024.
That team has a nice cushion and, well, did not have to worry about making the playoffs.
This one kind of does.
Everyone assumes the Panthers will straighten things out and make the postseason for a seventh straight season with or without all of their injured players coming back.
Yes, it’s early.
But it is not that early.
In this NHL, points come at a premium and the Panthers (12-11-1) are giving them away at a rapid rate.
Up 2-0 after Evan Rodrigues and Sam Bennett scored against a Flames team that gave up four in the first period Wednesday in Tampa, this one was over, right?
Wrong.
“We slowed down a bit after we got a little comfortable in the game,’’ Bennett said. “We were a little slow.’’
One thing the Panthers could hang their hat on was not putting losing streaks together.
They have not strung too many winning streaks together, but they were certainly keeping their heads above water.
With a vocal Black Friday crowd behind them and up 2-0, it looked like the Panthers were going to roll to a big win.
After all, they have bounced back after losses in a big way all season.
It just did not happen Friday.
“When you score two like that, you think you’re just going to generate all you want,’’ Paul Maurice said.
“When that doesn’t happen, some frustration comes into your game. We didn’t move the puck very easily, but the expectation that we should is not realistic.”
Yeah, the Panthers just figured the game would go their way as the first three minutes did.
The Flames had other ideas after Florida scored twice on Devin Cooley.
Cooley, who had to relieve Dustin Wolf on Wednesday in Tampa after he gave up three goals on four shots, ended up being money in Sunrise. He ended with 37 saves.
Florida, which had an amazing 40 attempted shots in the first period alone, saw 28 shots be blocked by a Calgary team that complete sold out in an effort to not only get their fourth win in five games, but do right by their beloved teammates who once played for the Panthers.
MacKenzie Weegar got his first goal of the season to tie the score at 2.
He was asked if scoring against the Panthers in Sunrise, like they say about football in the SEC, just meant more.
“I’m just happy to contribute to a win on the offensive side,” said Weegar, who was traded to the Flames as part of the blockbuster Matthew Tkachuk deal.
“Whether it was playing in Florida or back home in Calgary, I don’t really care. I’m just happy it came, you could say, at the right time.”
Weegar’s goal was the second in a 4-0 run by the Flames; down 4-2, the Panthers pulled Daniil Tarasov — who had, without a doubt, his worst start in his short term with Florida — and Brad Marchand brought the Panthers within a goal.
They never got closer.
The Panthers now have three days off before the Maple Leafs come to town on Tuesday.
Both teams, really, need a win.
“You’re going to take the chances that you have to recover,’’ Maurice said. “At the same time, we’ve got a whole bunch of stuff we’ve got to work on to get better. So, this will be a good chance for us to do that.”
ON DECK: GAME No. 24
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
- National Streaming: ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- 2025-26 Season Series — At Florida: Tuesday, Feb . 26. At Toronto: Jan. 6, April 11
- Last Regular Season: Panthers Won 3-1
- All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 51-40-7, 7 ties
- Last Postseason: Florida d. Toronto 4-3
- All-time Postseason (Panthers Lead 2-0): Panthers d. Toronto 4-1 (2023 ECS); Panthers d. Toronto 4-3 (2025 ECS)
- Up Next: Thursday vs. Nashville Predators, 7
“We need to work on some things to get better”? You mean after two straight championships you have to “work on some things”? Are you implementing a new system? If not then what is there to “learn”? Here’s a concept, stop giving up 2-goal leads and play for 60 minutes. You’re welcome.
Way to go, Johnny! One would be hard pressed to find it a better example of the word sardonic anywhere. You have very well expressed the level of frustration. A lot of us are feeling after the last two games. Actually I think POMO would be better served UNdoing a couple of things: so many new guys are still trying to adjust to the guys they’re playing with with almost 0 time to do it. I don’t think it helps when we start switching up linemates so quickly after we start having a little difficulty… And whatever happened to the… Read more »
Still can’t read the whole mailbag article. Not sure why or if I’m the only one. Asks to log in which I obviously am. George, can you please repost it or fix? As far as the Cats, take Mcdavid and Draisaitl away from Edmonton, or Makar and McKinnon from Coloroda and let’s see how competitive they would be. In one sense, it is miraculous that the Panthers are in form where they are dominating games for long stretches with the cast they have. That’s coaching and systems. The breakdowns, especially in net are an issue and coming to the surface… Read more »