Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers Success on Power Play Dries Up in Losing Streak
Pardon the crude analogy, but the Florida Panthers power play without the Barkov-Tkachuk-Reinhart bing-bang, pre-designed bumper play, is like a bagel without cream cheese; chips without salsa; pizza without pepperoni.
You get the point: Something important is missing.
After going 5-for-11 in the first three games (all home victories), Florida’s power play success rate was a whopping 41.7 percent, good for second place in the NHL.
The penalty kill was at 100 percent.
Now, the Panthers have lost four straight and the power play has gone silent.
During the losing streak, the Panthers are 1 for 19 (5.3 percent) which drops them to a much more average 19.4 percent for the season.
The PK for that period was an anemic 76.5 percent placing them at 83.3 percent and 11th place in the NHL.
The power play numbers stand out like a broken stick and need repair.
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Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk will not be back for a while, so coach Paul Maurice is resigned to going with what he has, tweaking his two power play units as needed.
Maurice knows his options are limited.
“None of our injuries are coming back so this is our team,’’ he said after the 3-0 loss to the Sabres on Saturday in Buffalo.
“There’s no point in thinking you’ll be better with the guys. This is the hockey team that we have, and we’ve got to find a way to get a little tighter in all our little areas and maybe a little heavier around the net. … Scratch and claw.”
Maurice has used several power play combinations as he often does, but things have not gotten better. At least not yet.
Mackie Samoskevich is now getting time on the first unit. Three defensemen — Seth Jones, Jeff Petry, and Aaron Ekblad — have all played QB at times.
On the positive side, despite the one-sided loss in Buffalo, the power play drought may be more of bad puck luck than lack of skill, according to Maurice.
“We put 15 shots on goal (on the power play Saturday), so we’ve got to get a little better, perhaps net-front,’’ Maurice said. “But you don’t get too many power play nights when you get 15 on goal. You still miss the net on a bunch. Got a bunch blocked.”
Maurice plans to give Anton Lundell a fair shot at the first unit.
“It’s a place that he believes that over time he would ascend to at some point,’’ Maurice said. “That’s where Barky is. He’s played it before, he wants it, he’s excited about it. Now we felt was our best option to move some people around. Change the units up a little bit.”
Maurice tried to find something positive about the thus far unsuccessful road trip.
“We’ve had one, two of these (losing streaks) each year,’’ he said. “You build more. You learn more when you lose than when you win.”
Sam Reinhart said after losing in Buffalo that there were areas the Panthers need to improve, the main one getting “to the hard areas to get some bounces, create some bounces our way. We’re just not doing enough of that now.”
He agreed with Maurice on the eventuality of adverse portions of the season.
“You’re always going to go through spurts like this,’’ Reinhart said. “It’s probably a little bit easier when it’s in February or March when you’ve got those points to rely on.”
Tonight, most of the focus will be on Brad Marchand’s return to Boston.
It would be poetic justice if a good performance by him helps break the losing streak.
He is, after all, on the new-look top power play unit QB’d by Jones.
ON DECK: GAME No. 8
FLORIDA PANTHERS at BOSTON BRUINS
- When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Boston Garden
- National TV: ESPN
- Streaming: ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- This Season — At Florida: Feb. 4; April 2. At Boston: Tuesday.
- Last Season: Tied 2-2
- All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 66-39-7, 6 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 7
