George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers took the longest flight of their season on Saturday, going across North America for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Kraken.
Paul Maurice said he did not think jet lag was going to be a problem — “we’re pretty good at long flights” — but something was certainly off.
Maurice even questioned his pregame speech.
“Clearly didn’t get the juices flowing,’’ Maurice said.
The Panthers were a mess on Sunday night and certainly appeared to leave their game in South Florida.
The Seattle Kraken may have the same points as the Panthers but are in the thick of a playoff race in the watered down Western Conference. The Kraken look like it wants that spot.
Seattle came out rolling Sunday, taking control of the game early before sliding into the final wild-card spot in the West with a 6-2 win.
The Panthers got their second goal with 2 seconds left after Eetu Luostarinen beat the buzzer.
“We’ve got to own it, deal with it. Because it was no good,” Maurice said. “The coach was lousy, the players were equal. So, we’ve got to be a better hockey team.’’
There was not much to say about the Panthers’ modest three-game winning streak coming to an end.
The Panthers are on the road for the next week, playing in Vancouver on Tuesday before starting their way back east with a stop in Alberta for the Edmonton/Calgary doubleheader starting on Thursday.
ON DECK: GAME 67
FLORIDA PANTHERS at VANCOUVER CANUCKS
- When: Tuesday, 10 p.m.
- Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
- Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Season Series (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Panthers 8, Canucks 5 (Nov. 17). At Vancouver: Tuesday.
- Last Season: Canucks Won 2-0.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Vancouver leads 21-14-4, 6 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday at Edmonton Oilers, 9 p.m.