Road Weary? Florida Panthers Coach Paul Maurice Says No

It would be easy to blame the Florida Panthers lack of energy in the third period Wednesday night to road legs.

The Panthers, after all, were on the second half of a back-to-back having flown across the country just two days prior.

This is also Florida’s second trip west of the Mississippi this month having just returned from games in Colorado and Utah a few weeks ago.

But coach Paul Maurice was not writing off the third period, one in which the Panthers were held to one shot on goal for much of it while the Kings scored twice, to road legs.

He gave full marks to the Kings for their 2-1 comeback win.

“We’ll always own our part,” Maurice said. “We came off our forecheck in the third, didn’t sustain much, and that put more pressure on the back-end net front. That would be the difference. We got halfway through the second period and put our foot on the gas. I thought we were a pretty good team in the second.”

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The Panthers have now lost two games this month in which they came into the third holding a lead.

Prior to the loss in Colorado on Jan. 6, Florida had not given up a game in the third since the 2022-23 season.

In both of those games, the Panthers had a 1-0 lead going into the third and allowed two in the third. Colorado got the empty-net goal the Kings could not.

Wednesday, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead when Evan Rodrigues camped on the left post and banged in a slick, no-look pass across the crease from Anton Lundell.

That was all Darcy Kuemper allowed.

Los Angeles broke Spencer Knight’s long shutout streak — he ended up going 2:31.06 without allowing a goal — when Tanner Jeannot poked at a loose puck in front of Knight and gave it enough of a push to allow Samuel Helenius to sweep it in for his first NHL goal.

With 6:48 left, the Kings took the lead for good when Adrian Kempe deflected a shot from Kevin Fiala.

“It was a big third,” Fiala said. “Down one, we didn’t have much. They didn’t give us much. We just kept grinding, shooting pucks to the net. It was like a playoff game out there, and I don’t think in the playoffs there’s too many nice plays to be made.’’

Not exactly a wide-open game, but the Kings did control the pace of play in the third and the Panthers did not put on a push until the final two minutes when Knight was on the bench.

The Panthers had just three shots on goal 5-on-5 in the period.

“We played a pretty good game, but in the third, they got a couple quick goals and we could not answer that,” Lundell said.

If the Panthers were a little worn down, it would be understandable — yet unaffordable.

Florida has already played seven back-to-backs (and are 5-2 in Game 2) and has six more left to go.

Including this weekend when the Panthers visit San Jose on Saturday, then go to Vegas on Sunday.

With a compressed schedule due to the break to the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off — and an even bigger shutdown next year for the Olympics — the Panthers better get used to it, if they are not already.

“We have been afforded the opportunity to play a highly-unique schedule this year,’’ Maurice said with a smirk. “We like the opportunity to stretch ourselves, learn and grow.”

ON DECK: GAME No. 50

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ SAN JOSE SHARKS

• When: Saturday, 10 p.m.
• Where: SAP Center; San Jose, Calif.
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• 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: Florida won 2-0
  
• This Season (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Panthers 3, Sharks 1 (Dec. 7). At San Jose: Saturday.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 24-13-1, 7 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at Vegas Golden Knights, 8 p.m.