Sometimes all it takes to break out of a scoring drought is a reminder.

A reminder that good shots don't always carom off the post or the goalie's blocker. Or that it doesn't take a perfect shot to find the red light.

``You get a lucky one, center Steve Reinprecht said, ``and all of a sudden you get a little confident.''

Right now, the Panthers are playing with as much offensive swagger as they have displayed all season.

Buoyed by nine goals in a two-game swing through Dallas and St. Louis, the Panthers return home Wednesday night to face slumping Carolina, renewed in the notion that bounces do go both ways.

``This game is so emotional; so much of it is confidence,'' coach Pete DeBoer said after Tuesday's practice in Coral Springs. ``It's important that we got rewarded -- for the guys to understand that if we do things right, eventually it's going to pay off. Hopefully we can build on that.''

Consider that Florida's nine-goal flurry represents 28 percent of its season total through 12 games. Until last week's trip, the Panthers had just two games in which they scored more than three goals.

Now they have doubled that total.

``Hopefully we got a little momentum,'' Reinprecht said. ``We did a lot of things right and we need to keep doing things right.''

Reinprecht has been at the hub of the outburst. Making a stronger effort to park himself in front of the net, he has four goals and an assist in the past three games. Linemate Nathan Horton has assisted on all four goals.

``It wasn't really anything flashy,'' said Reinprecht, who had a first-period hat trick in Dallas. ``Guys were getting shots through, and rebounds were popping right out onto my stick. They were tough to miss, really.''

DeBoer, though, was quick to point out that Reinprecht put himself into position to pounce on those rebounds.

``It's a tough spot to stand,'' DeBoer said. ``You're going to take some hacks and whacks. The message from us all the time is if you get to that area, you're going to get rewarded. Ryno is a great example of that.''

HURRICANE FRONT

How bad is the funk hanging over Carolina for its visit to the BankAtlantic Center? Not only did the Hurricanes' losing streak reach nine with Sunday's 5-1 loss to San Jose, but they've been outscored 16-4 in their past three.

Worse, center Eric Staal figures to miss the next few games with an unspecified upper-body injury that kept him out of Sunday's final period. That ends a streak of 349 consecutive games dating to his rookie season.

All of which prompts DeBoer to preach wariness.

``I have no doubt we're going to see Carolina's best game. These streaks all end at some point,'' the coach said.

``I'd almost rather see a team coming in here on a nine-game winning streak instead of a nine-game losing streak. I know that sounds odd, but I really believe that. I think we're going to see a Game 7, Stanley Cup Final-type performance out of Carolina.''

Carolina has used the Panthers as a springboard to break slumps before. In 2001, the Hurricanes used a three-goal comeback to snap a 2-6-3 slide and propel themselves to the division crown.

DVORAK NEAR?

Though Radek Dvorak (knee) almost certainly won't be available to face Carolina, another solid practice left DeBoer open to the possibility of getting the Czech winger back for at least part of this weekend's home-and-home against Washington.

Dominic Moore sat out another day of practice as he recovers from last Thursday's nasal surgery. David Booth, meanwhile, still isn't fully free from symptoms of the concussion he suffered 10 days ago at Philadelphia.

``We won't even start to do any physical activity until he's totally symptom-free,'' DeBoer said. ``But his symptoms are definitely diminished.''

ANNOUNCEMENT SET

The Panthers said they are making a ``major partnership announcement'' at the team's Sunrise arena at noon Friday. It is not known whether this relates to the franchise's ownership situation.

The team will hold a news conference outside the arena and then host a concert by rock band Cobra Starship. The concert is free and open to the public.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@