Panthers in a three-game funk: ‘It’s unacceptable,’ coach Joel Quenneville said.

Prior to Saturday night’s game against the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville moved Vincent Trocheck to the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau.

Quenneville also reinstated defenseman Mike Matheson after a one-game benching, and the coach moved Mark Pysyk from defense to forward.

Pysyk scored just his second goal of the season on Saturday, and Trocheck had an assist … but the Panthers still lost 4-2.

The Panthers trailed 3-0 before scoring the next two goals. But Boston’s empty-net goal with 2:10 left sealed Florida’s fate, and the Panthers have now lost three consecutive games, tying for their worst stretch of the season.

“It’s unacceptable,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. “In our last three games, you can take chunks out of it and say, ‘It’s not even close to being good enough,’ and we’re at home.”

Indeed, the Panthers are in the final stages of a nine-game homestand, the longest in franchise history. But Florida has not taken advantage, posting a 3-4-0 record so far in that span.

Here are some takeaways on the Panthers:

1: Forwards step back: In hockey shorthand, they are known as “Barky,, “Huby” and “Daddy.” But Barkov (no points), Huberdeau (one assist) and Evgenii Dadonov (one goal) have been quiet during this three-game skid.

In fact, the same thing can be said about all six of the Panthers’ top forwards as Frank Vatrano (no points), Brett Connolly (one assist) and Mike Hoffman (one goal, one assist) have stalled to various degrees.

Barkov was helped off the ice on Saturday night after he sustained a right-leg injury with 1:23 left in the game. But Quenneville said the injury was not serious.

Oddly, the only goal scored by a Panthers forward on Saturday came from Pysyk, who is normally a defenseman. Both of his goals this season have been scored when he was used at forward.

2: Hall Pass: Published reports have indicated the Panthers as one of a handful of teams in the mix to trade for New Jersey Devils star winger Taylor Hall.

The first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, Hall was the league MVP for the 2017-2018 season, when he posted 39 goals and 93 points.

Hall, 28, is set to become a free agent after this season, and he is not expected to re-sign with New Jersey. The Devils have held him out of the past two games, a signal that a trade could be imminent.

Other teams reportedly in the mix for Hall are the St. Louis Blues, Arizona Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche.

3: Home not sweet: The Panthers have just two home games left on this stand — Monday against the Ottawa Senators and Friday versus the Dallas Stars.

The Panthers, who are 3-7-0 in their past 10 games overall, won three of four contests from the rebuilding Senators last season.

This will be their first meeting this season, and Ottawa is coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

The Senators, just 3-6-1 in their past 10 games, will be looking for their first back-to-back victories since Nov. 19-22.

However, you can bet the Panthers will pay special attention to Senators winger Anthony Duclair, who had a hat trick against Columbus, including a power-play goal in overtime.

Duclair, 24, has eight goals in his past five games and a team-high 18 on the season.

This story was originally published December 15, 2019 at 4:13 PM.