Three storylines to follow as Florida Panthers host Ottawa Senators before West Coast trip
.JPG "Florida Panthers’ Josh Mahura, right, skates away from Philadelphia Flyers’ Scott Laughton during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, in Philadelphia.")
Paul Maurice continues to express confidence in his Florida Panthers team even if the results haven’t quite been there recently.
The Panthers have dropped three of their past four games, including both games on their previous road trip in regulation, after winning three of their first four games to start the season.
Maurice has said multiple times heading into the season that it takes about two months to truly understand how the players will perform in his system, one he hopes will get them prepared to compete in playoff-style games well before the postseason begins.
“Everybody’s trying to add something to the game and trying to get better,” Maurice said, adding that the team’s first two periods in their 4-2 road loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday were the only two that he hasn’t liked in terms of the team’s effort.
He’ll get his next chance to evaluate his team Saturday when the Panthers (4-3-1) host the Ottawa Senators (4-3-0) at 4 p.m. before heading to the West Coast for four games.
Here are three storylines heading into Saturday’s game.
Can chances turn into goals?
The Panthers enter Friday leading the NHL in total shot attempts (577) and scoring chances (323) while ranked tied for fourth in high-danger chances (117) but have scored just 19 goals this season.
Their 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday exemplified one of those nights where a plethora of chances failed to convert into goals. The Panthers tallied 51 shots on goal and 104 total shot attempts — the most they’ve ever recorded since the advanced hockey statistics website NaturalStatTrick began tracking in 2007-08 — and only scored three goals, all by defensemen.
The Flyers, meanwhile, scored four goals on 22 shots on goal.
Generating that type of pressure in a loss should be an anomaly but it’s one the Panthers are planning to learn from.
“Everybody was on the puck,” Maurice said. “We’re trying to build a game that we can play consistently and that one was as close to the game that we want to play.”
Tkachuk vs Tkachuk, Round 1
A subplot brewing Saturday features the battle between Florida’s All-Star winger Matthew Tkachuk and his younger brother Brady, a top-line forward and captain for Ottawa.
The sons of 18-year NHL veteran Keith Tkachuk and a pair of top-10 picks (Matthew No. 6 overall in 2016 by Calgary, Brady No. 4 overall in 2018 by Ottawa) both have arguably been the best players for their respective teams. Each has logged 10 points heading into the matchup. Matthew leads Florida with four goals and six assists, while Brady’s five goals are tied for the Senators’ team lead.
Saturday will be the 14th time Matthew and Brady will face off in regular-season games, with the other 13 coming when Matthew was with the Calgary Flames.
Matthew’s team has won seven of the 13 matchups, and the elder brother has logged 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in those 13 games. Brady has three goals and three assists in those contests.
As division rivals, they will face each other two more times this season but not until the tail end of the season. Florida travels to Ottawa on March 27 and the Senators will make a second trip to Sunrise on April 6.
A long road ahead
After Saturday, the Panthers will spend a week on the West Coast, facing the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday, San Jose Sharks on Thursday, Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 5 and Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 6.
Those four teams enter Friday a combined 10-21-1, so the Panthers have an opportunity to pick up some wins and momentum.
Heading into that trip with some momentum over a possible three-game losing streak would be ideal as well.
“Obviously this last road trip didn’t go how we wanted,” defenseman Josh Mahura said. “We did some good things the second game [against the Flyers] but regardless didn’t get any points out of it. To get some momentum back before this road trip would be huge for us.”
.JPG)