Aleksander Barkov’s message to Florida Panthers after back-to-back shutout losses
The Florida Panthers enter their Saturday night road game against the Edmonton Oilers on the heels of back-to-back shutout losses — the first time the Panthers had been held without a goal in consecutive games in 12 years.
So as the Panthers try to avoid letting this skid spiral, their captain has a message to the team.
“Just don’t get frustrated,” center Aleksander Barkov said after the team’s 4-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, which followed a 4-0 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. “We know this road trip is tough. It’s on the other side of America, so we’ve got to stick with it. We’ve got to play our game. We’re going to battle harder. It’s not going to be easy at all. We’ve just got to find a way.”
In the two shutout losses, the Panthers failed to score a goal despite producing 127 combined shot attempts — 61 against Seattle, 66 against Vancouver. However, less than half of those shot attempts — 60 of 127 — landed on goal. Of the other 67, 33 shots were blocked and 34 missed the net either wide or high.
Florida also only generated one shot off a rush attempt and 12 rebound attempts in the two games.
Only five players have at least five combined shots on goal over the two games: Defenseman Gustav Forsling (nine) and forwards Carter Verhaeghe (eight), Barkov (seven), Sam Reinhart (five) and Nick Cousins (five).
“The last two games, we obviously haven’t scored one goal,” Barkov said. “We’re putting enough pucks at the net. We have to find a way to battle for those second, third and even fourth chances.”
Aaron Ekblad out
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who left Thursday’s game against Edmonton in the third period due to a lower-body injury, will not play against Edmonton, with Panthers coach Paul Maurice saying the decision is out of precaution.
Josh Mahura will draw into the lineup for the first time since Nov. 16 as a result.
This comes after the Panthers made a pair of roster moves over the past 36 hours. They sent defenseman Uvis Balinskis to the Charlotte Checkers, their American Hockey League affiliate, on Friday and recalled forward Will Lockwook Saturday morning.
Lockwood is drawing into the lineup with both Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich sidelined due to illness.
Lockwood was on the Panthers’ fourth line during the team’s morning skate with Ryan Lomberg on the left wing and Steven Lorentz at center. Kevin Stenlund filled Lundell’s third-line center spot with Eetu Luostarinen and Nick Cousins on the wings.
Checking in on Spencer Knight
Goaltender Spencer Knight on Friday posted his second shutout of the season in Charlotte, stopping all 23 shots he faced in a 3-0 win over the Bridgeport Islanders.
In 13 starts this season for the Checkers, Knight is 8-4-1 with a .905 save percentage and 2.40 goals against average.
“Knighter is growing his game like all the guys are,” Checkers coach Geordie Kinnear said. “You’ve got to get starts, you’ve got to be in there, you’ve got to practice hard and then you get rewarded for it.”
As for some of the Panthers’ other key prospects in the AHL: Defenseman Lucas Carlsson leads the Checkers in goals (eight), assists (12) and points (20), Mackie Samoskevich has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 20 games, and Justin Sourdif has 10 points (three goals, seven assists).
This and that
▪ During the two shutout losses, only three players were not on the ice for any of the eight goals given up: Lundell, Forsling and forward Evan Rodrigues.
▪ The Panthers’ still-struggling power play is 0 for 6 over the past two games and is now converting on just 17.6 percent of its chances this season, which ranks 20th out of 32 teams.
▪ Matthew Tkachuk has just three points (two goals, one assist) over the past 14 games and is averaging just 3.1 shots per game in that span. He has only had five shots on goal or more in three of those 14 games.
This story was originally published December 16, 2023 at 1:04 PM.
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