After dropping five of past six games, what the Panthers are focusing on to break out of rut
Paul Maurice hasn’t been able to pinpoint one specific thing that has led to the Florida Panthers’ recent slide.
Florida (12-8-1) entered its home game against the Washington Capitals on Monday having lost three straight games and five of its past six and has given up 26 goals in the five defeats.
But if the team wants to get back to form, the veteran head coach said it starts with the basics.
“We can move together better. That would be the more general idea of what we’re doing. We haven’t moved the puck particularly well,” Maurice said. “We’re not a seam team or a seven-pass team on the way up the ice. At the same time, how you move the puck from one end to the other affects your zone time, your opportunities and affects where the battles end up. ... I’m not looking for us to change what we do. Our execution has been off a little bit. It’s a little bit like saying, when a guy doesn’t have confidence, you’ve got to give a guy to confidence or when a guy doesn’t have hands, you can’t give him any hands, but we can move some people around him to make the percentage of play completion get a little bit better.”
The Panthers attribute some of it to the nature of the season. Teams go through peaks and valleys over an 82-game season.
There’s also the uptick in competition. Five of the Panthers’ games over the six-game stretch were against playoff-caliber teams — two apiece against the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets and one against the Colorado Avalanche (although one of the losses did come to the Chicago Blackhawks).
There’s pressure in trying to uphold the standard of being the defending Stanley Cup champions and knowing they’re getting the opposing team’s best shot each time they take the ice.
“It’s just a matter of execution right now,” Bennett said, “and then, when things aren’t going our way, we try to do a little bit too much and sometimes, when you do too much, that’s the worst thing that you can do. We really just have to simplify our game, get back to the basics that we do the best, which is for checking, getting on pucks, being physical, and go from there.”
Added star winger Matthew Tkachuk: “There shouldn’t be any waiting around anymore. You have to commit to doing it. It’s not an easy style; it’s hard to do for 82-plus, but that’s what makes us successful. And when we get back to playing that way, that’s when we are going to have success. ... We have to get back to that or else it will be more of the same.”
Sam Reinhart’s heater continues
Star Florida forward Sam Reinhart entered Monday riding a 13-game point streak, which matches his longest stretch from last season and is four shy of the Panthers franchise record of 17 consecutive games with a point set by Mike Hoffman in the 2018-19 season.
During this stretch, Reinhart has scored 11 goals and chipped in eight assists.
“He’s so smart,” Maurice said. “I play him number one minutes. He plays in the power play. He’s first off the bench on the penalty kill. ... If he gets behind it in terms of the energy level, he can still produce. He just thinks his way around the game a little different. He picks his spots a little bit more. Instead of maybe trying to finish every check, get to the ones you can get to. You leave the other ones. He’s just so smart. Finds the hole. And I think there’s a confidence that’s grown over the last two or three years when it’s on his stick. He’s a shooter, and he’s been very good.”
The week ahead
The Panthers’ game against Washington on Monday is the first of a four-game week. The slate continues Wednesday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m., Scripps) and then Friday and Saturday with a back-to-back against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Friday game is in Raleigh (3 p.m., Scripps) and the Saturday game is in Sunrise (4 p.m., Scripps).
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