The Florida Panthers played a forgettable game on Tuesday night in front of their home fans, getting dropped 5-1 by the Minnesota Wild.
While the Wild have been no slouch this season – they’re 4-0-2 and have yet to trail in any game they’ve played – Florida knows they have more to show than what we saw Tuesday.
Now the Panthers will hit the road where they’ll play the next five games, not skating on home ice again until Nov. 7.
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The good thing about that, aside from Florida generally being an excellent road team that thrives when facing adversity, is that the Panthers are also expected to get back a couple of injured players in Sasha Barkov and Tomas Nosek while on the roadie.
But before we can get to all that, here are a few takeaways from the trouncing Florida took from Minnesota.
NEVER GOT TO THEIR GAME
The Panthers have earned themselves a solid reputation as a team that nobody wants to face.
They’re fast, they’re physical and they’re relentless.
That…wasn’t the case against the Wild on Tuesday.
Minnesota jumped all over the Panthers early and often, never allowing the Cats to get into their usual grinding groove.
“There is an emotional level you have to get to to play the way we play, or play well in an NHL game. We weren’t there,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “We had a pretty good idea what they were going to do and they looked the way they were supposed to, they played very well, but we weren’t anywhere near where we need to get to play at a consistent level.”
MO TAKES ALL THE BLAME
Considering the Panthers welcomed Matthew Tkachuk back in the lineup on Tuesday, coming off a five-game absence that Florida ended with points in four straight (3-0-1), it was more than a little surprising to see them lay an egg.
That’s no knock on Minnesota, who are clearly playing some very solid hockey right now, but the Panthers have proven over the past several seasons that they can skate with any team on any night in any building.
After a game like that, there are some coaches who will poo-poo all over their team’s effort. Other coaches, like Maurice, will often go a different route.
“It’s on me,” Maurice said. “That’s my job. I only really have one: Get your team ready to play. We weren’t ready to play, so we’ll figure that out.”
SPEAKING OF MAURICE
Before Tuesday’s game, there was some excellent news that made its way out of Sunrise and across the NHL world.
Florida announced they had signed Maurice, who was playing in the final year of his initial Panthers deal, to a new multi-year contract extension
In their first two years under Maurice, the Panthers shifted from a high-scoring rush team to a gritty, in-your-face defensive unit full of tough, elite players willing to do the dirty work.
The result?
A team built for playoff success.
Now we’ll see how long Maurice and the Cats can keep the good times rolling.
“Just thankful, and hopeful that the ink dried on that thing,” Maurice said. “It’s an honor, and I’m very thankful and appreciative to the Viola family, not just for their generosity, but really the investment they’ve made here over the years to have such an incredible program. I want to make sure…what’s that line (about being) born on third (base), I don’t brag about the triple I just hit. This is a really good program. When I showed up, really good people.”
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