There are plenty of desperate teams in the NHL right now. The Florida Panthers are not one of them.
Those teams playing for their postseason lives are easy to spot.
The Panthers, at this time last year, were one of them.
The momentum Florida built up in the seven games it took to get into the playoffs helped carry the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final.
‘Desperate hockey’ has not been needed by the Panthers this season.
It could be now.
Only it is hard to fake desperation.
The Panthers have been near the top of the NHL for most of the season.
Along the way, they ran off some notable stretches of solid play.
There was the franchise record 11-game road win streak. Despite back-to-back losses in Toronto and Montreal, the Panthers are still tied with Dallas (25) for the most road wins this season.
Then there was the remarkable stretch of 14 games during which they relinquished no more than two goals per game.
Sam Reinhart’s hot hand and the calendar year 2024 hot streak of Matthew
Tkachuk kept the team in the mix for the top spot and earned them the reputation of one of the least hospitable teams to play against.
If the team doesn’t get out of its current funk, this will go for naught.
The Panthers have won two of its past ten games and relinquished four or more goals in six.
During that span, they averaged a whopping 3.70 goals per game, have a 6.7 percent success rate on the power play (last in the NHL), and have an 83.7 percent penalty kill rate.
By comparison, from when the hot streak started on December 23 to when it ended on March 12 the team was an impressive 27-5-2 and averaged only 2.09 goals against per game.
The power play was a league-leading 35.0 percent, and the penalty kill was 81.2 percent.
Annoying injuries have taken their toll.
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