Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Overtime losses mounting
When Florida Panthers general manager Tom Rowe was asked to be head coach after the firing of Gerard Gallant last month, he knew he’d have to work overtime. But this is ridiculous. Since Rowe has taken over on Nov. 27, the Panthers have played 15 games, and nine of them went past regulation. Unfortunately for Rowe, the Panthers have only walked away with a two-point win in just two of those games (2-7). That includes a 1-3 mark in the fiveminute overtime and 1-4 in shootouts.
Under Gallant, the Panthers had a sterling overtime record, going 4-0 in the five-minute session and 2-1 in shootouts.
Injuries to five of their top seven forwards, including most recently Reilly Smith (concussion) and Aleksander Barkov, who’s out for the next 2-3 weeks, and blossoming defenseman Alex Petrovic haven’t helped. Also, the implementation of Rowe’s new zone defensive system to basically five blue-liners who didn’t play together last season, have contributed to blown leads and inability to finish off opponents.
In a glass-full outlook, at 15-14-8 the Panthers have earned a league-high 24 of their 38 points past regulation. Despite walking into their locker room feeling like losers in 11 of their last 15 games under Rowe, the overtime points have kept them within striking distance (four points behind) of Boston for third place and a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division, although it’s only December.
“I can’t remember being in this many shootouts or overtimes,’’ Panthers forward Jussi Jokinen said. “It’s one bounce, one play, one save, one shot. It seems every night it’s a different thing that’s the difference in the game.”
In a half-empty scenario, the Panthers lead the NHL with 16 post-regulation games, meaning they can’t hold leads or finish off opponents like they did last season. Going into Friday night games, the Panthers have just seven victories in regulation, tied for 29th fewest. They’ve played the most shootouts (8) and are tied for the league lead in shootout losses (5). They’re also tied for the most OT losses (5).
“The ones that are the most concerning are the ones where we have the lead and we blow it,’’ said Panthers center Vincent Trocheck regarding three consecutive defeats all coming after regulation, in which two the Panthers held third-period leads.
“Everybody as a team has to be able to close out games. Good teams in this league are able to hold leads.”
Last season, the Panthers were ranked in the top five of the league when holding leads after the first (26-3-2) and second periods (33-4-5), while this season they’re near the bottom at 9-4-3 after one and 9-1-3 after two. They’re just 1-10-5 when trailing after two.
Last season, when the Panthers scored first they went 36-6-6, the second-best percentage in the league. This season they are 9-5-4 when scoring first, or 21st in the league.
“I guess when you’re undermanned as we are at this point, you scratch and claw for every single point,’’ Rowe said of the reason for all the overtime games.
Barkov is also the team’s most successful post-regulation artist. He has two overtime winning goals this season and is 4-for-7 in shootouts. At just 21, his 12 career shootout goals is a franchise high.
Roster moves
The Panthers placed Barkov on injured reserve with an undisclosed lowerbody injury. They recalled forward Greg McKegg from Springfield (Mass.), their AHL affiliate and sent down rookie forward Kyle Rau.
Rau had two goals and three points with a minus-3 in 24 games. McKegg played 34 games in parts of the last two seasons with the Panthers, including 19 games this season in which he had two assists.