Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Inconsistency plagues team
The glass-half-full view is the Florida Panthers only need to reel off a few wins to get their season back on track.
Even after Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins, they reached the midpoint of the season only a couple points out of playoff position.
Nonetheless, boos instead of rats rained down at the final horn for the second time in three games during the past week at the BB&T Center. Jonathan Marchessault, who leads in goals, echoed the frustration of fans afterward when he lamented that the Panthers have yet to put together even a modest three-game winning streak while continuing a maddening pattern of inconsistent performances.
“It’s just the way it seems to always go so far. If we don’t turn that around — we’re getting to half of the season — it’s going to get harder and harder. We know it, but we keep putting ourselves in that position.”
Most disappointing is the Panthers missed an opportunity to make a move during a stretch of eight out of nine games at home, going 2-3-3 at the BB&T Center — they did post an uplifting 3-1 win at Dallas on New Year’s Eve.
After 41 games they are 17-16-8 (42 points). A year ago the playoff bound Panthers were 25-12-4 (54 points) and on a franchiserecord 12-game winning streak.
“We’ve been at that twogame over .500 mark, I’m guessing, four or five times,” Panthers captain Derek MacKenzie said last week. “We talked about this as a great opportunity for us to get over that hump and string a few together. It didn’t materialize.”
The scenario was repeated twice in the past week alone.
Meanwhile, injuries continue to pile up, with two forwards joining the idled corps in the past two games. Nick Bjugstad went on injured reserve after injuring a groin Friday; Greg McKegg, who had goals in the previous two games, left in the second period Saturday with an upperbody injury.
Key components already in varying stages of recovery include Aleksander Barkov (undisclosed) Jonathan Huberdeau (Achilles tendon surgery), Alex Petrovic (ankle) and Seth Griffith (concussion).
Goalie Roberto Luongo (upper body) is expected to play during this week’s two-game trip.
In the absence of so many key players, the Panthers have no choice but to lean heavily on less experienced options such as Jared McCann, Denis Malgin, Paul Thompson, Michael Sgarbossa and McKegg.
“We talked to the young guys about stepping up and taking on some added responsibility, more minutes. Not just take them, but give us quality minutes,” interim coach Tom Rowe said prior to Saturday’s game.
After getting outplayed in falling to 0-4 this season against the Bruins, he said, “We have a lot of guys that we’re trying to give some key minutes to who are young and getting some experience. This is going to happen once in a while; it’s the only way the young guys are going to be able to become good players in this league. You’ve got to put them in these situations. I thought they gave us everything they could.”
The Panthers will need to continue to lean on players who have recently spent time in the minors as they play four games in six nights this week prior to a four-game western trip.
Barkov and Petrovic are still about three weeks away, Rowe said. Griffith could return within a week, but Bjugstad will be out at least two; McKegg’s status was undetermined. Huberdeau is still targeted for late February.
“Everything’s just part of the game. We can’t use [injuries] as an excuse,” Marchessault said. “I think good teams just find a way to win and keep it simple. We’re not doing that . ... ”