Florida Panthers: Loss to Coyotes highlights huge concerns

The Florida Panthers have hit a bit of a rut after losing to the Arizona Coyotes 5-2. They must get out of it soon if they want to make the playoffs.

Last night was a tough game. The Florida Panthers lost 5-2 against the Arizona Coyotes at the BB&T Center. However, for this article, I’m not going to do a recap of the game. Instead, I’m going to focus on one topic – the Panthers’ recent inconsistencies.

As a diehard fan, going through this rollercoaster ride of not knowing what will happen or how the Panthers will show up on a game to game basis is rough. Our defense is gassed. I know I’ve mentioned that in other articles previously, but it’s worth mentioning again because unfortunately, it seems to be a reoccurring issue.

It’s frustrating because I know that this team can achieve greatness. It’s within them. They know they can win because they’ve done it this season and when they do, everything is great. And sometimes they’ll even win back to back games, which is great. However, here’s an alarming statistic – the Panthers have yet to win more than three games in a row this season.

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Let’s face it, if the Florida Panthers really plan on making the playoffs, they’re going to need to start winning more games consecutively. Are the playoffs out of the picture? Not by any means, but they need to step it up if they want a chance to secure their spot. The Atlantic Division has become extremely tight pointwise over the last few weeks.

After Toronto fired their coach earlier this season and got a new coach, they’ve gone from nearly bottom of the barrel where Detroit is to third place in the Atlantic Division. They’re chasing the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the division. Speaking of the Lightning, who started their season really rough, they have also caught fire and now find themselves in second place and also right on the heels of Boston.

The Florida Panthers are currently in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, four points behind Toronto to tie for third place. It’s not out of reach by any means but the Panthers can’t take their foot off the gas pedal and become complacent. As of right now, the Panthers are two points out of the final wild card spot. However, the goal is to lock up one of those top three division spots.

I’ll give you a quick example of the inconsistent winning. Saturday afternoon, the Panthers lost 3-2 to the Sabres in Buffalo. They initially had Sergei Bobrovsky in net, but they then substituted in Chris Driedger because Bobrovsky let in 3 goals. They nearly came back with Driedger but were unable to get the job done.

The next day, they played the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh and beat them 4-1. The Panthers hadn’t beaten the Penguins at home for six years! You’d think that would help them gain some momentum for last night’s game. The Panthers actually had the lead too in the second period. They had two back to back quick goals to get a 2-1 lead. But what happened? They took their foot off the gas pedal, allowed the Coyotes to reclaim the lead 3-2 late in the second period. In the third period, while they did have multiple chances to tie it up and at least gain a point, they instead unraveled and the Coyotes ended up celebrating the win.

The fans showed up which was great. However, the players need to show up too. They need to come out on a consistent basis every game ready to play and work together to get the win. Hockey is an incredibly unselfish sport and it shows because every time the team scores a goal, the other four players on the ice skate up to the player that scored the goal and hug him which symbolizes the strong brotherhood bond that hockey is all about. Then they skate over to the bench and fist bump the other players. It’s a TEAM effort. All the parts work together to achieve the goal which is winning the game.

That team has shown up this season. They need to continue to do it more often because the end goal is to make it to the playoffs and then ultimately the Stanley Cup. Like I’ve mentioned in a previous article, it’s not out of reach. If they can continue finding ways to win on a consistent basis, the sky is the limit. It’s up to them to achieve that goal. It’s up to them to define their destiny. It’s up to them to make every second and every minute of the game count. Well, that’s all I’ve got for right now. As always thank you for taking the time to read my articles and as I always say: Let’s Go Cats!!!