Even-strength play, goaltending hampering Panthers' playoff hopes
The return of Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov to the Florida Panthers' lineup appeared to be the missing ingredient in the hunt for a playoff berth, but the club is now in the midst of a colossal slide.
Thanks to a 7-4 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Wild on Friday night, the club has now gone 1-6-1 in its last eight games and has fallen six points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The timing of the skid could not be worse and, as the underlying numbers show, it's the club's play at even strength and the lackluster performances by their goaltenders that have hurt the team most.
A look at special teams play over the last eight games would suggest the Panthers are having some success, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Since Feb. 22, the Panthers have produced eight power play goals with a success rate of 34.8 percent, good enough for second league-wide. Meanwhile, the team's penalty kill has been perfect, not conceding a single goal in the 19 times they've been short-handed. The team has also fired 308 shots at the opposition over that stretch, also good for the second-most over that span.
Here's where things start to go south.
During the club's eight-game stretch, they have managed to score just 16 goals while giving up 27, both the fourth-worst marks in the league.
What's worse is when you factor in the eight power play goals and the lone short-handed goal, you're left with just seven goals scored at even strength in eight games - certainly not a winning recipe.
On top of all this, the Panthers haven't been getting much help from James Reimer or Roberto Luongo.
| Goalie | Games Played | G.A.A (League Rank) | SV% (League Rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reimer | 6 | 3.45 (36) | .910 (26) |
| Luongo | 3 | 2.52 (22) | .909 (27) |
- Among goalies who have played at least three games
Besides Luongo's goals-against average through his last three starts, the totals for both goalies have been far below their season averages - though, in their defense, the club has also given up a total of 278 shots against (the fourth-most over that span) or an average of nearly 35 per game.
It certainly hasn't been an easy ride for the Panthers of late, but if one thing is clear, it's that for all that is going wrong, there is still a lot going right. The faults appear to be team-wide, so if they hope to turn it around it will take a group effort to get the club back on track.