3 Takeaways From Florida’s Back To Back

Fans are going to walk away from Florida’s first two games back with a bitter taste in their mouths. The Cats played two solid games but ended up with a 1-1 split, more injuries, and a game getting decided by an egregious goalie interference call. Florida honored their Olympians during the first game back, including Team USA Captain Auston Matthews from the Leafs, who was teammates with Matthew Tkachuk in Milan. Out of the break, the Panthers looked sharp despite half of the roster not getting any time off. The goalies seemed to have benefited from the rest as both Bobrovsky and Tarasov had good games, despite Daniil’s game being a losing effort. The injury front continues to haunt the Panthers this season; it’s one step forward and three steps back with that. The Cats are still 8 points out of a playoff spot and a four-game road trip up next. 

Didn’t Miss A Beat:

Just days ago, friends were foes on Italian ice, but now the gang is all back together in Sunrise. With half the roster in Italy over the break, it was a question of how the team would look and whether the Olympians would be rested enough despite not having much if any time off. Turns out there wasn’t a reason to be worried, the Panthers looked like the dominant Panthers in their first game back against the Leafs. Marchand broke the ice just over 3 minutes into the period by picking up a rebound from a Lundell shot. Woll was pulled out of the net to make the save on Anton, and no Leafs picked up Marchand at the net front. Just under two minutes later, Verhaeghe doubled the lead with a power play goal. Lundell got the puck from behind the net and found Rodrigues in the slot. Evan then made a quick backhand pass to set up Cater, who shot short side to score. Not done yet, Rodrigues scored one of the nastiest shorthanded goals of the season to give Florida a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. The Cats became more defensive for the rest of the game, and no one scored again until the third period, when Tavares got Toronto on the board with a power play goal. Two empty net goals from Marchand and Tkachuk sealed the win for the Panthers. 

Reset, Refocus:

It’s no secret that the Panthers’ goaltending has been inconsistent this season. But the break seems to have done a lot of good for the goalies in the first two games back. Bobrovsky played one of his best games of the season against Toronto with several highlight-worthy plays, robbing Leafs’ players of goals. He’s also sporting a brand new helmet and pad setup now; perhaps it’ll help Bob reset for the last stretch of the season. He certainly looked like Playoff Bobrovsky on Thursday night. Tarasov played a great game against Buffalo on Friday night. It’s frustrating that his awesome performance won’t be talked about, and he didn’t at least get the team to an OT point. The discourse around the Buffalo game is going to be dominated by an extremely controversial goalie interference call, where Samuelsson’s stick made contact with Tarasov’s glove twice. HC Paul Maurice challenged for goalie interference, but it was ruled a good goal. It’s not often during the season that Maurice is upset on the bench over a call, but that was one of them. After the game, he said, “I thought he was riding the glove and made contact with it twice. For me that was pretty quick and easy [to challenge]. I didn’t spend much time thinking about it.” Tarasov was more blunt in his assessment, “I don’t know what they’re smoking.” He also said that the rules change for goalie interference every day. It won’t be surprising if Daniil gets a fine for what he said. 

Break’s Over, Injuries Aren’t:

Just when it seems like the Panthers might get over being a hospital squad, the injuries return to put them right back to square one. It’s been a rather vicious cycle this year and one with no end in sight until the season is over. In his first media appearance after the Olympics, HC Paul Maurice gave an update on the injured players and expected everyone but Barkov to go on the upcoming four-game road trip, with Kulikov and Nosek playing at some point. That’s fantastic news since there’s been no definitive timeline for Tomas Nosek, who was injured before the season began but has since joined the main group for practice in a regular jersey. Kulikov’s been out since game 2 and is finally back practicing with the main group, also in a regular jersey. Jones is unfortunately still sporting a no-contact jersey at practice. Schwidnt, who just returned to the lineup after breaking his arm, is now out long-term with a lower-body injury he got during the Toronto game. Balinskis left the match against Buffalo with an injury, and Maurice didn’t have an immediate update following the game. Tanking would probably be ideal, but there’s too much fight and compete level in the locker room to not make a push for the playoffs until it’s mathematically impossible for them to make it. 

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