The Florida Panthers, they’re not afraid to admit, needed a break — badly.
“We all felt the same way getting off that plane,” coach Paul Maurice deadpanned, still less than four days removed from the Panthers’ embarrassing 5-1 beatdown at the hands of the New York Islanders. “It was about 5 in the morning when we rolled home. We weren’t looking for a back to back.”
The loss sent Florida (15-16-4) into the five-day Christmas break reeling as badly as they have at any point in the past three regular seasons. It was a third straight defeat, a fourth in five games, a sixth in eight and a seventh in 10, and it sent the Panthers into the holiday with more regulation losses than wins, eight points out of postseason position.
With 47 games left, Florida needed a reset for a whole host of different reasons.
The Panthers needed to get healthy — they went into the break with star center Aleksander Barkov and defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Radko Gudas all ailing — and they needed to figure out what went wrong across a stunning first 35 games of the season.
A year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy, Florida retooled in the offseason — with a new coach, and blockbuster swap of All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau and star defenseman MacKenzie Weegar for All-Star right wing Matthew Tkachuk — with a focus on being better in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The idea they’d make it there was almost a foregone conclusion.
It’s a bit of an irony, then, to think about the next four-plus months in the way Tkachuk is.
“Playoffs,” the star forward said, “starts now for us.”
After Florida’s first post-Christmas practice Monday in Sunrise, there was no sense of panic about how the first few months of the season played out. Instead, there was a quiet optimism and reason for real belief the Panthers can still fight back, and get into the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
It started with two players donning yellow jerseys on the FLA Live Arena ice. Barkov and Ekblad both practiced wearing the non-contact sweaters, and Maurice said both could suit up for Florida on Thursday when it hosts the Montreal Canadiens.
Barkov’s return was particularly encouraging. The star forward has already missed 10 games this year, including the last four before the break, and it has made self-assessment a challenge for Maurice.
The Panthers still have a winning record with their captain in the lineup and lost 8 of 10 without him.
“Just watching practice today,” Maurice said, “that big man moving through the middle — there’s not many guys like him in the league.”
It is, essentially, the sentiment echoed by most of the leaders in the locker room.
Until its skid right before the holiday, Florida believed it was playing well, even though it wasn’t necessarily translating to wins. The Panthers trusted the results would even out at some point and their strong possession and scoring-chance numbers would eventually translate into wins, as the expected goals numbers suggested.
Florida last few games before the break, however, were decidedly different. The Panthers lost in expected goals in six of their last nine games before the break after only losing in this category eight times in their first 36.
“We believe in ourselves. We know we’re a good enough group to turn things around,” said defenseman Radko Gudas, who hasn’t played since Dec. 3 because of a concussion, but is on track to return this week. “We weren’t happy with the results, but I thought we played good enough hockey, so I believe we can get on a roll.”
With almost 50 games to go, the window for when this roll can start is suddenly starting to feel narrow, though.
The Panthers entered the week with just a 25 percent chance to make the Cup playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight, and no one did more to hurt their odds in the last week than Florida
Just a month ago, the Panthers’ chances sat at 65 percent. A week ago, they were at 48 percent.
“It’s getting down to crunch time,” Tkachuk said.
The tall task is made even more challenging by a daunting January — Florida plays 9 of 15 on the road next month before hosting the 2023 NHL All-Star Game — and the NHL’s fifth-toughest remaining strength of schedule, according to Tankathon.com.
The Panthers’ next game against the Canadiens, who had the worst record in the league last year, is the type of game they’ve given away far too often this year and need to start winning.
If a turnaround is going to happen, it needs to start soon and Florida knows it.
“It’s in our control. The mood is great because we know we have it,” Tkachuk said. “We’re not negative. We’re not down on each other. There is a ton of belief in this group. All we have to do is come here in a few days and showed.”
Panthers call up Anton Levtchi
Anton Levtchi, who led Finland’s Liiga in scoring last season, could make his NHL debut as soon as Thursday after getting called up from AHL Charlotte on Monday.
The Finnish left wing skated with center Anton Lundell and fellow winger Sam Reinhart at practice Monday.
The 27-year-old forward had seven goals and six assists in 24 games for the Charlotte Checkers to start this year.
To make room for Levtchi, the Panthers sent left wings Grigori Denisenko and Givani Smith down to the American Hockey League, also giving them space to activate Gudas off injured reserve later this week.
