Honest and critical yet hopeful and optimistic — that’s how the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are viewing their current predicament.
The Panthers, who are set to host the Washington Capitals on Monday night in Sunrise, are 1-5-0 over their past six games.
“We’re struggling right now,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We have a structure we need to play, and we’re not far off. But we have some execution challenges.”
Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said Florida needs to impose its will on teams in much the way it was done in the drive for the 2024 Stanley Cup.
“There shouldn’t be any more waiting around,” he said. “We have to commit to doing it, and it’s not an easy style. It’s hard to do for 82-plus games, but that’s what makes us successful.”
On the positive side, the Panthers have center Sam Reinhart, whose 13-game points streak is the longest this season by any NHL player. It’s also tied for the second-longest streak by a Panthers player, and it’s just four games away from tying Mike Hoffman’s franchise record, set in 2018-19.
Reinhart has 11 goals and eight assists during this streak, and he’s tied for the NHL lead with 16 goals this season.
However, Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky allowed a season-high six goals on Saturday in a 7-4 loss to Colorado.
For the season, Bobrovsky is 9-5-1 with a 3.18 goals-against average. That is not up to his standards, which include a 2.60 career GAA and a 2.37 GAA last season.
Backup goalie Spencer Knight is 3-3-0 with a 2.72 GAA. Florida’s first-round pick in 2019, Knight has made 64 NHL appearances in four years, including 55 starts, and he is 35-20-6 with a 2.89 GAA.
But even with all of that, the Panthers are still in second place in the Atlantic Division with 25 points, and the Capitals — despite two straight losses — are in third in the Metropolitan Division with 27 points.
The Capitals are coming off a 3-2 home loss on Saturday to the New Jersey Devils.
“It’s frustrating to lose back to back,” Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren said.
Lindgren is 5-5-0 with a 2.64 GAA. Co-starter Logan Thompson, acquired in a trade in June with Vegas, is 8-1-1 with a 2.58 GAA.
Both are undrafted players making $1 million or less this season.
Three of the higher-paid Capitals players are all on injured reserve — forwards Alex Ovechkin (leg); Nicklas Backstrom (hip); and T.J. Oshie (back).
Backstrom and Oshie haven’t played this season, but Ovechkin has 15 goals and 10 assists in 18 games.
Dylan Strome leads Washington in assists (22) and points (28).
Last season, the Capitals ranked 31st in the NHL in goals by defensemen (20). This season, they already have 11 in 20 games thanks in part to the additions of Jakob Chychrun (five) and Matt Roy (one).
Roy was given a six-year contract, and Chychrun was acquired in a trade with Ottawa. They join two-time All-Star John Carlson and former first-rounder Rasmus Sandin in a suddenly improved defense.
Offensively, Washington, which ranked 28th in scoring last year, added forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh.
Those four have combined to score 13 goals so far this season, and Washington is tied for first in the NHL with 4.05 goals per game.
–Field Level Media
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