The Florida Panthers fell 3-1 to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night. Florida now has as many losses as wins but remains above .500 with a 5-4-1 record. Across the ice were the Coyotes, who now sit at 3-5-1.
Game Recap
The first period saw no goals, but a couple of power play chances for both sides. Arizona had two chances on Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett penalties, but could not take the lead. For Florida, they had one chance on a Christian Fischer penalty; that was unsuccessful, too. With six seconds remaining, Arizona’s Troy Stecher and Florida’s Sam Bennett received coincidental penalties.
The first goal occurred 8:24 into the second period. Colin White tipped a Josh Mahura shot past Karel Vejmelka for a 1-0 Florida lead. Lucas Carlsson’s penalty four minutes later allowed the Coyotes to climb back into the game. On a quick zone entry, Matias Maccelli fanned on a shot, which found its way onto Lawson Crouse’s stick. Crouse ripped the rolling puck top corner to even the game at one a piece. After, another set of coincidental penalties were taken as Dysin Mayo and Ryan Lomberg took their seats in the penalty box. At the end of two, the game was tied 1-1.
The third period was dominated for the most part by Florida, but it did not go their way. Radko Gudas took a high-sticking penalty 7:40 in that led to a Desert Dogs lead. Nick Ritchie was all alone in the high slot, shooting a puck post-and-in for the 2-1 Arizona lead. Just under ten minutes later, Clayton Keller sealed the game for the Coyotes. After finally clearing the puck from a dangerous looking Florida attack, an empty netter tucked the game away. In the end, Arizona got their first win in Mullett Arena, 3-1.
What Went Wrong?
This game was an odd one as the Panthers doubled the Coyotes in shots, 42-21. Many people argued that Florida deserved to win, too. Despite this, there has been an underlying factor that has bothered the Panthers in this game and all season, too. That is special teams.
Florida was 0-for-3 on the night on the power play, while going 2-for-4 on the penalty kill. This is not a terrible night on special teams, but it certainly is not good. What is a problem was how easy the power play goals they gave up were. There were two shots where the shooter had all of the time in the world to pick their corner; that’s where the problem lies.
The Panthers need to find a solution quick to begin having a consistently good season. As of right now, Florida is 30th in the league on the power play with a 9.1% success rate. On the other hand, they sit 27th in the league in penalty kill with a 71.8% kill percentage. To begin winning night in, night out, this must be improved upon.
Also, it would be nice to see Captain Aleksander Barkov get going.
Up Next
Florida’s next stop on their west coast road trip is San Jose on Thursday, November 3rd. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 PM EST.