3 Takeaways: Panthers Loss vs the Coyotes – 11/01/22

Welcome to Full Press Hockey’s Takeaway series on the Florida Panthers. After each Panthers game of the 2022-23 season, our Florida Panthers beat writer, Alex Slemp, will recap the game and give you his three biggest takeaways from the matchup. Today we will have a look at the Florida Panthers’ loss vs the Arizona Coyotes. You can follow more of his work on the Florida Panthers here, and also tune into his podcast where he talks the latest on all things Florida Panthers.

The Florida Panthers’ road woes continued last night vs the Arizona Coyotes as they fell to the Desert Dogs, 3-1.

Panthers Road Struggles Continue in the Desert vs the Coyotes

The Panthers have now lost four straight on the road after opening the season with two straight road wins.

This is also the Panthers’ third loss in four games.

The Panthers got off to a sluggish start, getting outshot 8-7 by the Coyotes in the opening frame. 

Coming into this one, the Panthers had set a franchise record for shots on goal across two games with 109.

But that volume wasn’t there to start. Something that could perhaps be chalked up to the travel and time-zone change for this game.

The Cats did get better as the game progressed, generating plenty more chances in the second and third frames but it was to no avail.

Colin White opened the scoring midway through the second, tipping a point blast from Josh Mahura. 

But that would be the last of the offense out of the team from South Florida.

The Coyotes would respond with two power play goals and then ice it late in the third with an empty netter courtesy of Clayton Keller.

The Panthers out-chanced the Coyotes and doubled up them on shots, 42-21, but once again the Panthers failed to win the special teams battle and that would be the deciding factor in this one.

Florida failed to take advantage of a favorable matchup in this one. Let’s have a look at the three takeaways from the Panthers loss to the Arizona Coyotes.

Three Takeaways Panthers Loss: Slow Start Plays into Coyotes’ Favor

The Panthers’ sluggish start proved to be detrimental last night. On paper, the Cats outmatch the Coyotes. We knew the ice would be tilted in the Panthers’ favor due to all the offensive talent they possess, but coming out slow, it allowed the ‘Yotes to settle into their own game and dictate the way this one would be played.

Now, yes, the Panthers did open the scoring and take the lead, but by that time the Coyotes had settled into their system and their stingy defensive style was limiting the Panthers’ high-quality chances.

The Coyotes did an excellent job getting into lanes and disrupting plays with active sticks. And their game eventually frustrated the Panthers enough and led to drawing six penalties on the night.

And that’s where the Coyotes wanted them. The NHL’s third most efficient power play, yes you read that right, got to go to work and they made the Cats pay with two power play markers.

Had the Panthers been able to come out with some jump and get ahead early, you’d of had the Coyotes playing their game instead of vice-versa. 

A defensive-minded, hard-working team is always going to frustrate those more offensively gifted teams that like to create opportunities on the open ice. 

The Coyotes made sure not to give any open ice to the Panthers and once they capitalized on their second goal, you knew it was going to be hard-fought to tie it up against that game plan.

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Three Takeaways Panthers Loss: Special Teams Falter Again

Once again the Panthers special teams failed to be anything but special. 

The power play was held scoreless and the penalty kill was exposed twice. It’s becoming a very frustrating theme for the coach and players, who know they are better than the way they are executing.

When it comes to the power play, it might be time to start thinking of a different scheme. There is no way with all this talent that you can consistently come up short. You can’t just keep saying that the team is barely missing their chances and to just be patient. 

That line of reasoning is okay when it’s been a couple of games but this has been going on all year. 

The Panthers have now only mustered four power play goals in 44 chances this season.

As for the penalty kill, this is equally concerning. 

Now being patient could be the fix. The team’s best penalty killer, Aaron Ekblad, will give this PK a massive boost on his return from injury. But the timetable for his return is still uncertain and the Panthers can’t afford to just wait for one player.

This has to be a team effort.

The Cats have strong penalty killers but opposing teams are having it too easy when gaining the zone and moving the puck around.

It looks to be time to adjust their scheme and have more urgency out there. Florida’s penalty killers must start pressuring the puck handlers the way the Chicago Blackhawks did to them in their last matchup. 

Loaded Ice Time for Reinhart Does Nothing to Change the Results

One of the biggest head-scratchers for the Panthers’ offense has been the inability of Sam Reinhart to produce on the stat sheet.

Reinhart opened the season on the teams’ top line with Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe. But has since swapped places with Matthew Tkachuk in an effort to get both lines going.

It has worked for the top line but Reinhart still seems stuck in the mud.

Through 10 games, the former second-overall pick has two points. Both coming on the power play.

He is a -2 on the season and averaging just under three shots a game, with 29 total this campaign.

But despite the lack of production, Reinhart found himself with the third most ice time among forwards, with exactly 20 minutes of ice time.

Only Barkov and Tkachuk logged more minutes for forwards.

But was this the right coaching decision?

Mid Game Adjustments Should’ve Been Made

Yes, four and a half of those minutes were power play time. But, should Reinhart and that second line be granted as many even-strength minutes as they had?

With the Panthers’ third line getting on the score sheet in the majority of games this season, it seemed odd to not grant them more ice time. Especially the way this game was being played.

Using a hard-working energy line, like the third line, in a game where the play is tight and players are really grinding it out, would’ve made more sense instead of gifting all those extra minutes to a player you’re trying to get going.

Colin White, who is second in team scoring, had only 10:31 of ice this game. Now, White doesn’t get PP or PK time but that is half the minutes of Reinhart.

Seeing the ice time of that third line limited in favor of getting one player going, especially in the style of game we saw being played last night, didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

It’s crucial for the teams’ success to get Reinhart producing, but an adjustment should’ve been made by Paul Maurice when he was seeing, once again, Reinhart failing to produce.

Up Next

The Florida Panthers are back on the ice Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.

The Panthers will look to end their four-game road winless slide against the lowly Sharks.

Puck drop is at 10:30 pm EST.