Three Takeaways: Panthers Show No-Quit Attitude in Loss to Stars

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 to the Dallas Stars. 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 lost to the Dallas Stars after an atrocious first period that saw them fall behind 4-0 in the opening frame.

Panthers Fall Behind Early in Loss to Stars

The Florida Panthers got behind early to the Dallas Stars and were never able to fully recover.

On a night when captain Aleksander Barkov was out due to an illness, the Panthers surrendered four first-period goals en route to a 6-4 loss.

After a brilliant start against the Washington Capitals, Sergei Bobrovsky was beaten four times on 11 shots in the opening frame. Mis-cues and mental lapses in front of him led to the Russian netminder being on the receiving end of multiple odd-man rushes and breakaways. Hardly the kind of goals you can pin on your goaltender. 

Aside from the Stars’ second goal, where Bobrovsky completely lost his post, you could chalk the four early goals up to a complete team effort. Or lack thereof.

Spencer Knight came in for relief to start the second frame. Knight finished with 16 saves on 17 shots.

Despite being down by four goals, the Panthers would not roll over.

A second period power play sparked a three-goal burst in the span of 10:28. FLA Live Arena was alive after that stretch with the home fans believing their “Cardiac Cats” were on the verge of a special comeback.

But the closest the Panthers would get would be to within one before Dallas’ Ty Dellandrea iced the game with an empty netter. 

This game was truly the tale of two very different stories. Let’s take a look at the biggest takeaways in the Panthers’ 6-4 loss vs the Stars.

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Ugly Start

With Barkov being a late scratch due to an illness, the Panthers only dressed 11 forwards, resulting in the forward lines being put through a blender. 

The new linemates for everyone seemed to have brought about some communication issues. After a solid opening minute that saw the Panthers have two quality rushes, including a Sam Reinhart shot off the crossbar, the Cats began collapsing on defense. 

We hadn’t seen anything like it yet this season. The Panthers are usually very tidy in their own zone and do not allow many odd-man rushes. But last night we saw three big ones in the opening frame, two of which led directly to goals.

“We turned a lot of pucks over. We didn’t react to our mistakes well”. Paul Maurice said about his teams’ lapses. “The motion after the mistake, we were going the other way.”

The Stars were having a heyday getting in behind the Panthers’ defense. That whole first period was a spectacle of uncharacteristic play.

The Panthers have been a successful team this year when playing without star players in their lineup. The Cats went 6-4-1 with Aaron Ekblad out and were 2-0 when Matthew Tkachuk served his suspension. 

But the late loss of their captain was too much for the Panthers. Their slow start cost them greatly and they couldn’t climb out of that four-goal hole.

Not Going Away Easily

Despite the massive deficit to start the second period, the Panthers refused to roll over.

The Cats scratched and clawed away at the Stars’ lead, eventually pulling themselves to within one with six minutes to go in the third.

Carter Verhaeghe continued his recent hot streak by kicking things off with a power play goal midway through the second period. It was Verhaeghe’s team-leading 11th goal of the season.

However, Roope Hintz of the Stars would respond a few minutes later, chipping one past Knight.

But the Cats would rattle off three unanswered goals to make it a 5-4 game after starting down 4-0.

If there was ever a silver lining to be had in a game like this, it was the fight and no-quit attitude shown by the Panthers team as a whole.

When asked what the biggest thing his team could take away from this loss, head coach Paul Maurice said, “How to handle it. Can you right the ship? Can you get off the matt and fight your way out”.

“When that first period is done you don’t have a lot of options. It’s hard to do what that team did. Slowly start to grind and stay mentally in it. At 2-0, you are gonna come out and play hard. But when down by 4, to find that grit to come back. Those are the things over the year that you get to keep a little bit”.

And Maurice is absolutely right, that type of response is huge. It showed a lot of character in the team and showed that they believe they are never out of it. To go down four and still believe you can win, and then go out and play like it, is the biggest sign of a winners mentality. 

One that is necessary if you are to go the distance to hoist the Stanley Cup.

Bennett Steps Up with Barkov Out

Sam Bennett has been something of Maurice’s go-to guy this season. He goes wherever Maurice needs him. Early into the season, Bennett has already found himself as the second-line and third-line centre.

And last night he was asked to assume the duties of the teams’ top-line centre. 

“Sammy is a fantastic player.” Ekblad said of his teammate, “He’s always ready to step up into a bigger role. And he plays a strong, hard game. He hits, he scores goals, he does a great job defensively. It’s the whole package from him.

Bennett, who was playing his 500th career game last night, flexed that NHL experience in a big way. The former fourth-overall pick collected three assists in 19:14 of ice time. He was also strong in the face-off dot, winning 50% of his draws.

Bennett opened the game being flanked by Eetu Luostarinen and Colin White but Maurice would adjust after the opening frame and replaced White with Tkachuk.

“The interesting this is, whoever I play Luostarinen with, takes off.” Paul Maurice said of his new top line, “that line was really good after the first.” 

Maurice further discussed his first line saying it’s “Pieces of a line combination we used earlier in the year. There’s something there. They get on pucks and are strong and have some speed at left and centre and Matthew can make plays. We will take a look at that. When Sasha Barkov comes back that might be something we like to consider.”

Up Next

The Panthers close out their homestand with a highly anticipated matchup against the Calgary Flames.

Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar return for the first time to play against the team that drafted them both.

The Panthers and Flames split their season series last year, one a piece. 

Puck drop is Saturday, November 19 at 4:00 pm ET.