Takeaways: Depleted Panthers Grind Out Win over Blue Jackets

The Florida Panthers, with everything stacked against them, pulled off their best performance of the season last night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. And right when they needed it most.

Panthers Succeed Despite Injuries Piling Up

What was most important about last night’s game wasn’t the fact that they got the win, but how they achieved that win.

Right now, the Florida Panthers can’t stay healthy. Coming into last night’s game they were without Radko Gudas (concussion), Patric Hornqvist (concussion) Anton Lundell (illness), Spencer Knight (illness), and Carter Verhaeghe (illness).

And to make matters worse, they lost Colin White (upper body) and Chris Tierney (upper body) mid-game.

Update: Colin White will not be returning to tonight’s game.
Took a hit early in the first period and is being ruled out with an upper body injury pic.twitter.com/EUua1NSycx

— Alex Slemp (@AlexSlemp) December 14, 2022

The Panthers were down to 10 forwards and of those 10, two were AHL call-ups (Zac Dalpe and Grigori Denisenko).

And god forbid if anything happened to Sergei Bobrovsky, they’d have been relying on Alex Lyon. And no shot at Lyon, he just doesn’t have the most experience. The undrafted netminder has only 24 career starts in the NHL with his last start back on January 8, 2022.

On top of all the injuries, the Panthers were coming off a loss to their rivals, Tampa Bay Lightning, and an embarrassing home loss to the Seattle Kraken.

They were three games below .500 and five points out of a playoff spot.

Everything pointed toward a horrific fall from the top for the reigning Presidents Trophy winners.

But that’s not what happened.

Strong Start Propels Panthers to Victory

What happened was the Florida Panthers gave us their best performance of the season.

Bobrovsky answered the bell and was in true Vezina form, especially in the first period. He made save after save and kept the game tied at zero before Brandon Montour opened the scoring for the Panthers.

And if you don’t recognize the significance of Bob keeping his team from falling behind early, here is why.

The Panthers have the fewest come-from-behind wins in the entire NHL with just two. They are also 0-7-1 when training after the first period.

Far different from the Panthers of last season who were dubbed the Cardiac Cats for the way they routinely came back to win games.

You could see that Bobrovsky was beginning to find his game during his last couple of starts. The stats weren’t there but his composure and confidence between the pipes were evident.

Head coach Paul Maurice saw that elite form returning too. During the weekend he noted that “His last two games he looks back wired right.”

In total, Bobrovsky made 22 saves for the shutout. Not the busiest night but he was there to make timely saves when needed. 

He was aggressive on the shooters, controlled his rebounds, and played his angles well all night. 

“I felt good,” Bobrovsky said after the game.

“It’s a big, big two points for us. It’s a big game, and I thought the guys did a great job. They shut them down. They didn’t give them anything.”

Very humble response from the Russian star. 

And his praise for his teammates is absolutely warranted. 

The part where he said “They shut them down. They didn’t give them anything” stands out as to the importance of how the Panthers got this win.

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Paul Maurice’s System is Working 

Paul Maurice has been implementing a system for the Panthers that he believes will bring success in the playoffs. 

It isn’t a flashy system and it certainly has come with some growing pains. 

But that grinding style proved effective last night. 

“We will learn how to grind… This is going to be a grind straight through,” said Maurice after their loss to the Lightning.

Maurice has emphasized all year the importance of this style of play. It’s not about being “nifty” but about smart puck management, getting pucks deep, battling hard, and letting the “skill come out in the end”.

And what makes this a successful style is that anyone can play it. Playing hard is a mindset, it doesn’t take any skill to battle hard.

Not everyone can have the high-end skill of Matthew Tkachuk or Aleksander Barkov. Now, those players are obviously important because their skillset helps to finish. But if you design your entire offense around that and try to be run-and-gun, what will you do if those guys get hurt or if a team clamps them up?

Because that’s what we saw happen against the Lightning in the playoffs last season.

So, last night we saw the Panthers win with a depleted lineup and missing some of that high-end skill.

And it’s because they played a system that was hard to play against. They limited the Blue Jackets’ chances, made zone entries difficult, and kept shots to low-danger, perimeter areas.

This right here is the style Maurice has been preaching all year. And finally, it came together and gave the result that has been desired from day one of training camp.

Up Next

The Panthers finish off their three-game home stand with a date against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It will be their first matchup of the season. The Panthers won their season series with the Penguins, 2-1 last year.

The Penguins are on a massive hot streak as of late having won six straight and 11 of their last 13.

The Panthers could be getting some help in their lineup for tomorrow’s game. Radko Gudas was a full participant in practice today, as well as Spencer Knight. Carter Verhaeghe will be a game-time decision.

Puck drop is Thursday, December 15 at 7:00 pm ET.