It was only a few weeks ago when things looked like they were going south for the Florida Panthers.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions were in the midst of their longest home losing streak in five years leading Niko Mikkola to say his Panthers lacked “a little bit of confidence right now.’’
Mikkola’s comment came not long after Florida sustained its fourth straight loss — this one 2-1 in overtime to the Nashville Predators.
And, although the Panthers were not painting any sort of a rosy picture that night, both Paul Maurice and Carter Verhaeghe looked to find positives.
“We got a point, but it’s not exactly what we wanted,’’ Verhaeghe said. “We’ll take it and hope it leads to something a little better.”
Oh, it has.
The Panthers have only lost once since.
After losing on Steven Stamkos’ shot toward a dislodged net on Dec. 4, the Panthers have won five of its next six games — their only loss coming in what can be waved off as a baked-in, preordained loss when Florida had to play Utah and Colorado on back-to-back nights.
“It’s never easy being on the road certainly having a back-to-back in elevation like Utah and Colorado,” Aaron Ekblad said following Florida’s 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
“That was extremely tough. But, we found a way to persevere after a loss and that is extremely important in this league. We feel pretty confident in our game.”
The Panthers had spent time alone at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings during their losing streak earlier this month.
By beating the Lightning on Monday, Florida is three points out of first place in the Atlantic Division and two points away from being back in a playoff spot.
But, as Maurice pointed out Monday morning, the Panthers are just four points away from Columbus and Buffalo which sit in last place in the division.
“It’s just a grinder,” Maurice said. “I think that tempers some of the emotions in this game.”
This season has certainly been a grind for the Panthers but they are a team that continues to keep their head above water despite some big injuries that have been talked about ad nauseam.
Florida has certainly looked like itself, especially on this road trip.
The penalty kill has been a big reason why.
The Panthers did not allow a power-play goal during the four-game trip, killing off all 14 penalties — plus, getting a Sam Reinhart shorty to open the scoring on Monday.
In December, the Panthers lead all teams in the league with a kill percentage of 96.3 percent (26-of-27) with two shorthanded goals.
“We’re finding the way we need to win with guys out of the lineup,’’ said Brad Marchand, who scored his 19th goal of the season on Monday. “It’s a little bit of a learning curve. It’s hard not having the guys in the lineup that we do, but we had to tailor a game to find success with what we have. I think we have done a really good job of that lately.’’
The Panthers snapped their losing streak in a wild 7-6 overtime win against the Blue Jackets but then were back to playing a shutdown defensive style the following night against the Islanders.
Florida looked real sharp against Utah, Dallas, and Tampa Bay.
Colorado?
Forget it. One of those deals.
With a condensed schedule, the Panthers have the opportunity to pick up a lot of points in a short amount of time — or lose them.
Right now, they are feeling, and looking, as good as they have all season.
Let the good times roll.
“It’s not easy when you start back-to-back at altitude and have to play some big, fast, heavy teams,” Maurice said. “Incredibly pleased. The last few games — even the third in Colorado, because at 5-1 nobody quit, they just kept working and working. That was a real important lead-in to the Dallas game. We played exceptionally well.’’
ON DECK: GAME No. 33
LOS ANGELES KINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
