Bennett battles against Backlund in the second period. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

It’s been a frustrating set of matches for the Panthers as they’ve struggled to keep the lead in back-to-back games. Things started off hot against the Flames and then fizzled out as the match wore on. The Flames’ defense did a better job of blocking shots, and special teams turned the game in their favor in the second period. Florida’s inconsistency is starting to catch up with them as they now sit seven points behind the Lightning, who lead the division. Things are completely hopeless as they’re still only 3 points behind Ottawa, who’s in the third automatic playoff spot for the Atlantic. The Panthers are really feeling the loss of their best defensive forwards, not just Barkov, but Eetu Luostarinen. Eetu currently doesn’t have a timeline for return after suffering burns from a freak grill accident. 

Started Well:

Florida’s offense got going early with two quick goals from Evan Rodrigues and Sam Bennett. Reinhart picked off a risky pass from the Flames and sent the puck to the low slot, where Rodrigues was, who shot the puck in through Cooley’s pads. The pressure from Florida’s forecheck got on Huberdeau quickly to force him into a quick decision that Reinhart took advantage of; Jesper Boqvist got the secondary assist. Less than a minute into the first period, the Cats took the 1-0 lead. Sam Bennett doubled the lead after Verhaeghe forced a neutral zone turnover, leading to a 2-on-1 opportunity with Greer and Bennett. Greer carried the puck into the zone and then made the pass to Bennett, who buried it for the 2-0 lead. After a tough start to the season, Bennett now has 5 points in his last 6 games. HC Paul Maurice adding A.J. Greer to the Bennett line while Tkachuk is out seems to have unlocked some good chemistry and given that line a similar look to when Tkachuk is in. Sam said to the media postgame, “I’m definitely feeling more like myself. Definitely a lot more jump in my game than I had earlier. I think our line has been having some success, so I think we can just keep building off that.” 

Tides Turned:

Unfortunately, from that point on, things rather fell apart for the Panthers. Kuznetsov cut the lead to 1 after he took a shot from the Florida blue line that found the back of the net. It’s probably a goal that Tarasov would like back, and the Panthers’ defensemen were back but ended up getting used as a screen. Weeger tied the game just after the midway point. There was a lot of traffic in front of Tarasov; he had no chance of making a save since he couldn’t even see Weegar. Florida also left open a passing lane through the middle of the ice that allowed Backlund to make a pass from near the goal up to Weegar. Two late penalties in the first gave Calgary a 5-on-3 power play to start the second that they converted into a 2-3 lead with a goal from Frost. Kadri tipped in a shot from Andersson late in the second as the Flames took the 2-4 lead into the third. 

Missing Defense and Growing Pains:

The Cats’ defense has suffered over the last couple of weeks. Barkov being out is obviously a huge blow, but an underrated part of the forward defense is Eetu Luostarinen. With Eetu out, the Panthers don’t have a single forward line that they ran during the 2025 playoffs this past spring. It’s also affected their penalty kill pairs. Luostarinen, along with Lundell, picked up more PK responsibility this past season and were a fantastic pair out on the ice. With him out, along with Kulikov and Barkov, the PK depth has suffered as a result. Not that there aren’t players who are capable of stepping in, but there’s no replacing the experience that’s missing on the ice. Brad Marchand made it a game in the third period when he netted his 15th goal of the season to pull the Cats within 1. A line switch put Reinhart with Lundell and Marchand, and the crisp passing between the three led to Brad’s goal. But Calgary iced the game with an empty net goal from Farabee and took the 3-5 win. However, it seems that the Panthers must be working on some new things with their game. On Saturday morning, when HC Paul Maurice spoke with the media, he said, “We understand that we’re on a bit of a different journey right now, trying to expand in some parts of our game that we need to develop with the situation that we’re in…You grab something, you usually have to give something up. Trying to find the balance right now.” Despite the struggles, Florida is still sitting at roughly .500 and is only 3 points out of an automatic playoff spot. The season isn’t lost yet, even if there have been significant growing pains in dealing with all the injuries. 

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