The Florida Panthers beat the San Jose Sharks for the 6th time in the last 7 meetings Tuesday night.

Think about that.

Think of how bad the Panthers have been over the last two years, yet one of the better teams in the better Western Conference can't seem to figure those pesky Panthers out. It really is strange, especially when you think about the Panthers making a lot of teams they should beat really good, and backup goaltenders look like Hall of Famers.

Regardless, the Panthers are now 5-4-4 despite the minor knee injury to defenseman Dmitry Kulikov that will keep him out at least one more game. They have played the fewest games in the NHL and hope to start a winning streak as they host the Islanders Friday night.

Seemingly overnight last week the Panthers were down 5 forwards due to injury/sickness. Slowly but surely they are getting healthy again, and Sean Bergenheim and Dave Bolland should be back in the lineup tomorrow. The Panthers' hottest offensive player, Brandon Pirri, is still recovering from a concussion. Aleksander Barkov returned this week after a lower body issue, as did Jonathan Huberdeau after a bout with the flu.

They couldn't be coming back at a better time. The Panthers have mustered only 24 goals in 13 games, second worst in the league behind Buffalo. However, they have only given up 31 goals, which is 4th best in the league. Imagine where this team would be right now if they were just an average offensive team. Even with playing the least amount of games they'd be in the top third of the league in points.

If the defense continues to play the way they are with Roberto Luongo being his normal self, the Panthers will be hanging around all season in terms of a playoff spot. There are signs the ship may be pointing in that direction.

Florida has scored 4 or more goals in two straight games. Sunday's 6-4 loss to Calgary stung because it was one of the few times this season where defensive breakdowns were an epidemic. But that was an aberration, not the norm, as they showed in their rebound performance against the Sharks Tuesday.

Colby Robak was filling in for the injured Kulikov and the defense didn't miss a beat. All those forwards went down and Vincent Trocheck and Rocco Grimaldi were called up and the team didn't miss a beat. It's this kind of depth that GM Dale Tallon has built to survive the rigors of a long NHL season. It is starting to pay off.

The game against the Islanders tomorrow is very important because the Panthers hope to be in a good mood as they embark on a west coast swing that includes games against the Ducks, Kinks, Sharks, and Predators. Florida only has one regulation loss on the road this year in 7 games played, and it will take great team efforts to maintain that type of success on that trip.

No time to look ahead, though. The Islanders are coming off a 6-0 pounding of the Avalanche at home and have won four in a row. Their 10-5-0 record shows they are a much improved team and will be a stern rest for this Panthers squad.

Dan Spiegel
Florida Panthers Media

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