Honest and critical but positive and optimistic — that’s how the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers view their current predicament.
The Panthers, who will host the Washington Capitals on Monday night at Sunrise, are 1-5-0 in their last six games.
“We’re struggling right now,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We have a structure that we need to play, and we are not far away. But we have some challenges to solve.”
Panthers quarterback Matthew Tkachuk said Florida needs to impose its will on teams the way it did in the 2024 Stanley Cup.
“There should be no more waiting,” he said. “We have to commit to doing it, and it’s not an easy style. It’s hard to do 82-plus games, but that’s what makes us successful.”
On the plus side, the Panthers have center Sam Reinhart, whose 13-game hitting streak is the longest this season by any NHL player. It’s also tied for the second-longest hitting streak by a Panthers player, and is just four games away from tying Mike Hoffman’s franchise record, set in 2018-19.
Reinhart has 11 goals and eight assists during the streak, and is tied for the NHL lead with 16 goals this season.
However, Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky allowed a season-high six goals on Saturday in a 7-4 loss to Colorado.
This season, Bobrovsky is 9-5-1 with a 3.18 goals against average. That’s not at his level, which included a 2.60 GAA and a 2.37 GAA last season.
Backup goalie Spencer Knight is 3-3-0 with a 2.72 GAA. A first-round pick out of Florida in 2019, Knight has made 64 NHL appearances over four years, including 55 starts, and is 35-20-6 with a 2.89 GAA.
But even with all that, the Panthers are still in second place in the Atlantic Division with 25 points, while the Capitals — despite two straight losses — are in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 27 points.
The Capitals are coming off a 3-2 home loss on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils.
“It’s frustrating to lose back to back,” Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren said.
Lindgren is 5-5-0 with a 2.64 GAA. Co-starter Logan Thompson, acquired in a June trade with Vegas, is 8-1-1 with a 2.58 GAA.
Both are undrafted players making $1 million or less this season.
The Capitals’ top three players are all injured — forward Alex Ovechkin (leg); Nicklas Backstrom (hip); and TJ Oshie (back).
Backstrom and Oshie haven’t played this season, but Ovechkin has 15 goals and 10 assists in 18 games.
Dylan Strome leads Washington in assists (22) and points (28).
Last season, the Capitals ranked 31st in the NHL in goals by defensemen (20). This season, they already have 11 of 20 games thanks in part to the additions of Jakob Chychrun (five) and Matt Roy (one).
Roy was given a six-year contract, and Chychrun was acquired in a trade with Ottawa. They join All-Star John Carlson and first-rounder Rasmus Sandin in a suddenly improved defense.
Offensively, Washington, which ranked 28th in scoring last year, added forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh.
Those four have combined for 13 goals so far this season, and Washington is tied for first in the NHL with 4.05 goals per game.
–Field Level Media
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