It was only a few weeks ago when things felt like they were turning a corner for the Florida Panthers.
They were returning from another long road trip and showing some signs of real positivity, playing three straight solid games away from home, an area they’d struggled mightily to that point of the young season.
After dropping five of their first six road games, including an embarrassing 7-3 affair in Anaheim to kick off that most recent trip, the Cats played quite well in Los Angeles, San Jose and Vegas, only dropping the middle matchup thanks to an incredible effort in goal by the Sharks’ top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov.
Returning to home ice, where the Panthers were set to play 10 of their next 11 and where they’d gotten off to a 5-1-1 start on the year, was only supposed to increase Florida’s growing momentum after their strong end on the road.
Unfortunately for the Cats, things haven’t followed on that projected path.
After starting the home stretch with three wins in four games, defeating Washington, Vancouver and New Jersey but losing to Tampa Bay, Florida has since dropped each of their past three games at Amerant Bank Arena.
“I think everyone wants to beat us, that’s always the case” said Panthers defenseman Gus Forsling, referencing the team’s consecutive Stanley Cup wins. “They get one goal, and they get some energy, and things like that happen in the games.”
“We want to get back to defending,” he added.
Indeed, Forsling and the Panthers are surely frustrated with the defeats.
In each of the previous two – a 4-2 loss to Philadelphia and a 5-3 loss to Calgary – Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead both nights.
All three saw the Panthers surrender late goals, but in different, exasperating ways.
Edmonton scored a pair of empty-net goals that came almost immediately after Daniil Tarasov vacated his crease, never allowing the Cats a chance to try and push for a tying score with an extra attacker.
The Flyers game…well, it was tied entering the final minute, they won the game by two and didn’t score an empty-net goal.
Two nights later against Calgary, Florida’s early two-goal lead was gone by the first intermission, and they entered the final frame down by a pair. Still, it took a Flames’ ENG to seal the win, but it was an exclamation point on an extremely unsatisfying week on home ice that was supposed to be the exact opposite.
“It’s a game of inches,” said Panthers forward A.J. Greer. “When we put ourselves in some bad positions, whether that’s defensively or just in general with certain mistakes that we know we shouldn’t make, the other teams have been capitalizing on them.”
This homestead was when the injury-filled Panthers were going to piss off the rest of the league and reel off a bunch of wins, leapfrogging teams in the tightly-packed Eastern Conference playoff race and setting themselves up for another strong spring, when most of Florida’s injured players should be returning to the lineup, if not already back.
Alas, Florida’s ‘one step forward, two steps back’ routine has come at a bad time.
The standings aren’t so constricted anymore.
Tampa Bay is now four points clear of second-place Boston for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, with Florida nine points back and only ahead of Toronto and Buffalo in the conference.
The Panthers are only four points back of the second Wild Card spot, but there are five teams between Florida and Pittsburgh, the current final playoff position holder.
The good news?
Well first off, it hasn’t been all gloom and doom for the Panthers lately.
In addition to the continued scoring surplus from the likes of Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand, several of Florida’s long-slumbering offensive weapons are starting to show serious signs of life.
The recently-created line of Sam Bennett centering Greer and Carter Verhaeghe has ignited all three players, but if Bennett and Verhaeghe can get back to producing at the levels they’ve come to expect of themselves in recent years, it will go a long way toward the Cats getting back on a successful track.
Additionally, Florida still has decent amount of meat on the bone in terms of their homestand, and two of their upcoming four games in Sunrise are against teams in that five-team mix between the Panthers and the playoffs.
Starting Tuesday, the Cats will host Toronto, Nashville, Columbus and the Islanders this week. Four games in six nights.
Toronto and Nashville are two of the few teams below Florida in the standings, and the Blue Jackets and Islanders are teams that, like the Panthers, are chasing that final playoff spot.
It’s a great opportunity for the Cats to put a rough week behind them and turn things back in a very positive direction before getting back on the road.
Will they take advantage?
Stay tuned.
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Photo caption: Oct 11, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice looks on during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)
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