Florida Panthers aim to halt slow-start trend

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How does one figure out the Panthers these days?
When the team was able to score goals early, it struggled to hold the lead. These days, the Panthers are falling behind only to storm back at the end.

Florida hasn?t scored in the first period in its past three games, falling behind 1-0 on Saturday at Buffalo, 2-0 against Winnipeg on Monday and 2-0 Thursday against Chicago.

The big positive: In each of those instances, the Panthers have come back to tie or take the lead in those games.
And had it not been for a late goal surrendered in Ottawa, Florida would have taken points in six consecutive games going into Sunday?s game against the visiting Lightning.
?We have to flip things around and use that game plan early on,?? said defenseman Ed Jovanovski, who tipped in a shot from Dmitry Kulikov to tie Thursday?s score with 2:04 left.
?Coaches stress what we need to do every game, and it?s laid right out in front of us. For some reason we keep getting off to these slow starts.
?It will eventually catch up to you. You can?t keep spotting teams goals. Hopefully, teams are chasing us next time out.??
Tomas Fleischmann is, like Jovanovski, new to the Panthers. Fleischmann, who scored two goals Monday to bring Florida back from a third-period deficit against the Jets, thinks the Panthers are still trying to feel themselves out. That makes it tougher for the team to come out and dictate its own style of play instead of reacting to what the other team does.
In the past three games, at least, the Panthers looked pretty good playing desperate hockey once falling behind.
?It would be nice to have the lead, but it hasn?t happened for us the past few games,?? Fleischmann said. ?We are a new team, and sometimes you have to find your structure. I think that?s hurting us. We?re waiting to see what the other team will do, and it should be us pushing the flow of the game. We have a good team, and we know we can come back. We just need to change our minds and decide that we?re going to be the ones taking the lead.??
Coach Kevin Dineen joked after Thursday?s game that the stress of these games is leading him to the Hair Club for Men. He wouldn?t mind watching his team take control from the start.
?We have kind of proven to ourselves that no lead is insurmountable,?? Dineen said. ?But you don?t want to be playing with that bullet all the time.
?We need some consistency in our play, go throughout the game instead of being in desperation mode like we?ve been in late in games.??

? Matt Bradley left Thursday?s game after getting into a quick fight with Chicago?s Jamal Mayers. Dineen said Bradley wasn?t benched ? ?he did a good job and didn?t have much choice? ? but was taken out of the game for medical precaution. Bradley didn?t participate in Friday?s optional skate, but Dineen said he would play Sunday against the Lightning.

Dineen said Erik Gudbranson was a healthy scratch Thursday because he felt the 19-year-old defenseman was ?ready for a break? after playing in each of Florida?s first 11 games. Gudbranson admitted stepping back and watching the game from the press box was a good perspective, adding that he has been pressing lately.
?He?s seen a lot of hockey,?? Dineen said. ?Everything is so new to him, and he has so much on his plate, I thought it was good for him to step back and watch the game from a new perspective.??

 

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FULL POWER

?I think our power play has been good,? Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said Saturday.
?I like the energy it generates. Sometimes it doesn?t end up in the back of the net, but if you watch quality of chances, we get really good quality against teams. I?m pretty enthused with the looks we are getting. The tempo of the power play and the enthusiasm that comes out of it, it sets the tone for the team, for the guys not on the power play. It?s a work in progress.?
In the last matchup with Tampa Bay, whom the Panthers face Sunday, Florida tied a franchise record with five power-play goals.

?A SPECIAL NIGHT?
Of that previous night against Tampa Bay, Dineen said, ?That was a special night. I think our guys were really clicking, and [power plays were] a difference in the hockey game. It was an important factor. It was a big factor in the game. It will be a big factor overall this year.?

DRAMA TEAM
Dineen said he could use some rest from the drama surrounding this team.
?Rather than be so dramatic at the end of games, I would like to be more consistent,? he said.

LIGHTNING STRIKES
Dineen, on playing Tampa Bay again: ?They?re right across the Everglades. They?re a rival. They are a team we want to beat every single night we play them. We scored seven goals the last game [in a 7-4 Panthers victory], but the game was teeter-tottering back and forth right up until the last 10 minutes of the game. There has to be consistency throughout.?

SHOOTOUTS
Dineen, on the team?s shootout performances: ?It?s something we continue to work on. Shootouts mean a lot of points. We feel we are going to see a lot of shootouts.? Dineen added that the team was working more on shootouts in practice.

 

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TB --Tonight's game: At Florida


NEED TO KNOW: The Lightning lost the first two meetings of the season to the revamped Panthers ? 3-2 in a shootout in Florida's home opener and 7-4 in Tampa Bay's home opener. ? Entering Saturday's games, Lightning D Marc-Andre Bergeron's 13 assists led the league. ? Florida F Sean Bergenheim, who played last season with the Lightning, played Thursday night against the Blackhawks after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. He has one goal this season, which came against the Lightning. ... Since the lockout, the Lightning are 6-12-4 at BankAtlantic Center.

 

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Lightning moving forward on offense




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For the first month of the season, Lightning head coach Guy Boucher had plenty of ingredients to mix into his pot. He might even argue he had too many for whatever recipes he had been whipping up.

For starters, the roster had too many forwards ? at least more than he would like to work with ? as Tampa Bay had 14.

For the first month, there was a little in-team competition to see who might separate themselves and get the opportunity to stick around and who might be the odd man (or men) out.

Rookie Brett Connolly earned a spot on the roster with a strong start and remains a top-six forward, one of the biggest questions that needed to be answered before moving onto the next step.

So, as Boucher mixed, matched and experimented with line combinations to see what might work, he came to some conclusions.

On Tuesday, Mattias Ritola was placed on waivers. Ritola cleared and has since been reassigned to the minors, leaving the Lightning with 13 forwards on the active roster. That's a number Boucher is a bit more comfortable working with.

"If you have a puzzle and there are extra pieces sitting on the side there, it's different than if you are missing some,'' said Boucher, whose team plays a Southeast Division game today at Florida.

"I wouldn't say it's a problem, but it is something you have to manage. Right now, having to manage less guys, it limits my possibilities, but at the same time it certainly gives me more of a funnel to work with. We are funneling down into some areas, power play and penalty kill.''

In other words, Boucher is now paring down to what he believes will be the group that determines the success or failure of the team, plus the roles players ultimately will play.

The top two lines are established and include a combination of Steven Stamkos, Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Teddy Purcell and Connolly. The third line has a solid look with Dominic Moore centering Steve Downie and Ryan Shannon. The fourth line looks to include Nate Thompson, Adam Hall and Tom Pyatt, with Blair Jones as the extra forward for the time being.

Now, it won't be as challenging to get guys enough playing time to keep them fresh.

"It's always tough (sitting out)," Pyatt said. "But Coach did a good job of talking to me, telling me I was doing well and that it was just a numbers game and everybody is an NHL player, too, and deserves to be in the lineup. When it was my time to sit out, I understood, tried to work hard on the ice and off the ice and do whatever I could to get back in the lineup."

Having 13 forwards may also allow Boucher to dress seven defensemen, a strategy he likes to put into play but has not been willing to do so far. That might create the opportunity for Bruno Gervais to see some ice time. He has not played since Oct. 15.

"I want to do that, but at the same time that means you have to take somebody out," Boucher said. "My problem right now is I don't have anybody on (defense) I want to take out and with the forwards it's hard. ? But I think we are starting to look like some of the things we did last year that we can hang on to."

That comes, perhaps, with some more tinkering, as opposed to experimenting.