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    David Dwork
    David Dwork
    Dec 13, 2023, 13:00

    Florida finished the game with 24 shots against the Kraken on 61 attempts

    Florida finished the game with 24 shots against the Kraken on 61 attempts

    Playing a strong road game wasn’t enough to get the Florida Panthers over the hump on Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken.

    Florida had a hard time getting pucks on Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord and couldn’t win the special teams battle when the game hung in the balance.

    A tight, low scoring game quickly got out of hand during the third period as Seattle skated to a 4-0 win. 

    The Cats will move on quickly, with a game in Vancouver coming up on Thursday, and hope that the defeat is just a bump in the road.

    Now to the three takeaways.

    Failed shots on net

    The Panthers finished Tuesday’s game with just 24 shots on goal, well below their season average of 34.0, which is good for second-best in the NHL.

    Florida’s 24 shots came on 61 shot attempts, including 19 that missed the net and another 18 that were blocked.

    Seattle may have been playing on their heels for much of the night, but they did many of the little things correctly and ultimately got the last laugh.

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    “We got a third of our shots blocked and a third of our shots missed the net, and so a big chunk of our offense just never got to their net,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “It was a tight game, they played real hard. They battled hard. A couple miscues and they were in our net.”

    Power play struggles continued

    Florida was given three power play opportunities during the first half of Thursday’s game. Two of them came during the scoreless first period and the third was granted shortly after the Kraken opened the scoring early in the middle frame.

    The Panthers came up empty on all three.

    Picking up a goal on any one of those chances would likey have changed the trajectory of the game, but instead, the momentum just kept building for goalie Joey Daccord and the Kraken.

    Still, Maurice didn’t seem overly concerned that the power play isn’t going to eventually get going.

    “We’re a little tight back there, there's no doubt about it,” said Maurice. “We're squeezing the sticks and not moving the puck or our feet particularly quick. I don't think we've relied on our power play a whole heck of a lot in the first third of the season, which for me is a good thing. We have a pretty good five on five team right now and a pretty good penalty killing team. Usually what happens is you'll get to a frustration point on it. It'll break loose and you'll feel pretty good.”

    Bob solid in loss

    He didn’t face a lot of shots on goal, but Sergei Bobrovsky did a good job keeping Florida in a tight game for much of Tuesday night.

    Seattle’s goals on Bob came on a breakaway, a high danger one-timer and a rush wrister from inside the circle.

    “It's a tough game because he sits on nothing, and his first really real chance is a breakaway and It's in the second period,” Maurice said. “That's tough on a goalie, but he's been so good like that for us all year. He’s been great.”

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