Florida had its worst night on the penalty kill in nearly 20 years
It was a tough night to be a Florida Panthers penalty killer on Friday in Sunrise.
Between the abundance of power plays given to the Minnesota Wild (6) or the amount of times they scored on those opportunities (5), the Panthers PK had its worst night in, oh, a couple decades or so.
Having that bad of a night on special teams – Florida also went 0-for-4 on the power play – was the resounding reason the Panthers lost 6-4 to Minnesota, the Cats’ fourth consecutive loss.
Not since 2006 had Florida surrendered five power play goals in a game, something that has now happened just four times in franchise history.
It’s clear what the main topic of discussion was after the game, so let’s get to the takeaways.
Penalty kill blues
There isn’t much more to say about how Florida played while down a man.
A unit that had been so solid for so long finally faltered on Friday, and they did it in a big way.
Speaking after the game, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice didn’t seem to think it was as much about what the Wild were doing well, but more what Florida wasn’t doing that it should have been.
“The things that we were really good at, we weren't,” Maurice said. “It starts with faceoffs, and mostly clears after that. The first goal was a nice play but after that they were just pucks to the net. We've got to clear net front and we’ve got to get some blocks. (Our penalty kill has) won us a whole lot of games this year, but it wasn't very good tonight.”
Missing Barkov?
Sasha Barkov is one of the key components to Florida’s penalty kill and a main cog in the Cats’ power play.
While Barkov is far from the only reason the PK has been so successful this season, his absence was notable on a night where Florida had its worst outing killing penalties since the mid-2000s.
Still, Maurice was quick to dissuade the idea that they struggled so much simply because Barkov was out.
“I don't think it matters,” Maurice said. “I don't think that you can take a player out of your lineup…yeah, he's a great player, but I don't see that as the key piece.”
Lots of penalties
It sure felt like there were more than 48 penalty minutes called on Friday.
There were a total of ten power plays, six for Minnesota and four for the Panthers, but it was the Wild that benefitted.
For the second straight game, questionable officiating would be a topic that was brought up to Maurice poastgame, and for the second straight game, he dodged the topic like he was playing for Globo Gym on ESPN 8, “The Ocho.”
“I just coach the hockey part of it,” Maurice said. “I can’t deal with that.”
A follow-up question asked Maurice if there is anything you can say to the players when enduring a game like that, with so many penalties being called.
“No,” he said quickly, before adding, “Nothing that’s worked over 25-30 years. Not once, ever.”
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