The Florida Panthers kept their unfortunate win-loss-win-loss streak going Monday night, losing to the Montreal Canadiens 3-1. The bigger problem however would be that more than anything last night’s game seemed to be a wasted effort from the Panthers. The team as a whole played well, Tomas Vokoun was stellar in goal and the defense in front of him (despite the fact that they lost) was also good. In the early going of this season it would appear that one of the major issues for the Panthers is a stalled offense.

Montreal took a 1-0 lead with 2 minutes left in the 2nd period after nearly 2 full periods of an offensive stalemate. Florida answered with 12 minutes to go in the 3rd as defenseman Keith Ballard slapped a shot past the Canadiens netminder to tie the game at 1. Montreal quickly answered though as a slap shot from 50 feet out took a deflection and went past Vokoun a mere 1 minute later to give Montreal the 2-1 lead. The Panthers pulled Vokoun down the stretch in a frantic effort to tie the game late, but Montreal was able to tack on an empty net goal with 21 seconds left to earn the 3-1 victory.

Though the score line suggests otherwise, Florida’s defense put in a 2nd straight solid outing, lead by Vokoun who made 31 saves. The Panthers even managed to outshoot the Canadiens 36-34 for the game. The problem however, in this game and the 4 other games this season, has been the lack of offense from those expected to contribute. Florida’s big guns are silent. Nathan Horton, Cory Stillman, Radek Dvorak, and Richard Zednik have a combined 4 goals in 5 games. Stillman has 2 and Zednik 0.

Defensive players, David Booth aside who has been the lone bright spot among forwards, have been providing all the offense. Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard are already paying dividends for GM Jacques Martin as they have combined for 3 goals and 5 assists for a total of 8 pts in the 5 games so far. Ballard leads the team with 5pts.

We said at the start of the season it would be crucial for Florida to get contributions offensively from players other than the big guns. That does not however mean that those big guns can sit back and not contribute. These guys, Horton and Stillman in particular, need to get their motors running and find their scoring touch. If not, Florida will find themselves in an early hole to start the season, one they may not find their way out of.

The Panthers continued their back and forth performances this season with a stellar, shut down victory Saturday night at home against the New York Islanders. After giving up 5 goals on 23 shots against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, Tomas Vokoun bounced back big time and posted a shut out, stopping all 31 shots he faced.

The scoring continued to come from multiple sources as Nick Boynton and Cory Stillman found the back of the net for the Panthers on Saturday night. Boynton’s goal came a mere 24 seconds into the game. Stillman netted his second goal of the season midway through the 2nd period. It is a healthy sign for the Panthers that their offense is getting contributions from all the players on the ice and not relying strictly upon 2-3 guys to do the bulk of the work.

Defensively the team has concerns though. Saturday’s effort was an impressive one as Vokoun stonewalled the Islanders all night, and the team only gave up 2 power plays to the Islanders. This stands in stark contrast to Thursday’s game in which Vokoun was shaky and the team allowed the Wild to convert on 3 of 6 power plays in the game.

Improving the defense looks like it will be a little more difficult than just signing some defensemen. The team as a whole needs to work on staying out of the box and avoiding man down situations. Thursday’s shaky effort from Vokoun was likely an abberation, look for him to be more reliable and steady over the course of the season. There is work to be done, but the Panthers are doing alright to start the season at 2-2.

It is still very early in the long NHL season, but it is clear that the Florida Panthers are going to need a good deal of time to form a cohesive unit and perform to their abilities. Thursday night was proof as the Panthers were picked apart by the Minnesota Wild 6-2 at home.

The Panthers had trouble at both ends of the ice Thursday night, struggling in the offensive third and looking downright dishevled in the defensive third. At one point Minnesota forward Benoit Pouliot was able to skate past defenseman Keith Ballard whose line mate Nick Boynton slid over to deliver a big hit. Boynton however missed and ended up more or less bouncing off of Pouliot who calmly skated in on net and slipped a wrist shot past Tomas Vokoun. No, the defense was not sharp tonight, even Tomas Vokoun had an off evening getting pulled after allowing 4 goals in favor of back up Craig Anderson. The Panthers were also incapable of stopping the Wild power play, which went 3 for 6 on the evening.

The Panthers struggled on offense too. The one bright spot would be the fact that they continued to get contributions from everyone as defensemen Nick Boynton and Karlis Skrastins scored Florida’s two goals. Other than that, it was a less than stellar performance offensively as no forwards found the back of the net and the power play went 0-4.

The Panthers would be best served writing off Thursday’s game as a poor performance, forget about it and move on. The night was summed up perfectly as the Panthers were penalized twice in the 3rd period for having too many men on the ice. The team is clearly still trying to find itself, don’t be surprised to see some more sloppy efforts this season.

The Florida Panthers’ defensive corps received a boost Tuesday as defenseman Karlis Skrastins returned to practice after missing two weeks with an upper back/lower neck injury. Skrastins did not participate in the full practice but was cleared by a specialist to participate. Head coach Peter DeBoer is not sure whether Krastins will be able to participate in Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, but it would be a welcome addition to a banged up defensive corps if he could.

As of Tuesday, Bryan McCabe is still out with his back injury and Bryan Allen and Keith Ballard were out nursing some bumbs and bruises picked up last week. With a limited selection of healthy defenseman, it would be a welcome sight to see Krastins on the ice, even if it is in a limited role as he eases back into full game action after being out.

Florida Panthers’ defenseman Bryan McCabe had a short lived premier for the Panthers in their seasong opening loss Friday night to the Carolina Hurricanes. McCabe collided with a Carolina player early in the 2nd period and slammed into the boards. McCabe left the game and did not return. Initial reports were that he had injured his left leg in the collision.

McCabe was examined at the RBC Center and it was determined that he had injured his back, not his leg, in the collision. Arenas lack the sophisticated equipment of hospitals and initial reports of his injury were wild and varying. Several Canadian TV sources were reporting that McCabe had suffered a “broken back” and at least one broken vertebrae. This however was proven to be false, McCabe underwent an MRI Sunday at a hospital. It was revealed that he has NO fractures but is suffering from a contusion and lower back strain.

McCabe will miss at least 2 weeks due to this injury, which is good news for the Panthers considering the news could have been much worse. The Panthers will miss McCabe’s veteran presence, but as they proved during a fantastic defensive showing on Saturday, they can survive without him for the time being.