Finally home from a long road trip, and with their losing streak over, the Panthers will look to start a winning streak tonight as they face their in-state division rival Tampa Bay Lightning. Starting a winning streak will be no easy task though for the Panthers as they have a difficult schedule for the remainder of the month that includes 5 home games and 4 road games.

The Panthers face Tampa Bay twice, Detroit, Carolina, New Jersey, Boston, and the New York Rangers twice. Starting and sustaining a winning streak against these teams will be no easy task. New York and Boston are among the best teams in the NHL this season, Detroit is the defending Stanley Cup champ, and New Jersey is no slouch either.

Fortune may not be on the Panthers side either. Lacking offensive punch as it is, the Panthers are going to be missing (at least in the short term) C Gregory Campbell with a hand infection and C Kamil Kreps with a concussion. On the plus side, Cory Stillman is expected back tonight from his shoulder injury, much sooner than anticipated.

The Florida Panthers finally brought their 6 game losing skid to an end Sunday night, oddly enough they did so against the toughest competition they’ve faced during the past 2 weeks. The Florida Panthers beat the Anahiem Ducks 3-1 on the power of David Booth’s first career hat trick.

The game started out worrisome as usual for the Panthers as the Ducks got on the board first, going up 1-0 on a goal just 1:41 into the 1st period. Instead of folding though, the Panthers fought back and at the 4:00 mark Booth picked up his first goal of the game, tying the score at 1 apiece. The 2nd period was all Panthers as Booth scored 6:18 in and at 18:12 finished off his hat trick with a power play goal. The 3rd period belonged to backup goalie Craig Anderson who preserved the victory by stopping all 20 shots on goal from Anahiem. Anderson made an impressive 44 saves, allowing just the 1 goal in the 1st period.

The Panthers were outshot on the game big time, 45-26, including 20-4 in the 3rd period alone. The Panthers were able to contain Anahiem through solid defense and stellar goaltending. The Panther power play went 1-4 and their penalty kill was 4-4, allowing no goals while short handed.

This by no means is a sign the Panthers have solved all their problems. One of the more puzzling issues for the Panthers this season has been their ability to beat some of the NHL’s better teams, while looking downright awful against some of the NHL’s worst. The Panthers still need to work on mental toughness as well as creating and SUSTAINING offensive threats.

The Florida Panthers’ West Coast trip took them to Phoenix last night to face the Coyotes and former Panthers’ captain Olli Jokinen. The Panthers unfortunately continued their run of poor form and fell 4-1 to the Coyotes in Phoenix to extend their current losing streak to six games (0-5-1).

The game started off well enough for the Panthers as they took the lead 1-0 at the 13:49 mark of the 1st period. Richard Zednik netted his 2nd of the season after he poked the puck in following a scramble at the Phoenix goal mouth. The Panthers made the lead hold up until the midway point of the 2nd period when Phoenix began to dominate the game. Phoenix scored their first of the game at 10:41 mark of the 2nd period to tie the game 1-1. Phoenix took the lead under 3 minutes to go in the 2nd period at 2-1. The 3rd period was all Phoenix again. Olli Jokinen scored on his former team 5:39 into the 3rd and Phoenix finished the scoring at 16:56 to win the game 4-1.

Of greatest concern for the Panthers should be their mental state right now. Florida has the talent to do well this season, but mentally seem to be struggling. The Panthers have shown little ability to handle diversity during a game. Last night being a perfect example. Florida led until the midway point of the game, and when Phoenix began fighting back into the game Florida completely shut down and couldn’t hold off Phoenix or mount their own attacks.

The lone positive in this game came on defense for Florida. Despite allowing 7 power plays for Phoenix, Florida kept them off the board on power plays, going 7-7 on the penalty kill. Florida came into the game with the worst penalty kill in the NHL.

The Florida Panthers current free fall continued last night as they opened their West Coast swing against the Los Angeles Kings. The Panthers got off to a very slow start, which cost them in the end, as they lost 3-2 to the Kings.

The final score is very misleading, the Panthers looked as though they were playing a man down the entire game. Their 3 biggest problems reared their heads in this game and cost them a chance to win. The Panthers got off to an extremely slow start, mounting almost no offense in the 1st or 2nd period. LA scored late in the 1st period on the power play to go up 1-0 and 45 seconds later netted another goal to go into intermission up 2-0.

The 2nd period was much like the 1st with the Kings dominating play and the Panthers were stuck in their own defensive end or the neutral zone for the majority of the period. The defense was strong though in the 2nd and kept LA off the board despite another 12 shots on goal.

In the 3rd period the Panthers finally showed up to play, but as usual it would end up being too little too late. Anthony Stewart scored 2:09 into the 3rd period, and despite the run of play clearly being in LA’s favor, the Panthers were down just 2-1. LA would score midway through the period to regain a 2 goal lead at 3-1. In the closing moments, on the penalty kill, Florida would make it interesting though as Nathan Horton sent a slapper on goal, through a Richard Zednik screen, and beat LA’s goalie to pull the Panthers back within 1 goal at 3-2. The Panthers would pull Vokoun but despite a man advantage could not hold the zone and put any pressure on LA and the game would end 3-2.

Florida looked particularly pitiful last night against the Kings. All the Panthers typical problems were painfully obvious in the loss. Through the 1st and 2nd period the Panthers were most often in their own defensive zone and when they weren’t they had only short lived forays into the Kings defensive zone. The Panthers mustered 3 shots on goal in each of the first two periods, but 9 shots in the 3rd when they finally showed up to play. The Panthers were vastly outshot for the game, 32-15.

If Florida is going to make any good showing of themselves this season, coach DeBoer and his team need to address 3 problems ASAP. First, the team needs to maintain some offensive pressure on their opponents and keep the puck out of their own end. Second, the Panthers must, MUST, get better on the power play. They are not taking advantage of their opportunities (they were 0-5 last night) and can barely hold the zone even when they have the man advantage. Lastly, the team needs to come ready to play in the 1st period, not the 3rd. Last night the Panthers looked outskated, outclassed, and just lost in general against the Kings (who are far from a league power).

On a positive note, defenseman Bryan McCabe returned to the ice last night showing little lingering effect from his back injury as he logged almost 23 minutes of ice time. Stephen Weiss also returned from his groin injury, though was less visible on the ice in his nearly 20 minutes.

The Florida Panthers begin a 3 game West Coast swing on Thursday, after 3 days off, and will be looking to end their 4 game losing streak and find their offense. The Panthers’ road trip takes them to Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Anahiem. The Panthers may receive a boost during their trip as 3 notable injured players will be going along on the trip and could see ice time.

Defenseman Bryan McCabe, and forwards Stephen Weiss and Gregory Campbell, were all able to practice early this week and are all expected to travel with the team on the road trip. Forward Cory Stillman, who left Sunday’s loss in Atlanta in the 1st period with facial injuries and a concussion, is still a question mark.

If Stillman misses any or all of the games, Weiss and Campell’s return will be crucial to help the stuttering Florida offense. Florida, as of Monday, has the 2nd WORST goals per game average in the league at 2.27. Working in the Panthers’ favor though, 2 of the 3 teams they will face are not much better offensively. The Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes (opponents #1 and #2 on the trip) have goal per game averages of 2.70 and 2.33 (Phoenix being just above Florida) respectively.

Also working in Florida’s favor, two of the three teams the Panthers face on their road trip have worse records and are lower in league standings than the Panthers. Of course, this will all mean very little if the Panthers can’t find their offense. Stillman’s presence will help, but if he cannot go Horton will need to really step up his efforts and try to carry his team and jump start the offense.