The road heading into the new year is starting to get bumpy for the Florida Panthers who dropped their 3rd straight game 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens. The Panthers were undone on Monday night by Montreal defenseman Maxim Lapierre who scored a hat trick to lead Montreal to victory.

Michael Frolik opened the scoring at 5:18 of the 1st period, putting Florida ahead 1-0. Montreal answered at 10:27 on the power play to tie the game 1-1. In the 2nd period Montreal quickly grabbed the lead 2-1, scoring just 1:30 into the 2nd. David Booth tied the game back up at 2-2, scoring his 15 goal of the season. Montreal would take the lead for good 3-2 with Lapierre’s 1st of 3 goals.

The 3rd period was all Montreal as Lapierre would score 2 more goals, including an empty netter with 7 seconds left, to seal a 5-2 victory.

Florida’s run of poor play continues as they can’t seem to play solid defense or get decent goaltending anymore. Montreal’s final goal was the result of defenseman Bryan McCabe being stripped of the puck in his own end. Craig Anderson started in net for Florida but was pulled after allowing 4 goals on 20 shots.

On the plus side, Florida is still playing good offense and scoring goals. David Booth has been on a hot streak lately, he’s scored 3 goals in the past 2 games. Florida is young and the team should be expected to have bumps along the way. They are more than capable of finding their winning ways again.

The Florida Panthers again struggled with the Tampa Bay Lightning, losing last nights home and home series finale to the Lightning 6-4. Another shaky outing from Tomas Vokoun, who allowed all 6 Tampa goals, led to Florida’s defeat.

Tampa Bay was ready to play Saturday night and came out firing in the 1st period outshooting the Panthers 21-3. Tampa would get goals at 7:06 and 14:03 of the 1st to finish the period up 2-0. Florida would comeback, showing life in the 2nd period.

3:09 into the 2nd David Booth tallied his team leading 13th goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game. Tampa stretched its lead to 3-1 with a goal just under 2 minutes later. However, Florida would tie the game at 3-3 with 2 goals in 46 seconds on power plays. Nathan Horton’s made it 3-2 and David Booth got his 14th of the year, 2nd of the game to make it 3-3.

After tying the game though, it was all Tampa. The Lightning would score with just 6 seconds to go in the 2nd to retake the lead 4-3 and would never relinquish. The 3rd period was Tampa’s period as they scored 2 goals in 3 minutes to go up 6-3. Florida would get a consolation goal with 6 minutes to go, but eventually fell 6-4.

Florida’s last two games against Tampa have been poor efforts, much different than the style of play the Panthers exhibited for much of December. Last night the Panthers had poor defense and shaky goaltending, much different than their performances as of late. Florida next faces Montreal on Monday at home.

The Florida Panthers were unable to beat the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night at home, falling 4-3 in a shootout after mounting a comeback to force overtime. The Panthers found themselves down 3-1 entering the 3rd period, but came fighting back, forcing overtime with a goal with 13.9 seconds remaining in the game.

Tampa Bay took the first lead of the game at 11:24 of the 1st period to go up 1-0. Florida answered with 1:32 left in the 1st on a Keith Ballard goal. The 2nd period was all Tampa Bay as they would score two goals in the period’s final 3 minutes to go up 3-1.

The 3rd period was Florida’s period to fight back, and they did. At 13:37 Cory Stillman would score on the power play to pull the Panthers within a goal at 3-2. Bryan McCabe would score with 13.9 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 3-3 and force overtime.

Florida mustered the only shot on goal in the OT session, and the game went to a decisive shootout. Florida had a 2-1 lead in the shootout with a chance to win the game, but Tampa would score on its next two shots and Florida’s effort would be saved handing the Panthers another shootout loss.

Florida was fortunate enough to get 1 point out of this game, though it is a shame to settle for 1 pt after such a thrilling comeback. With the loss, Florida falls to 2-3 in shootouts this season. Tomas Vokoun started in goal for the Panthers, but was pulled late in the 2nd period after allowing his 3rd goal of the night after 27 shots on net. The Panthers mounted a pretty even offensive push all night, collecting 10, 9, and 8 shots on goal in the 1st-3rd periods (respectively).

Vokoun’s performance was particularly disappointing as he came into the game having not allowed a goal in 6 periods of hockey. The Panthers will finish their home and home series with the Lightning tonight in Tampa Bay.

Tomas Vokoun reminded the Nashville Predators last night that he is still a top tier goaltender in the NHL. Vokoun got his 2nd straight win and 2nd straight shutout as the Panthers beat the Preds 3-0. Vokoun stopped 27 shots from the Predators, a team he spent 8 seasons with, to earn his 3rd shutout of the season.

The 1st period was an offensive blitz from both teams as the teams combined for 27 shots on goal in the 1st alone. Neither team was able to break through in the 1st, but in the 2nd the Panthers would finally strike. At 13:12 of the 2nd Michael Frolik would score his 4th of the season to put Florida up 1-0. In the final 5 minutes of the 3rd period the Panthers would solidify their victory as Cory Stillman scored at 15:28 (his 7th) and Frolik scored his 2nd of the game (5th of the season) with an empty net goal with 14 seconds to go giving Florida the 3-0 victory.

Florida continues to play good hockey, out-shooting Nashville 43-27 and getting their 2nd straight shutout. The Panthers won for the 8th time in 11 games last night and improved to 7-1-2 in the month of December, tying a franchise record for wins in the month of December. Next up for Florida are the Tampa Bay Lightning in a home and home 2 game series Friday & Saturday.

The hot hand in net appears to have shifted back to Tomas Vokoun, who is re-emerging as the starter for the Florida Panthers after a strong outing against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Florida’s defense in front of Vokoun was stifling Sunday, and Vokoun stopped all 23 shots he faced, including 12 in the 3rd period to preserve a 3-0 win for the Panthers.

Florida had control for the majority of the game on Sunday, using defense to stifle the Avs. The 1st period was nothing more than a feeling out session of sorts as the Avs mustered 3 shots on goal and the Panthers 8, none finding the back of either net.

In the 2nd period, the Panthers would make their mark on the game and take over. Florida opened the scoring 5:26 into the 2nd as Brett McLean scored his 1st for the Panthers. Richard Zednik would collect his 4th on the season at the 12:59 mark to send the Panthers into the 3rd period up 2-0.

Colorado would make efforts to get back in the game in the 3rd period, outshooting the Panthers 12-5, but the defense and Vokoun held out. Bryan McCabe scored his 5th goal of the season on an empty netter with 1:42 left in the game to end the Colorado threat and seal the 3-0 victory for the Panthers.

Tomas Vokoun put in his 3rd straight solid effort, picking up his 2nd shutout of the season and getting his 2nd win in 3 games. The Panthers seem to have left their shaky play on the road as they won for the 7th time in 10 outings on Sunday. Up next for the Panthers are the Nashville Predators at home tonight.