The Florida Panthers sputtered their way to a loss Thursday night in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurriances, falling 2-1 late in overtime. The return of several of Florida’s playmakers resulted in a step backward for Florida, playing a sloppy and ineffective brand of hockey.

The Panthers were lucky to be in the game in overtime at all. Carolina dominated the first 2 periods of the game, outshooting the Panthers 28-13 but only scoring 1 goal 15minutes into the 1st period on a power play. The 3rd period was a more even affair as Carolina played to protect their 1-0 lead. Cory Stillman, fresh in the lineup, would ruin Carolina’s plans (for the time being) by tying the game 1-1 2:30 into the 3rd period.

The game appeared headed for a shootout as the overtime period was a tight affair with 3 combined shots on goal. However, Carolina’s 2nd shot on goal found the back of the net with 43 seconds to go, clinching victory for the Hurricanes.

Tomas Vokoun was good in goal for the Panthers, but as was typical early in the year, the Panthers had little offense to provide in support of their goaltender. Vokoun saved 35 of 37 shots and did everything to keep his team in the game. Last nights loss, I’m sorry to say, was somewhat expected. With all these players returning to the lineup the flow and chemistry of the Panthers was bound to be thrown off. Not to mention the fact the team did better without these guys as of late than they did with them earlier in the season.

Time will tell if the Panthers can get their chemistry back. The team now returns home to open a 3 game homestand, starting with the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.

The Panthers are coming off of 3 days rest and are ready to get back to the ice tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. Most of Florida’s injured players are set to return to action tonight, but two remain question marks. Rostislav Olesz was not able to skate at practice on Wednesday and head coach Peter DeBoer believes his groin injury may be more serious than initially believed, meaning he may be out longer.

Stephen Weiss also did not practice on Wednesday, however he did travel with the team to North Carolina and is expected to a be a 50/50 decision to play. On a final player note, Tomas Vokoun is set to go in goal for the Panthers.

Suddenly DeBoer has gone from giving his goalies a fair crack in net to switching at a whim. For the time being it appears to be effective for the Panthers. After a long spell watching Craig Anderson succeed in net, Vokoun stepped in last Friday against Calgary and was stellar, only to be back on the bench 2 nights later in Vancouver. Goalie tandems have worked effectively in the past in the NHL, but DeBoer needs to be careful not to aimlessly switch back and forth between goalies, ride a particular player while he’s effective, but don’t be whilly nilly for no good reason.

The Florida Panthers are in the midst of 3 days off before hitting the road again to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. And with those days off, the Panthers have time to rest, relax, and practice. As of Tuesday, the Panthers are on the mend and getting some guys back in time for Thursday.

First off though, Stephen Weiss is still questionable with an injury in his upper back/lower neck sustained during Sunday’s loss. Even if he isn’t ready for Thursday, there is still good news. Richard Zednik is back, and likely will be teamed with Kamil Kreps and Michael Frolik. Even better news, Nathan Horton, Cory Stillman, and David Booth appear ready to go for Thursday and will likely end up on the same line.

The question now becomes how will the return of all these guys at roughly the same time effect the chemistry the Panthers have grown and sustained over the last month. Since Thanksgiving the Panthers have been playing very solid, team oriented hockey with everyone pulling their weight to make sure the team gets a W. However, with the go to guys returning, will those who had stepped up recede back into the shadows or continue to give an all out effort for the team? If the Panthers do manage to seemlessly reintegrate these guys back into the lineup, they could be a very dangerous team in the coming weeks and months.

The Florida Panthers had their franchise best 5 game road winning streak come to a hault on Sunday evening in Vancouver as the Canucks scored 4 in the 2nd period to win 5-3.

The night got off to a good start for the Panthers who scored 2 goals in under 3 minutes early in the 1st period to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Vancouver would answer midway through the 1st with a goal of its own to make it 2-1 after 1 period.

The 2nd period would be their downfall though as the Panthers played downright sloppy hockey and allowed 4 goals by Vancouver who jumped to a 5-2 lead. Vancouver tied the game at 2-2 early in the period, but it was the midway point that broke the Panthers’ will. The Canucks scored 3 goals in 2:08 (the first two coming on back to back power plays) to expand their lead.

The Panthers would get one back in the 3rd, but it would be too little as they would eventually fall 5-3 to the Canucks. As if the loss weren’t bad enough for the Panthers, they lost F Stephen Weiss in the 1st period with an undisclosed “upper body” injury. Weiss’ loss to injury further stretches Florida’s bench and will mean more contributions are needed from unlikely places.

Nick Boynton (4), Jay Bouwmeester (6), and Michael Frolik (3) all scored for the Panthers Sunday evening, continuing the trend of everyone pitching in, something that will be needed with Weiss’ addition to the list of injured players. All in all Florida had a great road trip, they just got sloppy in the last game, lost focus, and it cost them. The Panthers will now return home to South Florida for 3 days rest and practice before facing Carolina in the final game of their road trip on Thursday night.

Perhaps the Florida Panthers should spend more time playing the teams from Canada because the Panthers are red hot in the land of the frozen tundra. Friday night the Panthers picked up their 3rd straight road victory with a thrilling 3-2 shootout victory over the Calgary Flames.

Tomas Vokoun looked good in his return between the pipes, helping to lead the Panthers to victory. Calgary got on the board first, 16 mins into the 1st period, but Florida would answer back 2 mins later to tie the game at 1-1. The 2nd period would be much the same with Florida scoring an early goal 1:45 into the period, and Calgary answering 1:42 later to re-tie the game at 2-2.

After outshooting Calgary 22-18 through the first 2 periods, Florida was pinned back in the 3rd period and forced to play ferocious defense to keep the game tied. Calgary outshot the Panthers 17-4 in the 3rd, but Vokoun was equal to the task stopping all 17 shots. Overtime could not produce a winner so the game went to a shootout.

In the shootout Vokoun remained solid in net. After Calgary’s first shooter missed, Vokoun would save the next two, giving Florida’s Stephen Weiss the opportunity to win the game on the Panthers’ 3rd shot, which he cooly slotted home for the win.

The Panthers continue to get contributions from all over as they carry on minus key players who have been lost to injury. Kamil Kreps scored his first goal in 22 games (shorthanded) to tie the game in the 1st period, and Jay Bouwmeester scored Florida’s 2nd goal, while Weiss had the game winner in the shootout.

With the win Florida improved to 7-1-2 in their last 10 games and have propelled themselves to 2nd place in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast division. The Panthers are on a 3 game win streak and have lost only once in the month of December. They will now have Saturday off before finishing their Canadian road trip against Vancouver.