The Florida Panthers had their 6 game point streak and 3 game win streak snapped in brutal fashion Saturday night as they fell to the Boston Bruins 4-0 at home. Boston’s offensive pressure was too much for the Florida defense and the Panther offense fell silent, a bad combo for a team trying to extend its win streak.

Boston would score midway through the 1st period, early on in the 2nd period, and get two in the 3rd period to cruise to a 4-0 victory over Florida. The Panthers’ offense was non existent in the game mustering 27 shots on goal and getting shutout on 2 power play opportunities. Goalie Craig Anderson made yet another start, but left early in the 3rd period after a collision in front of the Florida net. A Boston player lost his footing in front of the net and slid into Anderson who hit his head on the crossbar. Anderson was able to skate off the ice and was replaced by Tomas Vokoun.

Florida has continued to struggle on the power play, but have been successful as of late despite these struggles. Tonight it appears their ineffective power play finally caught up with them. Florida’s defense was also sloppy tonight, something against the trend of recent games for the Panthers. In the end, it was just a bump in the road. Florida is playing much better hockey as of late, and Boston just happens to be the best team in the Eastern Conference and are currently 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.

After a rather ho-hum start to the season and a tough losing streak early on, the Panthers seem to have solved their problems and found a good stride as of late. The Panthers defeated the Buffalo Sabres last night 2-1 to win their 3rd straight game and improve to 4-0-2 in their last 6 games.

Goalie Craig Anderson saved 45 of 46 shots thrown his way and Gregory Campbell scored for the 3rd straight game to lead the Panthers to victory. The 1st period was a scoreless affair despite 28 combined shots on goal from the two teams. In the 2nd period the Panthers would get all they needed to secure the victory.

Gregory Campbell and Keith Ballard would score 35 seconds apart from each other late in the period to put Florida up 2-0 after 2 periods. Buffalo would score midway through the 3rd period to make it 2-1, but Florida would hold off the Buffalo onslaught that included 18 shots on goal to hang on for the win.

The Panthers are playing much better hockey since the start of November when their schedule got more difficult. Most importantly for Florida, they are winning without their former All Star goalie and their “top” offensive producers. At the start of the season many were saying (correctly) that Florida would need the whole team to contribute, not just rely on 1 or 2 stars to do all the work. Early in the season the Panthers were not getting contributions from a lot of different people. Now however, with Nathan Horton and Cory Stillman out, other guys are stepping up and the Panthers are succeeding.

Now, the Panthers need to make sure that when these guys return to the lineup the players who have stepped forward to carry the load don’t revert to their old ways. If the team continues to play the way they are now, when Horton and Stillman return the team can be even stronger.

For now, it appears that backup goalie Craig Anderson will no longer carry the tag back up. Yesterday it was announced that Anderson would start in goal tonight against the Buffalo Sabres, this will be Anderson’s fourth start in a row.

Usual starter Tomas Vokoun has been shaky this season, hot one night and very cold the next. Anderson has been the more consistent of the two and at the moment has the hotter hand as well, making him the better choice right now. On the season, Anderson is 5-1-3 with a 1.99 GAA and is currently on a 2 game win streak. Vokoun on the other hand is 5-10 with a 3.01 GAA.

Several teams in the past have used a dual goalie system to success, including the Minnesota Wild, Anahiem Ducks, and Carolina Hurricanes. These teams have all experienced success and tasted the playoffs in the past several years. By no means does this comparison mean the Panthers are playoff bound, all it means is the Panthers can experience success even while shuffling goalies to keep the hot hand on the ice.

There seems to be further evidence the Florida Panthers may be finding their stride lately as they won their 2nd game in a row last night, defeating the Washington Capitals 5-3 in the nation’s capital. The Panthers used the powerplay and some luck last night enroute to a solid victory, and have finally started getting some wins as a result of their strong efforts.

The Capitals took a 1-0 lead late in the 1st period on a powerplay goal courtesy of lady luck. A Capitals’ cross ice pass hit Jay Bouwmeester’s skate and went past Craig Anderson to put Washington ahead. The 2nd period however would be a different story as lady luck changed sides. Velli Peltonen would tie the game at 1-1 6:19 into the 2nd, and then luck would kick in. 1:09 later on a Florida powerplay, a few misplaced passes by Washington would see the puck take a bad bounce off a Washington player and find the back of the net. With no Florida player within several feet of the puck, Jay Bouwmeester got credit for the powerplay goal, putting the Panthers up 2-1. 5 minutes later on another Florida powerplay, Bryan McCabe (and lady luck) would put Florida up 3-1 after McCabe’s shot bounced off two Washington defenders and into the net.

The 3rd period would be even more interesting. 4:45 in Radek Dvorak gave Florida a seemingly insurmountable lead at 4-1, but Washington wasn’t done. With just under 4 minutes to play, Washington would score 2 goals in 59 seconds to make it a 4-3 game. Washington would pull their goalie to seek a tie, but Gregory Campbell found the back of the empty net to secure a 5-3 win for the Panthers.

Florida’s good play of late has helped to pull them out of the cellar in their division and into 3rd place, 6pts behind division leading Washington. The Panthers powerplay continued its hot/cold streak, heating up last night for 2 goals in 4 chances. Craig Anderson played in his 3rd straight game and got his 2nd straight win, meaning we may have a goaltending race as Vokoun has not been at the top of his game lately.

After battling back Friday night only to fall in overtime to the New York Rangers, the Florida Panthers got another crack at the co-leaders of the NHL’s Eastern Conference on Sunday. This time, the Panthers left nothing to chance, no overtime would be necessary as Florida defeated the Rangers 4-0 on Sunday evening.

The 1st period was a stalemate, ending 0-0, the 2nd period would prove more interesting however. Florida came out gunning for goals as they outshot New York 16-7 in the period. Velli Peltonen, Stephen Weiss, and Gregory Campbell (all unusual contributors) scored within 6 minutes of each other to put the Panthers ahead 3-0 at period’s end. The Panthers hunkered down in the 3rd period to protect their lead, and though outshot 17-5, Michael Frolik would tuck in a goal 1:00 in as the Panthers cruised to their 4-0 shutout win.

Things COULD be looking up for the Panthers, aside from the rash of injuries they keep suffering. Back up goalie Craig Anderson made his 2nd start in a row Sunday, getting the W and a shutout in the process. Anderson’s performance is making Vokoun’s hold on the starting position look tenuous, but in the end the job must go to the best performer. Florida is also getting contributions offensively from several sources which will be key if the injuries continue to ravage the team.