The Florida Panthers put in an all together mediocre performance last night at home, resulting in a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. Florida netted the games 1st and only goal in the opening period, but were dominated from there on out giving up 2 goals in each of the next 2 period to fall 4-1.

The Panthers out shot the Stars 10-5 in the 1st period, but had only Karlis Skrastins goal at 12:41 to show for it. The Panthers were up 1-0 after the 1st period, but that would be all the offense they would must for the game. Dallas came out in the 2nd period and outshot the Panthers 11-8. Dallas tied the game on the power play at 12:33, and with 32 seconds left in the period scored to take a 2-1 lead.

The 3rd period was a closer affair, and Florida actually outshot Dallas 10-9, but the Stars would be the only team to find the back of the net. Dallas’ Mike Ribeiro would score a true hat trick, getting 2 goals in the 3rd to go with his go ahead goal late in the 2nd period. 3:45 into the 3rd Ribeiro scored, and then added an empty netter with 26 seconds left in the game to finish off his hat trick.

For the Panthers, last nights game was an unfortunate way to head into the All Star break. Last night’s loss was the first game in January in which the Panthers did not pick up at least 1pt, dropping their record to 5-1-3 in the month of January. The Panthers have no reason to be too down though, they had gone 8 straight games with at least a point and enter the All Star break in a tie for 9th place in the Eastern Conference, just 1pt behind the Carolina Hurricanes for 8th. Look for Florida to come out of the All Star break fighting, their playoff lives depend on it.

The Florida Panthers can’t seem to find the net when it comes to shoot out situations this season. The Panthers scored late in the 3rd period to tie the Buffalo Sabres and force overtime, only to fall in the shoot out for the 2nd time in 3 games.

David Booth got Florida on the board first in the 1st period with a goal on a penalty shot at 16:29 of the period, giving Florida the 1-0 lead at the intermission. The Panthers would hold the lead through most of the 2nd period until Buffalo scored at 18:03 to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the 3rd period. Buffalo would take a 2-1 lead early in the 3rd period, scoring on the power play. Florida would pull even at 2-2 through Nathan Horton at 16:36 of the period to force overtime.

In the overtime session the Panthers outshot the Sabres 3-2, but neither team could find the back of the net, forcing a shoot out to decide the winner. It was over quick in the shoot out as Florida would have both attempts saved while Buffalo would score on both attempts, giving the Sabres a 3-2 OT win.

Florida played well, outshooting the Sabres in 2 of the 3 periods, and the overtime session. Florida was unfortunate to not score in the 2nd period (while allowing a tying goal) despite outshooting the Sabres and really controlling the pace of the game. David Booth scored his team leading 19th goal. The Panthers did manage to pick up a point tonight, keeping them ahead of Carolina for 2nd in the division and 1pt behind the Pittsburgh Pengiuns for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It will be very important for the Panthers to head into the All Star break on a roll, because upon their return from the break they will be in the midst of a tough playoff hunt.

Saturday night the Florida Panthers were dominated for two of three periods, but still walked away from the game with a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Trailing 3-1 after the 1st period, the Panthers controlled the 2nd period, scoring 3 unanswered goals to steal victory from the Lightning.

Tampa Bay built a 2-1 lead by the mid point of the 1st period before the Panthers would get themselves on the board. Gregory Campbell scored late, at 17:55 of the 1st, to pull the Panthers within a goal at 2-1. Campbell’s effort was undone 51 seconds later as Tampa Bay re-established a 2 goal lead at 3-1 with just over 1 minute left in the 1st. Tampa Bay dominated the flow of play in the 1st and outshot Florida 11-4.

Florida would dominate the 2nd period though, the only stretch of the game in which they played well, scoring 3 unanswered goals and outshooting Tampa Bay 13-9. Florida used the power play to get themselves back in the game in the 2nd period. Cory Stillman scored the first power play goal at 6:39 to get Florida back within a goal at 3-2. Just over 4 minutes later Richard Zednik would score his 9th of the season to tie the game at 3-3. Jay Bouwmeester would complete the comeback scoring on the power play with 1 second left in the period to put Florida ahead 4-3.

Florida put in a solid effort on the ice, with the exception of in goal. Craig Anderson started the game put was pulled after the 1st period in which he allowed 3 goals on 11 shots. Tomas Vokoun, who replaced him in the 2nd, stopped all 22 shots he faced. Thankfully for Anderson, Florida’s offense continues to be red hot as they scored 4 goals and went 2 for 2 on power plays.

For a team coming off a 5 day lay off, it wasn’t the worst possible result for the Panthers last night, but it certainly could have been better. After falling behind 2-0 on quick goals in the 1st period, the Panthers got two quick goals of their own in the 2nd period to tie the game at 2-2. Following a scoreless 3rd period and overtime, the Panthers allowed the only goal in the shoot out to lose 3-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Panthers outshot the Flyers 15-12 in the 1st period and 13-3 in the 2nd period, but after two goals in 1:56 midway through the 1st period, the Panthers found themselves down 2-0 at the break. In the 2nd the Panthers dominated play and would get two goals in 2:51. Jay Bouwmeester scored on a Florida powerplay to make it a 2-1 game. A few minutes later Bryan McCabe would score on another powerplay to tie the game at 2-2.

The 3rd was a tight affair with few shots on goal from either team, and no goals. The Flyers dominated overtime in terms of shots, 4 to 1, but no one could find the back of the net. The shootout was not kind to the Panthers whose shooters went miss, save, and save. The Flyers final shooter scored to give the Flyers the victory.

The Panthers pick up a point from the game, but continued their poor performances following long lay offs in the schedule. The Panthers will be busy over the course of the next 5 days, but will again find themselves with a long lay off after this busy stretch. On a plus note, Ville Peltonen was able to play 17 minutes despite having a broken bone in his left foot. Next up for the Panthers, a trip to Tampa Bay tonight to face the Lightning.

Tonight the Florida Panthers will take the ice in Sunrise and face a very tough Philadelphia Flyers squad that is 9 pts ahead in the Eastern Conference standings. The Panthers themselves sit 1 pt behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the last playoff spot. Now, there is a lot of season left, but a good show tonight will help the psyche down the stretch of an organization who haven’t tasted the playoffs in years.

There are positives to long breaks in the schedule, the biggest being rest. Many hockey players go the entire season nursing bumps and bruises, days off provide an opportunity for healing and rest. The Panthers entered this 5 day break having played 11 games in 21 days, getting 2 days in a row off just twice. The team now begins a stretch of 4 games in 6 days.

On the other hand, time off can mess with the momentum and timing of the team. While the layoff was nice in terms of getting rest, rust also builds over long breaks and the Panthers were riding a 5 game stretch of solid performances. The recent past shows that extended breaks haven’t been kind to the Panthers either. The Panthers were 6-2-0 in an 8 game stretch prior to a 3 day break in mid December, after the break the Panthers went 2-3-1 in their next 6.

In 5 games this season that followed 3 days or more off, the Panthers are 1-3-1. From the outside, a break in the schedule always seems welcome as a chance for the team to catch its breath and for players who are dinged up to get some rest. In reality, hockey is all about momentum and for a team that was 4-0-1 in its past 5, the break could prove to be a disadvantage as players can lose their touch just a little and the team can get out of a groove. Hopefully the Panthers can avoid this and keep their 3 game win streak rolling.