This afternoon the Florida Panthers used offensive explosions in the 1st and 3rd periods of their game against Atlanta to bury the Thrashers 8-4, picking up their 3rd straight victory in the process. Today’s win makes the Panthers 4-0-1 in their last 5 games, further evidence that the Panthers may have broken completely out of the holiday rut they found themselves in late in December.

Florida was outshot in the 1st period by Atlanta, but finished the period strong, leading 3-1 by the end of the 1st period. Michael Frolik scored at 9:50 on a penalty shot to put Florida up 1-0, but Atlanta would answer 3 minutes later to tie it at 1-1. The Panthers scored 2 goals in the final 1:36 of the period however to go up 3-1. Jay Bouwmeester scored at 18:24 and Radek Dvorak scored shorthanded at 19:49 to finish off the period.

Florida’s effort in the 1st was not duplicated in the 2nd as Atlanta dominated the game, scoring on the power play early in the period and scoring late to finish the 2nd period tied 3-3. Florida would not let themselves lose this game however, dominating the 3rd period in rare fashion.

The Panthers got two goals in the first 3 minutes of the 3rd period, 1:08 apart to retake the lead at 5-3. Ville Peltonen got his first of two in the game at 1:34 and Cory Stillman scored at 2:42. David Booth scored his team leading 18th goal at 7:05, followed 5 minutes later by Peltonen’s 2nd of the game to put Florida ahead 7-3. Atlanta would get themselves a consolation goal at 13:25, but Florida would add another just 1:31 later when Nathan Horton scored to cap an 8-4 victory for the Panthers.

Unlike the last week of December, first week of January when the Panthers could seem to do no right, they are clicking on all cylinders currently. Tomas Vokoun made 28 saves today and was impressive despite allowing the 4 goals. More importantly, the Panthers’ offense is absolutely ON FIRE as the team has scored 27 goals in the last 5 games. To a certain extent, their offensive might at the moment covers up their less than stellar (though effective for now) defensive play as of late. Another good sign for the Panthers is the continued contribution of multiple players on the team. Michael Frolik, Jay Bouwmeester, and David Booth have been on good scoring streaks lately. Booth’s goal tonight extended his point streak to 8 games.