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.

Just as he was catching fire this season, Ville Peltonen will be cooled off with a few weeks on the bench. Peltonen sustained a broken bone in his left foot during last Saturday’s 8-4 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers. Xrays have confirmed the broken bone and Peltonen has not skated in any practices yet this week.

Peltonen missed 24 games last season with a foot injury, but he insists this injury is not as severe and that he will be back on the ice sooner rather than later. It is believed that Peltonen will miss around 2 weeks before he returns. Peltonen has 8 goals and 11 assists this season, including 4 goals in the teams last 5 games.

Although Peltonen isn’t a pillar of the offense necessarily, he is prone to making timely contributions in games that the Panthers could miss over the duration of his injury. If nothing else, Peltonen’s absence means lines will be changed and/or shuffled and throw off the chemistry of a team that already faces the challenge of carrying their hot streak over to Friday’s game after having a 5 day break from games.

The Florida Panthers’ recent run of success is due in part to their strong play on special teams lately. The Panthers have been very successful in the past five games at taking advantage of power play situations and shutting down their opponents on the penalty kill.

With the exception of Saturday’s game against Atlanta, the Panthers had scored at least 1 power play goal per game during their current streak. Over their last 5 games (in which the team is 4-0-1) the Panthers are averaging 1 power play goal per game.

Not only are the Panthers effective in man advantage situations lately, they are playing strong, solid defense when they are down a man as well. During the past 5 games the Panthers have faced 17 penalty kill situations and allowed only 2 goals. The Florida penalty kill is ranked 9th in the NHL with an 83% success rate.

If the Panthers wish to continue playing solid hockey, they will need to continue their performance on both the power play and penalty kill. Both situations provide a team with great opportunities to win games and turn momentum. If Florida can keep clicking on the power play and shutting down opponents when they are at a disadvantage, watch for the Panthers to keep playing tough hockey and picking up wins.