Last year’s League Leading scorer Evgeni Malkin was off to a slow start. Then out of nowhere, the team started putting wins together. Their next period of games saw the Southern Cats go 8-4 with a season high 5 game winning-streak mixed into the middle of this stretch.
The fans in Southern Florida were talking playoffs again and had hope for a big season. Just as the Championship parade route was being finalized, the roller coaster started falling again. The Cats have struggled in their last four, as they are 1-3 in that span.
On the plus side of this ledger, the Cats point to Nathan Horton who leads the team in Goals, points, plus/minus, shots and game-winning goals.
Jay Bouwmeester is playing much better in his second stint with Florida. His 8 goals and 19 points are tops of any Panthers defender. His 722 minutes played are top five in the NsHL.
Florida is 2nd in the League in goals scored at 2.97 per game. The power-play is clicking on all cylinders too. Scoring at a rate of 23% it is ranked second in the League. The Penalty Kill is going well for the Panthers. Ranked 7th with 87.65% rate.
On the negative side, front line players Malkin and Kyle Calder are struggling with consistency. Malkin is a minus 9 and Calder has just 7 goals.
The Panthers are not playing well 5 on 5. With a special teams ranked 2nd in the League you would think the Panthers would be thriving. But their play 5 on 5 is letting them down and it has cost the team.
The Cats sit just four points above the bottom team in the league. They are so much closer to the bottom then they are to the top. This might be the most shocking development in this season.
This team has shown the potential to compete is there. Whether or not they find any sort of consistency remains to be seen.
