Panthers' nine wins come with a catch

George Richards pointed out this morning that the Panthers' nine wins come with a catch: four of them were against the Jets and Blackhawks.

Florida lost 4-1 in Boston last night, its second straight defeat, and the 9-7-2 Panthers now have 20 points. They still hold the final wild-card spot in the East, but the bigger question is what that spot is built on.

Richards noted that the Panthers have certainly struggled when the competition ramps up, and that this weekend showed it again.

Boston is 13-4-1, first in the Atlantic and winners of four straight. Florida sits 16th in the NHL and fifth in the division, and Chicago, one of the teams Richards mentioned, is 31st with a 4-13-1 record.

Sunday's game wasn't a case of a goalie getting shelled and nothing else. Jacob Markstrom stopped 32 of 36 shots, and the Panthers actually put 41 on Jeremy Swayman, who stopped 40 of them.

Only Carter Verhaeghe beat him, on the power play.

The real damage came from the penalty box. Boston got nine power plays, the most against Florida since Oct. 14, 2021, according to Jameson Olive.

FlaHockeyNow put the theme in plain words this morning, and the weekend gave it plenty of material.

Verhaeghe has 10 goals in 18 games and keeps carrying the offense, as Paul Maurice's praise for Carter Verhaeghe made clear after the win over Chicago. One scorer in Boston wasn't going to be enough against a team that deep.

Can the Panthers reset against Columbus and Detroit?

They should, but the record says this team is closer to average than contender. Florida is 5-5 in its last 10 and has a +1 goal differential, which is the profile of a bubble team that has beaten up on the bottom of the standings.

That doesn't make the wild-card spot fake. It means the margin for error is thin, and nine power plays against won't be survivable every night. Discipline is the easiest thing to fix, and Paul Maurice has to fix it first.

Tuesday's opponent gives a decent opening. The Blue Jackets are 7-8-0, 27th in the NHL, and they lost 5-2 in Buffalo on Friday.

Columbus is 6-3-0 at home, though, so it won't be a gift.

FlaHockeyNow says the Panthers are four points back of third in the Atlantic, and the next two games sit right in that window.

Puck drops Tuesday in Columbus, then Detroit visits Thursday. Two wins would put Florida's weekend behind it. Two more losses would make it three straight at the exact moment the Atlantic gap starts to matter.

Quick hits

PHILADELPHIA FLYERSJoseph Woll is set to start tonight in Vancouver on the second night of a back-to-back, per RotoWireNHL. The Flyers are leaning on him again, and that's a lot to ask on short rest.

INJURYThe Avalanche are still waiting on word about Cale Makar this morning, a day after he left practice in pain. Colorado fans won't relax until there's an update.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFSDarren Dreger just gave fans a timeline on Morgan Rielly, and it's the kind Leafs fans were hoping to hear. Good news on the blue line is rare enough.

NEW JERSEY DEVILSConnor Hrabchak is hinting the Devils could recall goalie David Rittich with Anthony Mantha hurt. The Connor Hellebuyck saga also has a new wrinkle.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNINGJon Cooper says Brayden Point "might miss some time" after leaving Sunday's game in Winnipeg and not returning. Losing the center would sting.