Last week, the Florida Panthers had the best record in the league. But following Thursday, they’re on a three-game losing streak.
After a scoreless first, the Chicago Blackhawks scored two in the second period to go up 2-0. In the third period, the Blackhawks scored an empty netter in garbage time to win 3-0.
Jonathan Huberdeau addressed this:
“I think we’re trying to be too cute,” Jonathan Huberdeau said. “Just skate a little bit more. We look like we’re not skating. Just do that. That’s what we’ve been doing all year, and I think the last 3 games we’ve just kind of stopped. That’s not the way we’ve got to play if we want to win.”
The Panthers were held to a shutout after putting up 41 shots on the net. The offense seemed to be nowhere without Aleksander Barkov out due to injury. On top of that, this strong power-play team was inefficient, going 0-6. As for the Blackhawks, their PP unit went 1/3 and the team had more than double blocked shots at 22.
“Their goalie played strong, a couple of massive saves for them at key times,” rookie Mason Marchment said. “Bob played great for us, too. We just need to get a couple on the board for him.”
Star of the Game: Aaron Ekblad (2 H, 2 BLK)
In a shutout with this talented of a squad, it’s hard to give someone a star, especially a defenseman, but Ekblad played a good, hard game. He continued his defensive dominance with a pair of hits and a pair of blocks and attempted to be a force on offense with seven shots.
