Following up on a three game winning streak with another three game streak, this one of the losing variety, the Florida Panthers have done nothing more but shoot themselves in the foot. If ever there was a time to drop three straight games against lukewarm playoff teams, a week before the trade deadline is not the time to do it. Following up back-to-back road wins then dropping three straight at home is not a plan to make the playoffs, no matter how far ahead in the standings a team might be.

While Dale Tallon said the Panthers were not sellers at the deadline, they don't exactly belong on the opposite spectrum either. Florida may make 'buyer' moves, but maybe not as self-proclaimed buyers as we once had hoped. The Panthers obviously need a shakeup, and with no one to triumphantly return from the IR and a major date approaching in 7 days; it seems all signs point to a trade. The road ahead gets ever more precarious as Tallon tries to navigate through this forgettable stretch of games, and while bad loss to the Anaheim Ducks doesn't spell disaster for the Panthers, playoff odds continue to slide painfully each morning. Florida needs nothing less than a miracle to kick the inconsistency once and for all.

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Despite holding the lead for much of the game, the Panthers couldn't muster up enough goal support to keep it, and eventually succumbed to the star power of the Washington Capitals, losing by a final of 2-1. This was yet another divisional game that Florida needed to win to ensure a solid grasp on first in the Southeast, but thanks to some lackluster offensive totals the Panthers gave up the win and are now only two points ahead of the Caps. Florida netminder Jose Theodore was fantastic throughout the whole game and finished with 39 saves on 41 shots, but he had very little help as Tomas Fleischmann would be the only Panther to score.

Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin would bring the Capitals back to life in the third period and Tomas Vokoun would hold down the fort as the Panthers pressed hard to tie it up late in the period. The Caps have now beaten the Panthers in their last two meetings and these games could end up being the difference at the end of the season as these two teams compete for first place in the division. They have one meeting left in Washington, and you have to hope the Panthers can take that one, else things are going to get very difficult for Florida in the end.

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When you wake up tomorrow morning, make sure you check the milk carton before you pour it on your cereal. Apparently the Panthers' work ethic has gone missing. After an absolutely dismal 6-2 loss on Wednesday night to the Ottawa Senators, every Panther player and coach should be looking inward, trying to figure out why the work ethic isn't present every single game as the Cats search for their first postseason berth in over a decade. With such a small and tenuous point lead over the Washington Capitals, you hardly expected the Panthers to come out with an effort so devoid of passion and urgency as they did against the Sens, but that's exactly what we got.

Despite outshooting, outhitting and outdrawing the Sens, the Cats got pushed around, giving up odd-man rushes, breakaways, power plays and generally playing a poor team game. Starting goaltender Scott Clemmensen was victimized early by the Panthers poor play, and was eventually yanked for Jose Theodore, who struggled as well. The Panther coaching staff has to be livid after this game, but they are just as much to blame for the preparedness of their troops as anyone. The Panthers simply didn't look ready to play a hockey game and Ottawa jumped all over them. The Panthers are now even in games played with the Capitals, and still hold a small four-point lead in the division. Another few games like this, though, and that lead will disappear in an instant.

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Believe me when I say it's been a while. While other teams can safely coast into a mundane three-game winning streak at ease; for whatever reason the Florida Panthers find that kind of success hard to come by. And never, and I mean never, should one expect the Panthers to rack up two wins on back-to-back day games--on the road. But it most certainly couldn't have come at a better time.

With the Capitals losing earlier to the Rangers, Florida's hard work is showing off with a now four point lead in the division entering in a homestand that will put them in their own beds for nearly a week and a half. Again I must revisit the loss to Washington and remind everyone that the season could have ended there, but with three impressive wins in the games since perhaps the tables have turned for the Panthers. Tonight the Cats scored 4 unanswered goals against the New York Islanders in a high energy game unusual for the tail end of a back to back set. The Panthers roared back from being down in a familiar 1-0 hole and closed out the game without ever looking back. This victory is a just another huge upswing for team morale during an absolutely critical stretch of games.

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Don't look now, but after a bad loss in Washington that could have spelled disaster for the remainder of the Florida Panthers season, the Cats have strung together two solid wins against two quality opponents. The latest, a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils marks the 10th time this season the Panthers have allowed a goal in the first 2 minutes of the game, but this time Florida would have an answer. This afternoon the Panthers beat New Jersey at their own game, taking a lead and meticulously defending it until the final horn sounded. Again we saw another defensively minded game backed by solid goaltending when needed and enough offense to get the job done; it wasn't pretty, but it did work.

So where does this put the Panthers? A loss to the Devils certainly wouldn't have been a blown game, but certainly a chip off a less than bulletproof team morale, while a road win against an arguably superior opponent puts Florida in a much more optimistic position. As the schedule continues to ease up, a winning streak certainly isn't out of reach. Two big victories may sow the seeds of a genuine playoff push, or just be more of the same .500 pattern we've seen of late. Whatever the future holds, a well rounded win over New Jersey ends a 2-1-1 season series with the Devils and proves the Panthers are taking it one game at a time, as they should.

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If it wasn't for a late breakdown in the neutral zone by the first line, Scott Clemmensen would likely have picked up his second shutout of the season. As it was, the Panthers played a solid if unspectacular game and picked up a much needed win. They started the night one point behind the Capitals for first in the Southeast Division and two points behind eighth-place Senators in the Eastern Conference, but ended the evening in third thanks to the Caps, who blew a two-goal lead late to lose in a shootout to the Winnipeg Jets.

The Panthers started out solidly enough in the first, but then took two offensive zone penalties. They limited the Kings to three shots on the two power plays, but were outshot 8-5 at even strength. They came back much stronger in the second period, limiting the Kings to three shots over the period. The Kings limited the Panthers to six, but they scored on two of them. After the Panthers scored two goals on eleven shots in the first two periods, Kings coach Darryl Sutter pulled Jonathan Quick and replaced him with Jonathan Bernier to start the third period. Bernier did not let in any more goals, but that wasn't enough to spark the Kings to victory. Both teams spent more times on the offensive in the third period, but the only goals were late, with the last being into an empty net to seal the victory.

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Given the fact that A) first place in the Southeast Division and B) just a measly playoff berth were both on the line tonight at Verizon Center, one wouldn't expect the game winning goal to be scored 13 seconds into the game. Nor would you expect a Florida Panthers team still quite alive in the playoff hunt to play the remaining 59:47 as if they had already packed up and headed home. That would be the case though, despite everyone up and down the Florida roster acknowledging how important the outcome of this game against the Capitals would be during this crucial stretch of games, they played the game as if they were in a different league. A 4-0 loss can be interpreted in many ways, but usually not as a blowout. However without any signs of life to praise, there is no way to dance around that designation.

The interesting note in all of this carnage is that it's only the second time the Panthers have dropped two consecutive games in regulation all year. Until recently, the justification for believing the Panthers were a playoff team relied on their penchant for gaining points in almost every game, but as the L column fills up that positive is slipping away. There still remain 30 games on the schedule, but only 9 until the season is essentially decided at the trade deadline. The Panthers once-firm grip on the postseason is simply no more as the whole year hangs by a thread; one more mistake and the walls come crashing down. A victory tonight could have solidified the Cats' standing, but a blowout makes the ground substantially softer and far more uncertain.

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Florida seemingly never fares well in the second of back-to-back games so far this season, and tonight's game was no different as the Tampa Bay Lightning smashed the Panthers 6-3 in front of a very happy Tampa crowd. The Panthers looked sluggish for most of the game, punctuating said sluggishness with just enough offense to make everyone think they had a chance to stay in the game. The reality was that the team fans saw against Washington and Winnipeg recently was not present, as the speed, work ethic and overall desire to win was just not apparent. The Panthers could've really used another win as the Washington Capitals topped the Montreal Canadiens in regulation to pull within one point of the Panthers in the division. Florida will have to regroup after this loss and get ready though, as they face Washington on the road on Monday night, and you can be sure the Caps will bring it.

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