The Florida Panthers hit a bump in the road last night, a big one, as they were rocked 6-2 by the league-leading Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena.
It was Florida worst defeat since they were thrashed 7-3 by the Anaheim Ducks on November 4, while the Avalanche became the first team to reach 50+ points this season.
Nathan MacKinnon, Gavin Brindley and defenseman Sam Malinski each contributed a goal and an assist and Martin Necas and Josh Manson also produced multi-point games with two assists apiece.
MacKinnon’s second period marker was his 392nd, which made him the franchise leader in that category since the team relocated from Quebec City for the 1995-96 season, and essentially ended the game.
Brock Nelson, Artturi Lehkonen and Gabriel Landeskog also lit the lamp for Colorado, which posted its tenth straight win on home ice.
After Malinski opened the scoring just 74 seconds into the game, the Panthers countered at 7:21 when Noah Gregor took possession of a Seth Jones poke-check and came flying down the left wing before sniping Mackenzie Blackwood for his first-ever goal as a Cat.
Daniil Tarasov did his best to keep his club in it as he was peppered with 20 shots in the first period, but Nelson scored at 18:30, from Cale Makar and Nichushkin, to put the speedy Avalanche up for good, triggering a five-goal run for the home team.
Mackie Samoskevich scored the game’s final goal with 6:52 left on the clock, trailing a 2-on-1 break by Evan Rodrigues and A.J. Greer. Greer did the heavy lifting, first knocking the puck past Samuel Girard to clear the zone, then whacking it through Manson to spring Rodrigues. Evan’s return pass was less than almighty, taking away a shot attempt from Greer, who still managed wheel around and set up Samoskevich. The second-year man slammed the puck into the wide-open net to end a frustrating drought.
No excuses, but if ever there was a scheduled loss, this was it. After pulling out a late win in Salt Lake City, facing the cream of the NHL crop with the backup goalie between the pipes a night later was simply too much for this injury-riddled Florida roster, who got their wheels blown off in front of a national audience watching on ESPN. The Avalanche skated the Panthers into ice while out-shooting them 42-25. This wasn’t close. Throw out the tapes and move on to Dallas, another a formidable foe.
The Five Hole
- Noah Gregor’s first goal as a Panther came in his 16th game with the club. It was his second point of the season and first since he had an assist against the Vancouver Canucks on November 17.
- Mackie Samoskevich’s goal ended an eight-game drought. He now has points in three of the last four games. Samokevich was credited with two shots, three hits and a block.
- Carter Verhaeghe saw both his four-game goal streak and seven-game personal point streak come to an end. Verhaeghe was one of four Cats to register three shots on goal.
- Anton Lundell, Sam Reinhart, Eetu Luostarinen, Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad all finished the game with a minus-three rating.
- Florida’s penalty kill went 3-for-3 while power play went 0-for-2.
Stat Card
