Panthers Come Out (Literally) Swinging, Pummel Coyotes 6-2

Sunrise FL –  Looking to start a brand new winning streak following a recent slump, the Florida Panthers needed to get back on track with fast-paced, physical hockey. It didn’t take long for Florida to follow that guideline. Following a pair of brawls to start us off, the Panthers dominated on the scoreboard and didn’t look back as they destroyed the Arizona Coyotes by a score of 6-2 to cap off their last home game before the All-Star Break.

“When your games good, the guys can focus,” said head coach Paul Maurice postgame. “We were fast, set the tone, and then it just got quiet. It was a real hot in the first period and after that, there wasn’t a lot to get too excited about.”

The Panthers’ offense looked as good as they have all season, capitalizing on faceoffs, breakaways, turnovers, and even the power play. On the other side, Bobrovsky was back in business as the Florida defense handed all that the Coyotes could muster as they cruised to an easy win to start up a two-game winning streak.

Fighting With A Side Of Hockey

There was a lot of tension between Florida and Arizona based on the events of their last meeting. On January 2nd, a massive behind-the-back boarding hit by Arizona winger Jason Zucker on Nick Cousins knocked him down.

Zucker followed this up with some swings on Cousins while he was still down. The following day, the NHL suspended Zucker for three games, and it looked like Florida didn’t forget the alteration.

Arizona’s Jason Zucker has been suspended for three games for boarding Florida’s Nick Cousins. https://t.co/W1L5vodmom

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) January 4, 2024

Right after the faceoff, both Ryan Lomberg and Jack McBain took off their gloves and went swinging with both players landing some solid hits, eventually being sent into the box for fighting.

Not even a second later, Jonah Gadjovich and Liam O’Brien took off their gloves on the ensuing faceoff and went at it, also being sent in the box for fighting. Seven seconds in, four fighting penalties sat out two players each.

If you look at the starting lineup that Florida put out, this isn’t surprising to see. Spearheaded by Lomberg, and an absence of players like Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, and Matthew Tkachuk, this squad was sent out to do one thing – FIGHT.

A Comeback As Unlikely As A New Arena

Out of the rip, Florida was the aggressor and dominated the time of possession, jumping to a 3-0 lead 10 minutes in. They set the pace as Tkachuk capitalized on a snapshot that was assisted by Verhaeghe to send a message that they were the team that was going to control the game.

PANTHERS GOOOAAALLL!

Matthew Tkachuk follows up on an assist from Swaggy and nails the first score of the day!

A lot has happened in the first three minutes of this game!#TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/ht4Suy8GNp

— Jake Gibson (@JakeTheEmcee) January 25, 2024

Not long after, a roughing call on Arizona set up a Panthers power play that has admittedly improved over the last stretch of play. As per usual, Reinhart camped in front of the goalie, caught a pass from Tkachuk, and sank his 35th goal of the season. On the immediate faceoff, Sam Bennett stole the puck and flew by Arizona’s goalie for a 3-0 lead, and it felt like the Coyotes’ spirit was taken out of this game.

That’s all she wrote for the first period, but Florida didn’t slow down at all. Another Tkachuk goal four minutes in denied any chance of a second-period collapse and a Coyotes comeback, and gave the Cats a very comfortable 4-0 lead. Arizona is a pretty good team that entered this game with 23 wins on the season. But while they were physical, they were extremely flat on offense and could do nothing right.

One example of this was their inability to capitalize off penalties early on. But the Cats’ defense was very impressive with Sergei Bobrovsky back to his usual self. One final snapshot by Anton Lundell in the waning minutes of the second period gave the Panthers a 5-0 lead into the second intermission.

The pass 🥵
The Finnish 🤩 pic.twitter.com/GuySMfL92M

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 25, 2024

To add insult to injury, the Panthers came out with their fourth line in the third period and still played aggressively enough to best Arizona’s starters. Jonah Gadjovich converted off of a takeaway near center ice for their sixth and final goal, and the question was if Florida could secure a shutout which would be most impressive.

That didn’t happen, as a whole lot of penalties on the Panthers had them undermanned for a majority of the third period, and the Coyotes capitalized on two opportunities to finally get on the scoreboard but Florida still wrapped up with a final score of 6-2.

Howling At The Statistics

The statistics are…weird. They would make you think that this game was closer than it was, with only a 43-33 shot difference in favor of Florida, but that can be credited to how well their defense performed. What’s crazy to look at is the penalties, with the Cats recording 15 and the Coyotes with 12. That totals 66 minutes of total time with players in the penalty box – an absurdly high number against a pair of bitter teams.

Tkachk balled out with two goals and an assist to nab three points on the night. Cater Verhaghe had himself a hat trick for assists with three total, making himself involved with half of Florida’s goals on the night. But the biggest nod has to be given to Bobrovsky who bounced back for 31 saves including five on the power play. There were a handful of takeaways by Arzona with Bob as the last line of defense, and he never disappointed.

With all that said, the Panthers now stand with a 29-14-4 record and are still sitting comfortably in second place in the Atlantic Division just behind Boston. They’ll start up a two-game road trip against both the Pittsburgh Penguins (Friday, January 26th) and the New York Islanders (Saturday, January 27th) before heading to Toronto for the NHL All-Star Weekend in early February.