A Losing Formula

It’s hard to remember just how much magic last season’s Florida Panthers team had. The McCabe OT winner in Toronto against his former team. The biggest comeback in team history at home, when down 4-1 with just over 10 minutes left, Florida stormed back for a 5-4 OT win. Exorcising demons in Carolina (they were good last year don’t forget) with a blow out 5-0 victory to jump into playoff positioning. All the dramatic last second ties and victories, and rarely a blown third period lead.

And yet 93 points wasn’t enough.  The one year Florida had all the magic and all the luck, the first time in a decade, and it wasn’t enough. I can nearly guarantee you that 93 points will be good enough this year, but the Cats will be hard pressed to reach it again. Such is the heartbreaking life of a Florida Panthers fan.

This year’s Florida team is too much like what we’ve seen for most of the 21st century, save last season. No magic. Blowing games late, and unable to come up with the crucial goal when losing. Tonight was one of those games that last year’s team would have pulled out. Down 1-0 in a brutally boring game, the Panthers found themselves with a 6-on-4 advantage for over a minute at the end of the game. I tried to channel some of the spirit from last year’s team, but to no avail. Florida passed the puck around for half a minute, and didn’t even get a quality chance at the net. Another big two points out the door for a team that can’t afford to lose too many more times this year.

For argument’s sake, let’s say the Panthers need to get back to 93 points again this season to make the playoffs. Last year’s mark of 41-30-11 got them there (it hurts so much to look at last year’s league standings and see three Western Conference teams with X’s by their names that are behind the Panthers in the standings). The Panthers are currently 21-21-8. That means Florida would have to reel off a blistering record of 20-9-3 to finish off the season. That’s single digit losses the rest of the way. It’s really going to take a 5-7 game win streak to make that a realistic possibility, but the Panthers haven’t put together a streak of even four straight in years.

The formula this year is a losing one. Blowing the games you lead late and being unable to come back in the one’s you trail in is not the formula to make the big dance at the end of the season. Florida had it right last season – getting points when you should and stealing some every now and then when you shouldn’t. They just chose the wrong year.

I think they call that Panthers Luck.