Panthers must fix issues before season slips away, GM says

BOCA RATON, Fla. --The following quote from Dale Tallon is an understatement. We cannot print the full, colorful description of the general manager's emotions after the Florida Panthers' 3-0 loss to the Calgary Flames at BB&T Center on Sunday.

"I was not happy when I left the building," he said at the NHL GM meetings Monday.
The Panthers are 5-10-2 in their past 17 games, five points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division and five behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
They are in danger of missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season, seventh time in eight seasons and 17th time in 19 seasons, not what they expected after making bold moves in the offseason.
It was little more than a year ago, on April 8, 2019, when they hired coach Joel Quenneville, a three-time Stanley Cup champion. They signed goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, as an unrestricted free agent July 1 along with defenseman Anton Stralman and forwards Noel Acciari and Brett Connolly.
Tallon sent a message when they reported to training camp Sept. 12.
"Let's stop talking and start acting," he said then. " 'Oh, yeah. Great summer. Great summer.' Well, now we have to prove it."
The Panthers were in good shape as of Jan. 21. In Quenneville's return to Chicago, where he won the Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010, 2013 and 2015, they earned their sixth straight win. At 28-16-4, they were third in the Atlantic, four points ahead of the Maple Leafs, and eighth in the NHL in terms of point percentage (.622).

But then came the All-Star break, their mandatory five-day break and a 4-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Feb. 1. Montreal's five-day break preceded the All-Star break. The Canadiens played twice in five days before playing the Panthers at home.
"Our team was fine," Tallon said. "We won six in a row. We were playing great. And all of a sudden, we go into Montreal. They had played [a couple of] games. They kicked our [butt], to tell you the truth, and we haven't recovered since.
"We've got to find a solution quickly, or we've got to move on and fix it. But we've got to find out what the problem is right now."
Before their break, the Panthers led the NHL in goals per game (3.67) and ranked fifth in power-play percentage (24.5). They were tied for 24th in goals against per game (3.27) and ranked 23rd in penalty-killing percentage (78.1).
Since they returned from their break on Feb. 1, they're 28th in goals per game (2.41) and tied for 27th in power-play percentage (12.5). They're 29th in goals against per game (3.53) and 21st in penalty-killing percentage (77.5). Only the Detroit Red Wings (.233) have a worse point percentage than theirs (.353).

They traded forward Vincent Trocheck to the Carolina Hurricanes before the NHL Trade Deadline on Feb. 24, hoping to shake up the roster and add depth. They received forwards Erik Haula and Lucas Wallmark, plus two prospects.
"We have high expectations," Tallon said. "We have a good team. We know we give up a lot of scoring chances, but so do other teams and we score a lot of goals. That's the kind of team we are, an exciting team to watch."
He laughed, because exciting isn't always positive.
"It's frustrating," he said. "But we're getting better in the defensive aspects and buying into Joel's system. It's just taking some time. It is what it is, and we've got to fix it."
Tallon said the energy and competitiveness has been better under Quenneville, but the Panthers haven't put it all together yet.
"Some nights it's all offense, and some nights it's just focus on defense," he said. "I think lately we've been focusing on defense, and our offense isn't quite there. Our power play hasn't scored, though we've got a lot of chances. … We're a team that relies on offense right now, and we're not getting it."
The schedule hasn't helped. The Panthers have played 10 of their past 17 games on the road. They haven't won at home since Jan. 16.
"It seems every time we come home, we have a bad performance," Tallon said. "Our travel schedule's obviously not great, but that's a poor excuse. There's something not right right now, and we've got to fix it fast."
Bobrovsky hasn't been the difference-maker he was signed to be, either. He was supposed to address Florida's biggest weakness, but he's 23-19-6 with a 3.23 goals-against average and .900 save percentage. He didn't play Sunday after sustaining a lower-body injury in warmup. Tallon said he tweaked an injury he had been nursing, but it's nothing major.
"Up and down," Tallon said. "Inconsistent. When he's been good, we haven't scored. When we've scored, he hasn't been good. That's just basically what's happened."
Perhaps the worst part of the Panthers' struggles since Feb. 1? The Maple Leafs have passed them while going 8-6-1 over the same period.
"Of course," Tallon said. "It's there for the taking. Now it's up to us to fulfill our expectations."