Panthers trying to stay confident during slow start

WASHINGTON - - Six games into the season, the Florida Panthers find themselves in a familiar position but facing a different challenge.

A year ago, their 2-4-0 start was typical of a team in transition trying to establish an identity under new coach Bob Boughner.
Expectations were much higher entering Year 2 of Boughner's tenure after the Panthers went 25-8-2 in their final 35 games last season and fell a point short of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So there is some understandable frustration after getting one win in their first six games (1-2-3).
"Right now, we need to be more consistent within our own game and deal with expectations," Boughner said last week. "Expectations] are good. They should bring out the best in people, and we have no problem with that. It's just not getting caught up and looking too far down the road."
The Panthers hoped their first win of the season,
[a 6-5 shootout victory
against the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals on Friday, would be a turning point. But they again had trouble putting together a complete performance in
a 4-3 overtime loss
to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Florida led 2-0 before Detroit scored three times in a span of 2:03 in the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Mike Hoffman's tying goal with 1:16 left in regulation got the Panthers to overtime before Gustav Nyquist's breakaway goal with 1:16 left in overtime gave the Red Wings their first win of the season.

On the positive side, Florida has gotten points in each of its past three games (1-0-2) against the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington and Detroit despite getting outscored 11-3 in the second periods of those games.
"This is a hard-working group of guys and it seems right now that it's confidence," Boughner said. "You get in games and you're playing well and you're giving up leads. You make a mistake and it ends up in the back of the net. It makes you fragile. My job is trying to break that and talk about not letting one mistake compound and make it two or three mistakes. Just revert back to our structure and we'll be fine."
Because of that established structure, the Panthers say the start to this season doesn't feel the same as last season, when they went 4-8-2 in their first 14 games and spent much of the first half trying to climb out of that hole. They were 19-22-6 before they found their stride and got on the roll that almost got them into the playoffs.
This season, each of their six games has been decided by one goal. Four required overtime and three were decided in a shootout. So they believe they're close to finding their game if they can clean up some of their mistakes.
"Everybody knows what to do," said forward Aleksander Barkov, who was named captain on Sept. 17. "Of course, there's a couple of new things, but we all know what to do. In my opinion, we have played a little better than we played last season at the beginning and all we need to do is win games."

There have been some extenuating circumstances that have contributed to Florida's slow start. Goalie Roberto Luongo sustained a Grade 1 MCL strain in his right knee during the season opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 6, and James Reimer (4.27 goals-against average, .867 save percentage) and Michael Hutchinson (3.75 GAA, .853 save percentage) have struggled in his absence.
Forward Derek MacKenzie is out with an upper-body injury and forward Micheal Haley is away from the team while taking part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.
In addition, a sporadic schedule, which had the Panthers play four times in the season's first 16 days before the back-to-back set against Washington and Detroit, made it difficult to get in a rhythm. Next, they play road games against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-F, NHL.TV), at the New York Islanders on Wednesday and at the New Jersey Devils on Saturday before flying to Helsinki, Finland for two games against the Winnipeg Jets in the 2018 NHL Global Series on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.
"I think it's going to be great for our team," Boughner said of the trip. "Even though we're gone all week this week in New York before we go there, it's a chance for guys to get together. It's amazing when you go to a different country and it's just you guys. Usually people have friends and family on the road and guys are going out for dinner with different people they know around [the League]. But when it's just your team, I think it does a lot for your team bonding and your team chemistry."
From the start of training camp, Boughner has pointed to the first two months as being pivotal for the Panthers. They remember well how points lost early last season cost them in the end and don't want to risk playing catchup again in a challenging Atlantic Division against potential Stanley Cup contenders such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, and with the Montreal Canadiens (4-1-2) and Ottawa Senators (4-2-1) off to surprising good starts.
"We still have the confidence," forward Nick Bjugstad said. "We're still confident in what we have as a team. So, we can't get down on ourselves and at the same time we can't let it slide here because we know how that goes with the points at the end of the season. It's going to be important. This next week for us is huge."