It’s been a tough few days for the Florida Panthers.
Playing their first road games of the season, Florida has lost each of the past three games they’ve played.
The three defeats have all come over the past four days, and each one saw the game either tied or a one-goal contest late into each affair.
There will be plenty for the Cats to clean up after Thursday’s loss, and they won’t have long before getting back at.
Next up for Florida is a 1 p.m. matchup with the Sabres in Buffalo on Saturday.
Before we get to that, here are Thursday’s takeaways:
TARASOV SHINES AGAIN
It’s now been two strong starts for goaltender Daniil Tarasov this season.
The Panthers were keen on Tarasov when they acquired him over the summer, and now we’re starting to see why.
He’s turned a strong training camp and preseason into a pair of steady outings for Florida.
With Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice and his staff looking to limit starting goalie Sergei Bobrvosky to around 50-55 starts, having a reliable backup is a must if Florida wants to keep Bob fresh for what they hope is another long playoff run.
“He's been great,” Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues said of Tarasov. “I think we all kind of expected it, seeing him in preseason, training camp, stuff like that. He’s given us a chance (every game) and we haven't supported him too great in his two starts. But yeah, I don't think any of us are surprised.”
NOT MUCH LEFT IN THE TANK
Playing their third road game in four nights, the Panthers had a rough time finding their legs late in Thursday’s game.
To the Devils’ credit, they look to play a similar style to Florida and did a good job of limiting the Panthers time and space.
At the same time, Jersey also utilized their time with the puck and kept Tarasov very busy. If not for him, the game could have gotten away from Florida far sooner.
“He was fantastic,” said Maurice. “A lot of lateral plays that he got across on and gave us a chance to stay in that game, especially in the back half of that game when the wheels fell off the cart for us. We didn't have much we could do, and he was great, so that's a great sign for us.”
TOO MANY BLOCKED SHOTS
One area that the Panthers will be looking to improve on is in the shots on goal department.
Florida put up only 21 and 22 shots in Detroit and New Jersey, respectively, which is a low number for this team.
It doesn’t help that over the two games, the Red Wings and Devils blocked over 40 of the Panthers shot attempts.
“You’ve got to get near the net, to start, and then you’ve got to get a puck near the net,” said Maurice. “I think we had 23 blocked tonight, 25 blocked last night, so either heat ‘em up or get ‘em by them, one of the two.”
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Photo caption: Oct 16, 2025; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers during the third period at Prudential Center. (Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images)