It's early in 2011, and the Florida Panthers have reached the halfway point of their 82-game schedule.
As predicted by the so-called "hockey experts," the Panthers have an uphill climb to the playoffs. There have been peaks and valleys for sure in this season, but several things have been evident.
Their record has hovered within a game or two of .500 for virtually the entire season. But this year -- as opposed to last season -- the Cats have only had a couple of games in which they weren't competitive. They have also beaten one of the East's elite teams, the Washington Capitals, twice in three tries after failing to win any of the six games between them last season.
The Panthers have proven to be one of the league's top teams in 5-on-5 play. Their faceoff percentage, a vital stat in the modern puck possession game, is in the top five of the NHL, a vast improvement over rankings of 24th and 15th in that department the past two seasons.
The additions of Marty Reasoner and Mike Weaver have helped the penalty-kill unit immensely, where they also rank in the top 10 in the league.
On the flip side, the power play has been largely miserable, costing Florida in several close games. While the Cats have been one of the league's better teams in jumping out to leads, they too often cough up those leads in mystifying fashion, suddenly reverting to sloppy play, or taking bad penalties.
Even head coach Pete DeBoer, while praising his team's effort on a nightly basis, says the Panthers have left too many potential points in the standings on the table by failing to close out games, hold leads -- especially at home -- or by missing a key scoring chance in games that are up for grabs in the third period.
It's no secret the Panthers do not have top level talent, as evidenced by not having a player picked for the All-Star Game for only the second time in club history. However, when the Panthers have all 20 guys playing smart and sticking to the game plan, they can be a tough team to play against.
Roster additions such as Reasoner, Weaver, Dennis Wideman and Chris Higgins, the play of rookie call-up Evgeni Dadonov, and the continued growth of Jason Garrison into a legitimate NHL-caliber defenseman have all been positives.
The lack of an elite scorer who can win a game when the team is having a subpar night is the team's biggest weakness, something that can only be addressed with time, as general manager Dale Tallon has vowed to stick with his blueprint of building through the draft and player development.
