Panthers' Mettle Tested in Marathon Run

Florida is a little all over the map recently, perhaps even streaky, but general manager Randy Sexton isn't letting a recent lull get him down. He believes in his club, and he sees the Panthers contending.

"Absolutely," Sexton told FanHouse by phone. "Washington is a very good first-place team, a worthy opponent to chase, and there's Atlanta, Tampa Bay and ourselves, pick 'em on any night.

"If we get healthy and work hard, we'll be fine. We set a goal to knock on Washington's heels and, it's early, but we're right in the thick of it."

Florida might have the toughest schedule in the league for more than a month, a non-stop slog from Nov. 12 to Dec. 23. The team is playing a game every other night at the very least during that span, with no breaks of more than one day, and many of those days off will be spent traveling. One main reason for the grind, according to Sexton, is that their building, BankAtlantic Center, is a busy one. And much like the West Coast teams, Florida doesn't have many nearby opponents apart from Tampa Bay, so the Panthers log a lot of miles for an Eastern Conference club.

The team kicked off the brutal stretch by winning five of six, with the only loss coming in a shootout. Then the Panthers dropped five in a row, although the first was an overtime loss to the defending champion Penguins and the second a shootout to the Rangers, making it eight straight games with at least one point. Not bad, considering the hectic schedule, although the past five games, the team has been outscored 8-2 in the third period and overtime, a possible indication of fatigue. Florida dropped a 4-3 decision to Atlanta on Monday night when Max Afinogenov scored with six seconds left.

Just about when the busy stretch concludes, though, the Panthers should get a nice holiday gift: Cory Stillman should be back from a knee injury right around Christmas, Sexton said.

Stillman is on a line that has become quite dangerous, with Steve Reinprecht and Nate Horton. Reinprecht leads the team in goals, with 10, and Horton in points, with 22.

"The three of them have great chemistry," Sexton said. "Before Cory got injured, that line was performing very well. But coaches have to find new configurations and other players have to perform."

On Monday night, the Panthers had another health concern: goaltender Tomas Vokoun was taken to the hospital with a lacerated ear after teammate Keith Ballard accidentally caught him with his stick in the first period against Atlanta. He's day-to-day. Vokoun's goals-against average of 2.74 entering Monday night's game isn't terrific, but his save percentage of .921 puts him in the top 10 -- he's had to make a lot of saves, 645, the third-most in the NHL.

Many of those, 98 going into Monday, were on the penalty kill, an area Florida has struggled -- the team is second to last in penalty-kill percentage at 74.5. Sexton said he's surprised by the Panthers' difficulties in that area, and he's disappointed. He expects the club to work all the harder to turn that around.

"I thought we'd be better on the penalty kill," he said, "but it goes in spurts. There's a real need for us to be consistent."

The club, of course, lost one of the better defensemen in the league when Sexton traded Jay Bouwmeester's negotiating rights to Calgary for the rights to Jordan Leopold and a third-round pick, a decent return for an unrestricted free agent. Leopold is among the team leaders in minutes, and he's got an even plus-minus mark.

Florida is officially operating under new ownership as of this month, with Stuart Siegel and Cliff Viner taking over. They're not unknowns, though; both were minority partners of the team. Sexton said he expects both men to be actively involved and, as self-made businessmen, Sexton said, "They bring a lot to the table. They've built successful businesses. They have a sense of urgency, but they're patient. There won't be any knee-jerk reactions."

Patience might be a challenge for a franchise that has consistently lost money and which hasn't been to the playoffs in eight years, the NHL's longest drought. But Siegel and Viner have emphasized that they want greater accountability, better fan relation -- and, best of all for those long-suffering fans, Siegel said that the owners want to establish a "winning culture."

They'll be tested during this stretch of go-go-go action, but if the Panthers are in striking distance come the end of the month and they're just getting Stillman back, that cultural shift might be well underway.