Reeling Panthers looking for answers: 'It's not fun right now'
The Florida Panthers' playoff hopes took a serious hit over the weekend with back-to-back home losses.
"Everyone is frustrated," forward Brett Connolly said, according to The Athletic's George Richards. "It's not fun right now. But we have to keep pushing and try and find a way to win a game, especially at home. We can't keep losing all these home games. It seems like every game we keep getting pushed lower and lower into the ground."
The Panthers lost 3-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks in a shootout Saturday and were shut out by the Calgary Flames on Sunday in a 3-0 defeat. They haven't won a game at the BB&T Center since a Jan. 16 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
After an exciting offseason, what was supposed to be a special year in Florida is becoming another forgettable campaign. The club brought in Joel Quenneville as head coach, inked two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky to a long-term contract, and made a series of other deals to bolster its lineup.
The Panthers occupied a playoff spot entering the All-Star break, but they've recorded just one win in their last six outings and sit five points out of a postseason berth entering Monday's action.
"We're not playing anywhere near a playoff team right now," Connolly said. "The way we're playing, we wouldn't do anything. We need to get that good feeling back."
With 16 games remaining, Quenneville is doing his best to instill confidence in his group.
"We're going to take (Monday) off, recap the tough moment you're in now, and come in with an appetite to be positive and be part of the solution," Quenneville said.
"I still think there is enough time for us to remedy this. We have to put ourselves in position to win one game, get the momentum from that and go from there."
The Panthers haven't made the playoffs since 2016 and have only two postseason appearances over the last 18 years.