Maurice: Oilers will 'put 15 on us' if our defense keeps this up

Paul Maurice was more concerned about his Florida Panthers' defensive woes than their offensive struggles after they were shut out for a second straight game Saturday night.

"Our rush defense is AWOL," Florida's head coach told reporters following a 3-0 loss to the Calgary Flames. "We do that against Edmonton, they're going to put 15 on us, so got to get that sorted out first."

The Panthers have mustered just one goal in their last three games - all road contests - and they've been outscored 8-1 in that span.

"I don't care about the offense ... everybody goes through stretches," Maurice said. "Our rush defense sucks. I've got to get that fixed. Other than that, I'm not worried about anything else we've got going."

The bench boss also took some responsibility for his club's recent struggles.

"It's the coach (who) hasn't found the right words to get them to pursue a different style of game," he said. "I'll find some."

The Panthers are 1-2-0 on the road trip, which concludes with matchups against the Oilers on Monday and the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. Florida defeated the Seattle Kraken 2-1 in a shootout this past Tuesday to start the trip but then the Vancouver Canucks beat the Cats 4-0 two nights later, followed by Saturday's loss in Calgary.

Maurice's Panthers beat the Oilers in seven games to win the Stanley Cup in June. Monday's rematch will be Florida's first time back in Edmonton since Game 6 of the Cup Final, and the Oilers come into the tilt riding a five-game win streak.

The Panthers entered Sunday sitting second in the Atlantic Division at 18-11-2. The Oilers occupied third place in the Pacific at 18-10-2.