It's hard to conceive of a world where the Florida Panthers are one point above the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division standings. But thanks to Florida's latest four-game win streak, the Panthers have leapfrogged over the Lightning and are now tied with the Boston Bruins in points with 28.
NHL scores 2015: Panthers push past Predators for 4th win in a row
Florida hasn’t had a winning streak this long in two years.
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
For the Panthers, this string of wins is their longest of the season, and it's coming off solid offensive play and very timely goaltending. While their 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators, Thursday evening wasn't the prettiest of efforts. With just 16 shots on goal, a 32-save effort from netminder Roberto Luongo was all the difference needed to keep the streak alive. In fact, this Panthers win streak is the longest they've had in two seasons. And to think last season the Panthers were in the playoff hunt until one of the very last weeks without a win streak over four games.
#FlaPanthers top host #Preds to extend winning streak to four games; longest since Peter Horachek's guys won five in 2013.
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) December 4, 2015 While Florida's offense hasn't exploded for more than three goals in a game during this streak, and the Panthers are missing Nick Bjugstad and Dmitry Kulikov due to injury so the fact they've mustered up sustainable offense is a good sign. On the flip side, besides their first win of the streak against the Islanders, Luongo and the defense have only given up one goal a game. Luongo himself has sustained above a .920 save percentage over this streak, padding the netminder's stats while helping the Panthers to wins over scoring threats in the Islanders, Red Wings, Blues and Predators.
Even more impressive for the Panthers is three of the four wins have come during Florida’s five game road trip, their longest of the season so far. To hold their opponents to one goal on the road while missing some offensive firepower is quite a feat, especially for Florida, who waver in and out of playoff bubble team and basement dweller often throughout the season.
Two games remain on the Panthers road trip, against the bottom end of the Metropolitan Division in the Blue Jackets and Devils, so a sweep remains an option. Improving on their 16-shot performance Thursday is a priority, but it's very possible the Panthers can come away from the first week of December on a six-game win streak if Luongo continues to stay hot.
Scores
New Jersey Devils 5, Carolina Hurricanes 1
Ottawa Senators 4, Chicago Blackhawks 3 (OT)
Detroit Red Wings 5, Arizona Coyotes 1
Florida Panthers 2, Nashville Predators 1
3 things we learned
1. The Rangers are officially slumping
Like many predicted after their rise to the top of the league, the New York Rangers have continued their slide from Thanksgiving weekend in their latest loss to the Colorado Avalanche. In their last six games, the Rangers have 10 goals but have allowed 19. Henrik Lundqvist has not looked like himself, though this latest loss falls on backup Antti Raanta. The stumble has put them tied with the Capitals for first in the Metro with 37 points and taken them out of the top three in the league. A spark needs to be had in their lifeless offense or the Rangers will just keep sliding.
Rangers lose 2-1 to the Avalanche. Now in a 1-4-1 slump.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) December 4, 2015 2. Dylan Larkin didn't score, but his plus-minus is now the tops in the league
Plus-minus might be a garbage stat with the better measuring sticks of advanced analytics, but there's still something to be said for this old statistic. Plus, if rookie Dylan Larkin is leading the entire league in it, he must be doing something right.
Dylan Larkin a plus-three tonight to bring him up to plus-17 on the season now to stand alone in 1st in the NHL. #RedWings #Coyotes
— Stefan Kubus (@StefanKubus) December 4, 2015 3. Devan Dubnyk wins league-leading fourth shutout of the year
His season numbers might not be lighting the league on fire, but Dubnyk certainly gets the job done when he needs to. The Wild goaltender jumped over Martin Jones, Jake Allen and Michal Neuvirth with his fourth shutout that also happened to be Dubnyk's second in five games for Minnesota.
Dubnyk has 9 shutouts in 61 GP w/ @mnwild (NHL-leading 4 SO this season), compared to 9 in his first 192 NHL games. pic.twitter.com/09BmxQz8ZP
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 4, 2015 Impact Moment
After a back and fourth game, Mike Hoffman finished the Blackhawks for the Senators 30 seconds into the 3-on-3 OT.
Stat of the Night
Patrick Kane's point totals this year: 1 2 3 0 0 1 3 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 4 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 3
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 4, 2015 Surprising no one, Patrick Kane tied Bobby Hull’s record of 21 consecutive games with a point. Kane was only held to no points only twice this year.
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