After the 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice made a strong observation for Brad Marchand and company to listen to.
Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers know they are failing to meet expectations in the 2025-26 NHL season. Obviously, missing key pieces to long-term injuries is far from ideal, but Paul Maurice still wants better from his side. Following the 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the two-time Stanley Cup-winning head coach sent his team a strong message.
Good times seem to fade away in an eyeblink for Marchand and the Panthers in the current NHL season. Just when the Cats had strung together consecutive wins, a tough loss to the Oilers rained down on their parade. Following the defeat on home ice, Maurice didn’t sugarcoat his thoughts on the performance.
“It certainly was not a defensive struggle out there. It was a struggle at times, but not defensively,” Maurice admitted, via Jameson Olive and NHL.com. “They had the lead.
They were able to protect a little bit and we had the chance to push a little bit hard. Shots were [13-8] for them in the first period, but we missed the net 13 times. We were in the right end and generating enough but just gave up too much.”
Two things can be true. Marchand is playing some of the best hockey of his NHL career, yet the Panthers’ offense has been underwhelming. The 37-year-old came just shy of matching his career-best point streak of 13 games—he hit 11 straight this season—but the rest of the team has struggled to put the puck in the net.
According to data from MoneyPuck.com, the Panthers register the sixth-worst goals scored above expected mark in the league (minus 12.36). This means the Panthers should have scored roughly 12 more goals this season — 73 tallies, instead of their 61 goals so far in the season. Moreover, Florida has the fifth-worst shooting percentage — 4.59% — in all attempts.
Thus, the data supports and confirms what every fan at Amerant Bank Arena has seen all season long. In more ways than one, the Panthers are shooting themselves in the foot and setting themselves up for failure with their lack of efficiency.
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