SUNRISE, Fla. _ When is too much rest a bad thing during a long, arduous hockey season?
Between the All-Star break and recent five-day bye break, the Panthers had played two games in 13 days. In the interim, the Panthers got back four players off injured reserve and were completely healthy for the first time this season.
They took their first three-game winning streak into Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings, who were coming off consecutive 5-0 drubbings. The Panthers seemed to be teed up for a four-game winning streak before embarking on a five-game road trip starting in Nashville on Saturday.
Instead, the Stanley Cup-tested Kings came out angrier and hungrier while they chased both Panthers goalies from the net en route to a 6-3 rout at a silenced, barren BB&T Center.
There was more excitement in the press box as professional wrestlers such as Tommy Dreamer and Ricky Steamboat as well as Miami Marlins players JT Realmuto and Derek Dietrich took turns hyping their upcoming events.
The Panthers added two window-dressing goals in the third period, including one by winger Jonathan Marchessault, who's battling a flu-bug, and then Aleksander Barkov with 21 seconds left.
Nineteen seconds after a quartet of Marlins dropped the ceremonial first puck, Jussi Jokinen went off for a high stick. The Kings, who hadn't scored a power play in eight tries on the first three games of their road trip made it 1-0 on a soft goal by Dustin Brown that caromed off Reimer's goalie stick at 1:09.
Just seven minutes later, sloppy play by the Panthers in their defensive zone resulted in a loose puck in the slot that was waiting for Jeff Carter to rip past Reimer's stick. The Panthers finally awoke from their sleepy-bye week and made it 2-1 just as their power play expired at 12:04. Vincent Trocheck initiated a nifty tic-tac-toe sequence that went to Nick Bjugstad, who crossed it to Jokinen on the doorstep for a one-timer past Peter Budaj, his sixth of the season.
Then at 14:59, Tyler Toffoli waltzed in for an unimpeded snap-shot that Reimer waved at for a 3-1 Kings' lead after one. Panthers general manager and interim coach Tom Rowe, who earlier Thursday made it clear that he'd love to remove the interim tag from his title, might've changed his mind at this point as he yanked Reimer for a well-rested Roberto Luongo.
Luongo, who had played just one game in the last 17 days due to back-to-back breaks and a mini-slump, didn't fare any better as he gave up two goals in 21-seconds and three over 3:25 on 12 shots of the second period before Rowe reinserted Reimer.
Carter capped off the six-goal barrage with a rebound at 7:31 for his 29th goal, just one behind the league-leading Sidney Crosby. There was no word if goalie coach Robb Tallas and emergency goalie/ticket sales representative Bobby Segin were told to warm up.
The six goals tied a season-high for goals allowed by the Panthers, last done in a 6-1 loss to the Leafs on Nov. 17. The Kings, who had scored one goal in their previous three games, defeated the Leafs 7-0 on Nov. 8 for their season-high output.
"If I decide to coach [the Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald] will be the first to know," Rowe said after morning skate. "If I decide not to coach and that conversation has taken place with [president Matt Caldwell, owners Vinnie Viola and Doug Cifu, as well as president of hockey operations Dale Tallon], it will be a group discussion."
Caldwell said the Panthers will not interview coaching candidates or make a decision on Rowe until after the season.
