PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 08: Pittsburgh Penguins Right Wing Bryan Rust (17) celebrates his goal with teammates as Florida Panthers Goalie Roberto Luongo (1) looks on during the first period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Florida Panthers on January 8, 2019, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Slow starts have been the norm for the Florida Panthers, but tonight’s start against the Pittsburgh Penguins may have just taken the cake.

In another game where the Florida Panthers said they would get off to a better start, the opposite occurred. As usual, they stuck to their normal game plan which included coming back late in the game. Not against this team you aren’t…

A minute and a half into the game and Roberto Luongo laid an egg. Tanner Pearson walked in on goal and snuck a shot underneath Luongo’s five-hole – a goal Lu himself would love to have back.

Less than two minutes after that and Bryan Rust took advantage of a Panthers defensive breakdown, sliding in a backhander to double their lead.

It took yet another slow start for the Panthers to wake up and get their act together. By then, it was too late and the Penguins tacked on a couple of shorthanded goals in the second to put the game to bed while running Luongo out of his cage.

Isn’t it embarrassing when the opposing team scores more shorthanded goals than you score on the night? Isn’t it embarrassing when you need to give up two goals in the opening three minutes of play to actually get going?

Goaltender Roberto Luongo was certainly at fault for the opening goal, but let’s not pretend like the blowout was entirely his fault. His defense (in front of him) played no better and left him to dry on several occasions.

On top of that, the power play – which has been the lone bright spot of this difficult season – could hardly set up, yet get things going. Instead, they fell to the Penguins’ penalty killing unit, giving up two shorties in the process.

To make things even better, coach Boughner decided to bench Keith Yandle, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Mike Hoffman for the entire third period to send a message to the team. Did it actually send a message? Of course not!

To be fair and honest, the aforementioned three all had bad games, but so did the rest of the team. If you’re going to start with benching a player(s), you may want to start with Mike Matheson – who’s been the Panthers’ worst defenseman by far this year.

But what’s most frustrating about all of this is the lack of responsibility taken by the coaching staff in this entire situation. They play a big role in preparing this team – both mentally and physically – and they haven’t done a very good job at either side.

Ideally, time is running out and precious games are being wasted by embarrassing performances night in and night out.

There comes a point where you have to look at yourself in the mirror and be honest with yourself. Because in the end, feeding yourself the same lies doesn’t help anyone – it only hurts you.

This team is fooling itself if they believe they are one or two pieces away from sniffing the postseason. They aren’t and if there’s anything I can conclude upon it’s how disappointed I am with the play and results I’ve seen all season.

Brace yourselves (Panthers fans), it’s going to be a long, yet weary ride to the end of the season. I hope you can manage!

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