A Saturday afternoon game between the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers may not have been the most compelling match-up.
The Panthers had a one-goal leading heading into the third period, but gave up three unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes in a 6-4 loss to the Flames. So not only did Florida lose the game and two points, but only 9,230 fans - the announced crowd, according to George Richards of the Miami Herald - showed up to witness it.
Yes, the Panthers’ attendance woes continue. This wasn’t their smallest crowd in franchise history, but it ranks right up there.
#FlaPanthers announced #Flames attendance of 9,230 is 3rd lowest in franchise history. #Flyers (9,774) bumped back to fourth...
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) November 8, 2014
#FlaPanthers attendance on Saturday: 9,230
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 8, 2014
Quebec Remparts attendance on Friday vs Drummondville: 11,801
This has been nothing new for the Panthers, who sit two points back of the eighth-place New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference standings and had been getting some positive results in recent days, but it seems even worse this year.
They had fewer than 11,500 fans for their 2014-15 home opener, and it’s been getting progressively worse with record lows in attendance.