FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Good hockey teams win games because of their stars. Great hockey teams win titles because of the guys who fly under the radar. 

Look at recent championship teams — what did they have? Yes, they all had elite goal scorers or Norris caliber defenseman. Great Goaltending? You bet. But what played a pivotal role for teams like Tampa, Colorado or Vegas win the Stanley Cup? Their depth. 

The ability to confidently and consistently roll four lines all game is a luxury that not every team has, but it’s needed if you want any hope of winning the Stanley Cup. 

“I think, it seems to be the deciding factor in almost any series,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said on the importance of a team’s depth in the postseason.

A day before the Florida Panthers were set to take the ice for Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Anton Lundell took the ice — dawning his baby blue Panthers practice jersey. 

Unlike the other forwards, who wear white (top six), or dark blue jerseys (fourth-line, scratches), Lundell and his third line companions  — Eetu Luostarinen and Evan Rodrigues — stood out in their bright Panthers attire. 

The distinctive uniform color was nothing more than a way to separate one line from another, but the variance of the jersey aligns with the role that’s bestowed upon the ones who wear it — it’s unique. 

The top-six on the Panthers — really on most teams — is where you expect the bulk of the offense to come from. The fourth line is where you’d like to see your grinders generate some energy, whether that’s laying a big hit or disrupting the flow of the opposition. 

So what’s the role of the third line?

On the Panthers, it’s a little bit of everything. 

“The elite players are elite on both sides, there’s no advantage to one or the other, they’re just great,” Maurice said. “But It’s the third line, it’s the guys that come out third. They’re going to play against the top two [lines] at some point. And then you need an advantage somewhere in your lineup. So if it’s true that the first two lines saw off, then you’re looking for that third line advantage.”

Anton Lundell will be playing in his third Stanley Cup Playoffs — in as many years as he’s been in the league. The 22-year-old was heavily relied on by the Panthers on their run to the Stanley Cup Final last season. 

“I saw last year, it was no problem to play against whoever,” Lundell told Five Reasons Sports. “I saw I’m able to play great and it felt like I played the best hockey of my life in the finals and the playoffs. 

A year after putting up 10 points in 21 playoff games as a 21-year-old, he will once again command the middle of the ice as the Panthers’ third-line center come Sunday’s Game 1. 

Alongside him will be another Finn, Eetu Luostarinen, who has basically been glued to Lundell’s wing since last year’s postseason. First-year Panther Evan Rodrigues is the other piece to Florida’s third-line puzzle.  

“I’m going to put a lot of pressure on those guys tomorrow morning (Game 1),” Maurice smiled. 

The identity of the line is almost congruent to the roles of the three who will start the playoffs on it. 

Lundell has often been the guy to center the top line when Panthers captain Aleksandeer Barkov is out of the lineup. Luostarinen has bounced around numerous lines and positions since joining the Panthers in the 2020-2021 season and Rodrigues has been stapled to basically every line combination in the top-nine, all of which were fairly successful.

Like a Swiss Army knife, the three have more tools than you originally thought you needed, but in the end, they’ll be heavily relied on.

The Panthers will look to get off on the right foot this Sunday as they begin their playoff journey against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Sunrise. 

Expect to see Paul Maurice roll out his third line quite frequently as they face off against their cross-state rivals. 

The task at hand won’t be easy, as the Panthers have yet to beat the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions (2020,2021) in the postseason, but with their experience from last year’s run to the final — it should be a different ball game in this rendition of the Battle of Florida. 

“We remember a couple of years ago how our season ended (by the hands of Tampa),” Lundell said. “It’s a new series, it starts from nothing, 0-0. We want to take the charge in this series.”

The Florida Panthers are rolling and the league is taking notice.

Last season’s run to the Stanley Cup Final was an unlikely one for the Panthers.

They got in as an eighth seed, by one point and had to upset the Presidents’ Trophy winning Bruins in Game 7 of the first-round. Everyone knows that story, yet, the Panthers weren’t really garnering as much national attention ahead of the 2023-24 season as you’d expect for the defending Eastern Conference champions.

That’s certainly not the case anymore. 

On Monday night, the Panthers won another statement game, defeating the New York Rangers — a cup contender in their own right — 4-2 at Madison Square Garden. 

With 20 games left in the regular season, the attention of the league is once again swinging towards Sunrise as the Panthers sit atop the NHL. 

It’s quite evident that last year’s playoff run, specifically losing in the finals, has had an effect on the current Panthers team. 

“We know what it takes in the playoffs, how hard you need to play. Every shift, every game,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said after Monday night’s win in New York. “That’s what we’re trying to replicate in these games.”

They play hard, fast, aggressive, on the edge. Some have called them “villains” — which isn’t a bad thing. Others have called them “dirty”. None of those outside comments have mattered much to the team. The one thing that’s constant for the Panthers has been their style of play — playoff brand hockey.

It’s extremely hard to win in the playoffs whilst playing a run and gun game, which was the story of the 2021-22 Presidents’ Trophy Panthers who were swept in round 2 by the Lightning.  

When head coach Paul Maurice took over the reins ahead of last season in Sunrise, it took some time before the team could really buy into a defensive first approach to the game. Once they did, Florida began their miracle run to just sneak into the postseason.

The present day’s edition of the Florida Panthers has a lot of the cup final team’s style, sprinkled in with the offense from two years ago.

Defensive mindset first, the Panthers have been a scary team for opposing offenses to play. 

They have allowed two or fewer goals in 16 of their last 17 games — holding a 15-2-0 record across that span.

Goaltending has been elite all season. With 2.35 goals allowed per game, Florida is the No. 1 in the league in that category. 

The defense has also done a spectacular job at decreasing the workload for Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz, allowing 27.6 shots allowed per game — second fewest in the league. 

Two games into their current road trip, the Panthers have outscored their opponents 8-2, defeating the Rangers and Red Wings — both of whom are trending for the postseason.

As for offense, they’ve been rolling in that category as well, in large part because of Sam Reinhart’s contributions. 

Reinhart has been lighting up the NHL all season, his 44 goals is second most in the league — third most in Panthers history. Reinhart, 28, has five goals in his past three games.

“Sam’s been brilliant. He’s a fantastic player for us,” Maurice said. 

Like Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe has been pushing the offense as well with 30 goals on the season. Matthew Tkachuk has been phenomenal since the end of December, scoring 46 of his 68 points since Dec. 23 (29 games).

Then there’s Barkov. 

Florida’s captain has had yet another standout year defensively and should have his name in the Selke conversation once the season is done. The offensive numbers don’t necessarily jump out, but he’s still over a point-per-game with 62 points in 56 appearances. 

On Monday night, under the bright lights of MSG, Barkov had the hockey world in awe after pulling off one of the craziest moves leading to a goal you’ll ever see.

He juggled the puck in the air, flicked it around Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller, then corralled the puck once more while falling down before laying a perfect pass to Sam Reinhart who buried away the perfect assist. 

WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE PASS FROM ALEKSANDER BARKOV! 😱

Is it the pass of the year? pic.twitter.com/AI0EsKvbrV

— NHL (@NHL) March 5, 2024

“[I’m] still shocked. It’s crazy, he doesn’t even understand how sick it was,” Ryan Lomberg said of Barkov’s play. “He’s so nonchalant that to him, it’s just another assist because that’s how he carries himself. Being able to watch that live and seeing the team’s reaction, it was a pretty sweet goal.”

As Barkov went viral around the league for that play, the Panthers latest swing — with a 4-0 win on national television over Detroit and 4-2 win over the powerhouse Rangers — the attention is once again swarming towards the guys in South Florida.

The goal, as Lomberg said, was “pretty sweet”. The same could be said about the Panthers season. There’s been a lot of trending upwards and team’s have people have taken notice with the playoffs are just a month away.

With the best record in the NHL, a top offense, defense and two goalies who can’t stop winning, Florida is in the driver’s seat and they don’t look like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

The Florida Panthers keep on rolling.

Since the end of December, the Panthers have played their best hockey of the season.

After Tuesday night’s commanding 5-1 win in St. Louis, Florida extended their season best winning streak to eight games — with the past four coming on the road against Western Conference opponents. 

The Panthers last loss came on Dec. 21, ironically, it was to the St. Louis Blues. That 4-1 defeat in Sunrise was Florida’s fourth loss in their last five games. To make matters worse, they had scored just two goals over those four losses. 

Sitting at 18-12-2, with a decent string of losses under their belt, the schedule ahead didn’t look to be any more forgiving for the Panthers. The defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights return to Sunrise was next on the skid. 

But the Panthers didn’t waver when the guys who “ruined their summer” came to town — defeating them 4-2 in what could be looked back on as a statement win for the Cats.

Back to the present, the Panthers picked up seven straight wins after Vegas, defeating many of the league’s better teams like the Avalanche, Rangers, Lightning, and Knights again.

“I think we were struggling a bit, both mentally and physically through the grind. Getting back from those two long road trips in December,” Sam Reinhart said last weekend. “It was nice to be able to regroup over Christmas and come out strong.”

Florida now has 54 points, with a 26-12-2 record. They are just one game back of Boston for first in the East.

They are in a spectacular position at this point of the season, and there should be even more satisfaction considering last season they were 11th in the East on January 9th last season, with just 40 points in 41 games. They’d still end up making it to the Stanley Cup Final despite the bad start. 

So what’s clicked over the win streak? 

Well, a huge jolt has come from Matthew Tkachuk, who completely flipped the switch since the streak began.

Tkachuk had a slower start than what was initially expected of the superstar who was coming off a 109 point regular season and an unbelievable playoff run. But, it would be a disservice to Tkachuk if we didn’t acknowledge that he had broken his sternum, and played through it, back in June during the Stanley Cup Final. 

Prior to the Dec. 23 contest against the Knights, Tkachuk had just 22 points in 32 games — a bit alarming for last season’s Hart Trophy Finalist. Since that night, which began Florida’s winning streak, Tkachuk leads the Panthers in scoring with 17 points over the last eight games. 

“I haven’t changed anything. Maybe they’re just going in a little bit more,” Tkachuk told Bally Sports’ Katie Engelson.  “I haven’t changed one thing with my routine or how I prepare for games. I guess I was just waiting to get to 2024.”

He quickly clawed up to 39 points in 40 games — picking up a natural hat trick in his latest outing against his hometown Blues. But, Tkachuk is not the only Panther to shine of late.

While Tkachuk has been stacking points, Sam Reinhart has continued to fill the net with pucks.

Reinhart has led the Panthers in goals virtually the entire season and the 28-year-old forward has shown no signs of slowing down.

During the eight-game win streak, Reinhart scored 11 goals, putting him at 29 on the season — second most in the NHL. 

Reinhart is on pace to shatter his previous career high of 33 goals — whilst in the middle of a contract year. 

Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe have both had great offensive numbers as well. They both grabbed 14 points in their last eight, with Verhaeghe riding a six game point streak. 

Now just one game shy of the halfway mark of the season, the Panthers are currently tied for the longest active winning streak in hockey (Edmonton, 8). 

Everything is clicking for Florida at the moment. Their stars are performing at an elite level, both goaltenders have been more than solid and they have picked up five of their last eight wins on the road. 

The Panthers will return to Sunrise for the first time since the new year and they’ll be more than happy as nine of their next 12 games are at home.

SUNRISE — When Bill Zito took over the keys to the Panthers’ ship in the summer of 2020, the first move he made was bringing in Patric Hornqvist from Pittsburgh. 

Fast forward three years, the culture is different in South Florida compared to that of pre Zito’s arrival.. The Panthers brought in high-profile players, won the Presidents’ Trophy and most recently, went to the Stanley Cup Final.

Why has that culture changed, what caused a shift? When you talk to those within the organization today, they aren’t shy about giving Patric Hornqvist his share of the flowers. 

“He kind of makes you want to be a better person,” Bill Zito said when talking about Hornqvist on Friday. “Did I give as much to whatever it is I’m doing, to the Panthers, as that guy did? And you’re probably going to fall short.”

Last season, Hornqvist would end up playing the last game of his career on Dec. 3, 2022 after suffering a concussion in Seattle. While that would be his last game, it wouldn’t be the last time we saw Hornqvist on the ice. 

Hornqvist still joined in on practices with the team, skated with the injured players and was with them every step of the way as they made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Knowing he probably wouldn’t play again, he still put in the extra effort to work hard alongside his teammates. 

“He forces you to be better,” Zito continued. “He forces all of us to be better at what we do.”

Hornqvist, 36, decided to hang up the skates over the summer. Despite stepping away from the ice, he stayed near the game and the team, joining the Panthers hockey operations department as a scouting and development consultant. 

Even in his hockey ops role, Hornqvist still gets on the ice here and there to skate with the injured players, or give a few warm up shots to his buddy Sergeie Bobrovsky.

“He set the bar,” is how fellow Swede and Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling described Hornqvist’s work ethic.

This past Friday, with the Penguins in town, the Panthers honored Hornqvist before the game. Video tributes played throughout the game, with messages from former teammates such as Shea Weber, Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Radko Gudas and more.

Hornqvist’s former captains, Aleksander Barkov and Sidney Crosby, lined up alongside him and his family for the ceremonial puck drop. 

“He just worked so hard and he brought out the best in everybody,” Sidney Crosby said in the video tribute dedicated to Hornqvist. “He would expect a lot of himself. But also, he earned every single thing he accomplished in his career.”

The Swedish forward’s career began as the 230th and final pick of the 2005 NHL Draft. It ended as one that many could only dream to replicate. 15 seasons in the NHL. Two-time Stanley Cup champion — scoring the cup winning goal in 2017. He won a World Championship with Sweden in 2018, while also representing them in the Olympics and World Cup of Hockey.

Both Panthers coach Paul Maurice and Penguins coach Mike Sullivan had similar comments regarding Hornqvist this week — he was someone you wanted to be around.

“He had an energy about him that was contagious,” Sullivan said.  

“He brought an energy and a communication level,” Maurice smiled. “He never shut up.” 

A joyful Hornqvist approached the podium at Amerant Bank Arena during the first intermission on Friday to address both Panthers and Penguins media, many of whom covered the career of his that was being honored that night.

“It means alot for me and my family, and it says alot about the Panthers organization to really celebrate my timeline,” Hornqvist said. “I’ve only been there three years.” 

The love from not only the two organizations, but from his former teammates was on full display for Hornqvist’s special night. 

“It was the perfect night to have your retirement,” Hornqvist mentioned. “I got to see Sid and Marcus (Pettersson) last night, and Haggy’s here (Carl Hagelin)… obviously a lot of emotion, and it’s fun to look back. Now it’s over for real and I can take the next step.”

Three years ago, before any memories could be made in South Florida, Bill Zito first needed to convince Hornqvist to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a move to the Panthers.

“Right then, I was not so happy,” Hornqvist smiled looking back. “Obviously I’m super thankful for Bill to trade me here, and to have been through these last three years.”

SUNRISE — At 27-years-old, Uvis Balinskis didn’t think the chance to play in the NHL would come to light — that was until the Florida Panthers came calling. 

Born in Ventspils, Latvia, Balinskis played youth hockey in his home country before moving to Germany in 2013  — joining the Augsburger EV junior program. 

Balinskis would spend two years in Germany before he returned to Latvia to play with KHL side Dinamo Riga, and their then farm team HK Riga.  

After playing five years for Riga in the Russian leagues, Balinskis made the switch to the Czech ExtraLiga in 2020 — joining HC Litvínov.

Three years in Czechia went by, and Balinskis, now with Czech side Bílí Tygři Liberec, entered the summer of 2023 with his 27th birthday on the horizon.

At this point in his career, it didn’t seem like Balisnkis would leave Europe. 

 “I didn’t really think I was gonna make the NHL or sign in the NHL in my life anymore,” Balinskis told Five Reasons. 

Despite this feeling, the NHL dream wasn’t over just yet. 

Over the summer, Balinskis’ fate changed  — he would sign a one-year NHL contract with the Panthers.

This past September, Balinskis attended Panthers training camp as a 27-year-old rookie — well, rookie in North America. 

The blueline battle at camp had a lot of guys competing for limited open spots, but nonetheless there were jobs to be earned during the preseason. 

The first few games of the preseason went by and Balinskis survived the first waves of cuts.

He didn’t necessarily stand out from the pack at the start, but he continued to improve as the camp went on.

Multiple players who were with the organization, and had NHL experience started getting sent down. Yet, the newcomer Balinskis started to climb up the depth chart.

“He built through his camp,” head coach Paul Maurice said about Balinskis after training camp.

Balinskis kept chipping away and eventually got word that he did it. On Oct. 12 he would be making his NHL debut on opening night in Minnesota.

Alongside fellow rookie Mackie Samoskevich, Balinskis hit the ice for the infamous rookie lap — at 27, he made his NHL debut. 

“[The] first game was really exciting, fun, I really enjoyed that day,” Balinskis said smiling.

In the early stages of this season Balinskis grabbed his chance on the Panthers’ blueline and ran with it. The coaching staff had high praise for him after his first few games.

“He has not looked remotely out of  place in his game… some of the things he tries, he’s  got a little risk to his game and I’m not talking about foolish risks,” Maurice said. “He would be the biggest surprise of camp for us.” 

The Latvian defenseman plays a fast, and physical game. He’ll throw the body, jump up into the play and as Maurice said, he’s not afraid to take risks.

Balinskis is enjoying his time as Panther, an opportunity that he didn’t think would be there at this stage in his hockey career. 

He’s living every hockey player’s dream — the NHL dream.

“Everyday I just feel better and I think my game is also getting better,” he said. “Just being here and making the NHL, [my] first game, everything is exciting about this.”