‘We Know What It Takes in the Playoffs’: The Panthers Are Taking the League by Storm as the Postseason Approaches

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.