The Florida Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Final last spring. They beat the Boston Bruins in the first round after the B’s had the greatest regular season of all time.
They turned the most stunning upset in NHL history into a magical run to the end. They did run out of gas before losing the the Vegas Golden Knights in the Final but it was a very respectable season.
There were mixed expectations for them coming into this year but they have answered all of the questions. They are one of the best teams in the league without question.
It honestly feels like they aren’t even being talked about enough when thinking about the legit contenders in this league. They are very much one of those teams that could win it all.
The Florida Panthers are one of the best teams in the entire NHL
On Saturday, they thumped the Montreal Canadiens in Sunrise 4-1. Eetu Luostarinen scored twice, Sam Bennett scored once, and so did Carter Verhaeghe.
Florida gets really good goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky. They pay him a lot of money and he performs. Right now, he has a 2.50 goals against average, a .911 save percentage, 17 wins, and 2 shutouts. Anthony Stolarz is currently their backup.
After their win over Montreal, their record jumped to 22-12-2. That is good for 46 standings points. They only trail the Boston Bruins by two points in the chase for the Atlantic Division top spot.
They have been this good so far this year and they haven't even seen Matthew Tkachuk take over yet. He only has five goals and 22 assists for 27 points in 36 games played.
His goal total is low which is why he is not even a point-per-game player. After having 109 points last year and 104 the year before, he is well off his typical pace. Luckily, his teammates have been picking up the slack in a big way.
If Tkachuk gets going, Florida will become an even stronger team. Remarkably, they are where they are in the standings without their MVP producing like one.
Florida is done for 2023. It was a good year for them. They won tons of games in the regular season and the playoffs while doing a good job of developing their organization.
Now, they have their eyes set on 2024. They are hoping to do it all over again with better results in the final series of the season. That quest will begin for them on Tuesday when they hit the road to take on the Arizona Coyotes.