The Florida Panthers have won eight straight games. It has been a very good run for one of the best teams in the NHL.
It all started with what could have been the toughest three-game stretch of the year. Coming off of an uninspiring 4-1 loss to St. Louis at Amerant Bank Arena, the Cats had a day off before their Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Vegas Golden Knights.
It was a showcase of the special teams unit as Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart both scored late goals on the man advantage to lead the Panthers to a 4-2 victory.
After Christmas, the Panthers took a short business trip for the Sunshine State Showdown against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was the Reinhart show again as he found the back of the net twice in a 3-2 win for the Cats.
The Florida Panthers are one of the best teams in the NHL right now
The Panthers looked to continue their winning ways in a playoff-type atmosphere against the New York Rangers on Friday, December 29. With blue sweaters everywhere in Sunrise, Florida, Paul Maurice’s squad would have to stay focused with the raucous New York crowd at hand.
They played the league-leading Rangers tough until the final horn, coming out on top 4-3, behind another two-goal game from Sam Reinhart.
Goaltending and Scoring
The Panthers played one final game at home before heading out west. It was Anthony Stolarz in net to continue their winning ways, and he delivered. The Panthers beat the Canadiens 4-1 that night.
They flew out to Arizona and Las Vegas to start the new year and the win streak was then extended to six games. With Sergei Bobrovsky in net both nights, the Panthers won both of those contests by a 4-1 final score.
The exciting Colorado Avalanche were next up on the schedule and it would take a lot of goals to come out on top. The Panthers went up three goals early, allowed three straight, and eventually won the high-scoring matchup 8-4 behind Sam Reinhart’s seventh career hat trick.
The Panthers, winners of seven straight at this point, would seek revenge on St. Louis and Matthew Tkachuk agreed:
Tkachuk on facing the Blues:
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) January 9, 2024
“We owe these guys a better game than we gave them in Florida. They kind of took it to us. It’s up to us. … We’re going so good right now. We just have to keep it going.” pic.twitter.com/vFEafeo5A5
Tkachuk scored a hat-trick in his homecoming game in front of friends and family as the Panthers topped the Blues 5-1 behind 29 saves from Anthony Stolarz.
Florida has now allowed just one goal each in four of the last five games.
Standouts
Nobody stands out more than Sam Reinhart. He has scored 11 goals in the last eight games and currently sits in second place in the league with 29 goals. Toronto’s Auston Matthews is on top with 31. Six of Reinhart’s 11 goals in this stretch have come on the power play.
Matthew Tkachuk has had a quiet start to the 2023-24 campaign. But recently, he has flipped the switch. Florida’s assistant captain has a team-leading 17 points in these eight games, scoring six and assisting on 11. Tkachuk should look to continue his success to lead his team deep into the playoffs.
As Carter Verhaghe has notched 14 points on seven goals and seven assists, bigger credit can be given to the Cats’ captain Aleksander Barkov. In 19 shots on goal, Barkov hasn’t lit the lamp. Although he has created 14 points, all on assists, with five of them coming on power-play goals.
Look out for the Florida Panthers to continue their win streak as it currently sits at eight. They will head home to South Florida for five games and it begins with the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, January 11.