The Florida Panthers have earned their reputation as one of the NHL’s best teams, getting to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of the past three seasons, making it to the Cup final in each of the past two seasons, and of course, winning their first Cup in franchise history last season. And for much of this year, the Panthers have been at or near the top of the Atlantic Division. Obviously, there’s a whole lot to like about this Florida team.
That said, there are some worrisome aspects of the Panthers this year. On Sunday, we saw one of them, as they lost to the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 to fall to third place in the Atlantic. Florida is now 0-3-0 against the Habs this year – and this is a Montreal team that the Panthers could wind up facing in the first round of the playoffs this year if Florida wins the Atlantic and the Canadiens remain in a wild-card spot.
In addition, scratch the surface a bit, and you’ll find other data that suggests the Panthers might be ripe for an early-round upset. For one thing, Florida has got five standings points via shootout wins this season. If you acknowledge that shootout wins can easily be shootout losses half the time, the Panthers’ current point total could be at or near 88 points, which is very close to the fourth-place Ottawa Senators.
To be sure, we’re not here to tell you the Panthers are a lock to be sent packing in the first or second round. They’ve made some great additions via trade this season, and they were a deep and skilled group before those trades were made. But with only a couple weeks left in the regular season, there’s an increasing sense that Florida has squandered its chance to win the Atlantic. And that may be what sinks their season well in advance of the Eastern final.
Indeed, the Panthers have got another game against the desperate Canadiens Tuesday, and they’ll also take on Ottawa (who they’re 1-1-0 against this season), the Detroit Red Wings twice (who they’re 0-1-0 aganst), the Buffalo Sabres (who they’re 2-1-0 against) and the Lightning (who they’re 2-1-0).
This is to say that it’s entirely possible the Panthers do not win the division and slide down as low as third place in the Atlantic. And given that Florida’s road record of 20-15-1 is worse than their home mark of 24-11-2, losing out on home-ice advantage could be the factor that ends their season well before they when they hope.
Can the Panthers win the Cup for the second straight season? Stranger things have happened. But this regular season has been far from perfect for Florida, and the way things shake out in the next two weeks could set the table for them being eliminated before they can get out of the second round. And if they do get sent packing prematurely, nobody should say it’s a full-on shocker.
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