George Richards, FHN Publisher
SUNRISE — In the scope of a long season, the Florida Panthers losing streak really will not matter.
When things are decided, the Panthers know they are going back to the playoffs.
They are too good, too experienced, to believe anything else.
Whatever happens during the regular season, however this thing goes down, their success will be determined in the postseason.
It will not be based on some random Monday in November.
Yet beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Wednesday night felt good.
After losing four straight and six of seven, pride sort of took over.
The Panthers were tired of losing.
Are these losses — the ones against the likes of the Devils, Capitals, Blackhawks, whomever — really going to mean anything down the road?
Probably not.
Regardless, the Panthers brought it on Wednesday.
The Panthers were the Panthers on Wednesday night and ground the red-hot Maple Leafs into the ice.
“We’ve been trying to find our identity,’’ Sasha Barkov said. “I think it all comes from hard work, being simple, being hard and physical. That’s our game.”
Yeah it is.
Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale!
A yearly subscription to FHN+ featuring the best insider information from George Richards for just $39.99 $19.99!
No code necessary
Certainly, one can look back in April on a questionable loss and say ‘that one hurt.’
But only if you miss the playoffs completely, a point or two making the difference.
The Panthers are not there.
Not even close.
When the dust settles come April, the Panthers will be one of the top three teams in the Atlantic Division.
That will put them in the playoffs for a fifth straight season not counting that strange pandemic play-in deal.
Despite that, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night was big.
The bleeding of a four-game slide with losses in six of seven came to a close.
The important thing was, the Panthers showed they can be flip the switch on who they should be when needed.
Sergei Bobrovsky was awesome.
So was Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Aaron Ekblad, Gus Forsling, Evan Rodrigues, et al.
Toronto was missing some key pieces, but it had won four straight and seven of eight coming in.
Aside from the three former Panthers players getting their Stanley Cup rings Wednesday, the Leafs being atop the Atlantic Division standings was a media taking point.
Coach Craig Berube, whose St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 after being left for dead in January that year, knows better.
There are 60 or so games left to play.
Being in first place in the division now is quite meaningless. Yes it is better than being in last. With things as tight as they are, first place just means you’re in a good spot.
After winning Wednesday, the Panthers pulled within a point of the Leafs in the standings.
“We had our priorities right in what we were trying to accomplish on the ice,’’ Paul Maurice said.
“You can’t be all things at all times, and I think we tried to be that over the last little while.’’
Today is Thanksgiving.
There is an old adage that teams holding a playoff spot when the Detroit Lions kick off at noon usually make the playoffs.
The Panthers are, despite the past couple of weeks, sitting in a good place.
Even if they were out of a playoff position, with this lineup, would anyone truly be concerned?
These Panthers, the defending Stanley Cup champions, pass the good ol’ eye test.
They are legit good, when they come to play.
Wednesday, they came to play.
Perhaps a little losing streak did the trick.
Maybe it was the expletives dropped by Maurice, or handing out championship rings to some old pals.
Perhaps it was facing a Toronto team coming down from the Centre of Hockey.
Whatever.
The Panthers brought it on Wednesday, and brought it good.
“I think any time we play division rivals – and it ended up [that] we played these guys in the playoffs – it’s a lot of fun,’’ said Verhaeghe, who had a goal and two assists.
“There are more emotions in the game. Tonight we came out and we wanted to play with more purpose than in the last couple of weeks. It was a big win.”
This team has a lot of pride in what it has done, and what it can do.
At least they do not have to think about a five-game losing streak when they board their flight to North Carolina later today.
“You don’t go looking for losses,” Bobrovsky said, “but they make you dig into the ground. They get you back to work — to work hard and compete. [Tuesday] was a great practice and guys worked hard and it definitely set us up for tonight’s game.”
Time to move on to the next one.
ON DECK: GAME 24
FLORIDA PANTHERS AT CAROLINA HURRICANES
- When: Friday, 3 p.m.
- Where: Lenovo Center; Raleigh, N.C.
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
- Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Last Season: Carolina Won 2-1
- This Season — At Florida: Saturday; Jan. 2. At Carolina: Friday.
- Thursday.
- All-Time Regular Season Series: Carolina/Hartford leads 73-47-10, 11 ties
- Postseason History: Florida 1-0 (2023 ECF)
- Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 4 p.m.