It’s been a challenging season for the Florida Panthers so far.
They came into the campaign with a big target on their backs as the defending Stanley Cup champions, constantly getting the best efforts of everyone they play.
But Florida has been one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference for several years now, winning the Presidents’ Trophy and going to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals over the past three seasons, so you could argue teams had already been gearing up for the Panthers before they won the Cup.
This season, it’s been more about a combination of injuries, illness and another arguably insane travel schedule that has Florida’s players and coaching staff welcoming the 4 Nations Face-off break.
When the league reconvenes in a couple weeks, the Panthers hope to be fully healthy and ready to hit the ground running for the final stretch of the regular season.
Florida entered the 4 Nations break playing some very good hockey.
They have won five of their past six and are currently sitting in the top spot in the Atlantic Division, holding a three-point edge over second-place Toronto.
Another thing that the Cats will have going for them is their remaining strength of schedule.
Of the 32 teams in the NHL, Florida will have the seventh-easiest schedule the rest of the way, according to Tankathon.
With 25 games left to play, the Panthers’ future opponents have a combined winning percentage of .541. Compare that to Detroit, which has the hardest remaining schedule, facing a combined win percentage of .587.
Considering how tightly packed the Eastern Conference is, and that the Panthers don’t have games left against the league’s bottom feeders (San Jose, Chicago), it’s a nice surprise that Florida has an easier schedule than most.
In terms of their most difficult remaining games, based off the current standings, the Panthers have three games to go against Toronto, two against Tampa Bay and one each against Edmonton and Washington.
On the flip side, Florida has a combined six games left with Buffalo, Montreal and Pittsburgh, who have the lowest point totals in the Eastern Conference (Montreal, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are all tied with 55 points while Buffalo has just 49).
The stars may be aligning for the Panthers to have a strong end to their regular season and head into the playoffs running like a well-oiled machine.
We’ll see how things play out.
Florida’s first game back from the break is on Saturday, Feb. 22 when they host the Seattle Kraken.
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