Florida Panthers break NHL’s record for goals scored during salary cap era

The goals just keep piling up for the Florida Panthers – with seemingly no end in sight.

And they amounted to a new league record on Thursday night.

The offensive juggernaut Panthers broke the NHL record for goals scored in a single season during the salary cap era in a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings at FLA Live Arena.

Florida’s third goal on Thursday was their 320th non-shootout goal scored, surpassing the previous high water mark of 319 set by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19.

The Panthers are now up to 322 tallies on the season with five games still to play. That’s an average of 4.18 goals per game, making them the first NHL team to average north of four goals a game since the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins did it with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.

How special have the Panthers been? Only a handful of teams in the 1990s cracked four goals a game. None have done it since the Penguins.

The Cats have scored five or more goals a staggering 32 times in 77 outings, leading to a plus-103 goal differential over their opposition. They have also yet to be shutout in a game this season.

Twelve Panthers players have set new career highs in goals, assists or points along the way.

“It is a lot of fun and I joke all the time, but I don’t know if you’ll ever be around a team like this,” Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette told reporters this week. “I just love watching them interact and am jealous I’m not playing. I am lucky enough to be a part of it. Their compete level … if you’re around them to see them day-in and day-out and see how hard they practice, how hard they compete, it has been a joy.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever see another group like this. It’s special and we have to keep going. We have a lot of hockey left and we’re just going day-by-day.”

Thursday’s victory, coupled with a Toronto loss, will lock up the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the Cats – providing them home-ice advantage for the first three rounds of the playoffs. It was Florida’s 12th straight win. The Panthers would face the East’s eighth seed in the first-round, or the second wild card finisher, which is currently the Washington Capitals.