Panthers have shown they’re ready for another Stanley Cup run
One of the surprising results of the opening round of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs was not that the Florida Panthers advanced to the second round, but how they were able to take care of the Tampa Bay Lightning so quickly in this year’s postseason edition of The Battle of Florida.
Having dealt with some key injuries late in the season, the Cats fell from contending for the Atlantic Division title to finishing third. Yet, they burst out of the gate, winning the first two games in Tampa. Though the Lightning were able to win one game down in Sunrise, Florida proved to be too much, vanquishing the Bolts in a gentlemen’s sweep, eliminating Tampa in five games.
How players such as the returning Matthew Tkachuk performed and the play from the likes of Sam Bennett, Aleksander Barkov, and Sergei Bobrovsky, this Panthers team looks like a bunch that is more than capable of making another deep run in the playoffs.
On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli explains why the defending champions have further cemented themselves as Stanley Cup favorites.
Frank Seravalli: We hadn’t seen this full version of the Florida Panthers. Matthew Tkachuk hadn’t played since the 4-Nations Face-Off…Will he be able to be a true impact piece? I just look at the additions that they made to this group over the course of the year, and you think about some of their big-time playoff players and Sam Bennett, and Seth Jones strengthening this team on the back end and all these different things that went into it. I’m like, why are more people not picking the Panthers?
They felt like a team that was undervalued, if that’s even possible, for one that’s the defending cup champs. … Am I surprised to see the Panthers moving on? No, and I think what you can make after this is a very clear declaration that they’re the team to beat in the East, that once again, for the third year in a row, the Eastern Conference runs through South Florida.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…