What Went Wrong: Panthers Eliminated by Defending Champions

After co-existing together since 1993, Florida's two NHL teams finally faced each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The end result was a hard-fought and bitter series, which saw the Florida Panthers ousted in six games by the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers' 4-0 loss in Game Six sealed their fate, and extended their playoff series victory drought for another season; having not won a series since the 1996 Eastern Conference Final.

Even though the title of this is, "What Went Wrong," I can't really see too much that went wrong for the Panthers. The Panthers had their best season since that 1995-96 campaign that saw them reach the Stanley Cup Final. They won the final back-to-back against the Lightning to get home-ice advantage for that series, and their players delivered offensively. Four Panthers players scored two goals each, Jonathan Huberdeau's 10 points not only led the team, but was one of the top totals of the playoffs overall, and their was good production in the series by players such as Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett. It can be simply said that the better team won this series.

If there was any problem for the Panthers, it was in net. The Panthers had a two-headed monster in net in the form of Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger, though they had to utilize their third head in Spencer Knight. This was due to the fact that Bobrovsky got clobbered in his appearances; 1-2, 5.31 GAA, SV% of .841. He gave up 10 goals in that series. The only other win came from Knight, who ended up going 1-1 with a GAA of 2.07 and a SV% of .933. As for Driedger: 0-1, 3.69 GAA, SV% of .871. The numbers clearly showed that goaltending was the problem for the Panthers in this series, but again, the Lightning was just firing on all cylinders. They would have been a problem for a lot of teams.

The Panthers should be very proud of their season, even with the opening round defeat. The reason is that this team doesn't look like they'll be in the playoffs one year and then trail off for the next 3-5 seasons. This team looks like they'll be back, with those players, for years to come. Not only do they have a great crop of players, but they have a legendary coach in Joel Quenneville, who knows how to win--the three Stanley Cups are evidence of that. And here's the thing, they maintained this pace after losing Aaron Ekblad for the season. When he returns next season, there should/will be vast improvement for the Panthers.

What also helps is that the Panthers will return to the Atlantic Division next season. That means games against the Sabres, Senators, and Red Wings, though the last two of those three teams could be on a bit of a rise next season. They'll still have to deal with the Lightning, but they won't face the Carolina Hurricanes so much anymore, so that will help them. How they will do against the Bruins, Maple Leafs, and Canadiens (along with the Lightning) will determine if the Panthers are truly for real and will be a perennial playoff team. But for now, even though this series loss hurts, the Panthers can take comfort in the possibility that this could be the beginning of an uprising for this franchise, which could see them break their current playoff series drought.

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