Florida Panthers Look to Start Season Opener on the Right Foot

Heading into their season opener, the Florida Panthers look to start the season off on the right foot with a win against their in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

With a new coaching staff behind the bench, along with a new starting goaltender, the Florida Panthers have a new identity entering the 2019-20 NHL season.

After having what most would say was a productive offseason, the Panthers are now expected to reach new heights – heights that haven’t been reached since the team first assembled.

The roster is bolstered with a lot of talent up front, particularly on the top two lines. However, unlike in previous years, the bottom two lines are filled with potential and promise, which should provide some much-needed depth.

The blue line, on the other hand, may have some holes on paper, but Joel Quenneville and staffs’ new defensive system and philosophies should at least minimize the basic mistakes the team has made for years on end.

Although, if there’s one position on the ice where the Panthers upgraded the most this summer, it would have to be in goal – an area the Cats have struggled to address.

After all those years of unreliable goaltending, the Panthers have found their man in netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, tying him to a seven-year, $70M deal that has the 31-year-old Russian earning $10M a season.

Now that the offseason is officially in the past, and with the likes of Bobrovsky, Connolly, Stralman, and Acciari added to the roster, the Florida Panthers have one thing in mind and that’s to win.

The franchise (and fanbase) have starved for playoff hockey over the last few years. More importantly, though, the fans are anxious about not only making the postseason but going on a deep run, and rightfully so.

Apart from 2011-12 and 2015-16 in which the Panthers crashed in the first round to the hands of the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, they haven’t gone on a meaningful run since the ’96 cup journey.

Now, the Panthers have a chance to rewrite history and outdo those previous teams with this new squad that they’ve assembled.

It all starts tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Beating the Lightning is no easy task, especially when you’re playing away from home.

But in order to be the best, you have to beat the best, and the Panthers have arguably the toughest team in hockey to face in their first two games of the season.

A win tonight would not only make a statement, but it would give the Cats a much-needed start that we haven’t seen in prior seasons.

Ultimately, the days of “just getting a point” are over with this newly constructed team. Anything other than two points is considered (and should be considered) an underachievement.

The Florida Panthers have a talented group and now need to bring that talent together to form a well-functioned team.

Everyone is aware that tonight’s game is going to replicate a battle – a battle where the last team standing, who makes the fewest mental lapses, will end up victorious. That could include some bodies going down, but it will for sure include a lot of physical play, especially out of the gates.

 So, what’s the game plan for tonight? Just win baby!