Florida Panthers to Face New York Islanders in Qualifying Round

It’s been a good while without our beloved sport, but the recent news of the NHL resuming play is just what the doctor ordered.

The news announced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Since the beginning of the hiatus, talks about the NHL resuming play were strong, regardless of what the format was going to be.

Well, after a long and anticipated wait, we finally have an official answer from the man up top: the NHL has officially canceled the 2019-20 regular season and will move to straight into the postseason.

There’s a little bit of a catch to it, though. Instead of your regular 16-team playoffs, the league has expanded it to 24 teams (12 in each conference), beginning with a best-of-five “play-in series” that will include the Florida Panthers.

Technically, the play-in series doesn’t constitute as a playoff round; however, it does serve as more of a “wild-card-type round” that allows teams that were sitting just in or below a playoff spot to have an opportunity to compete for a place in the first round – which comes after the qualifying round.

The top-four teams in each conference (eight total) will get an automatic bye to the first round and will take part in a three-game, inter-conference round-robin, with playoff seeding at stake. The format of the first and second round has yet to be decided between either a best-of-five or best-of-seven series.

Hub cities have also yet to be announced, but a list of cities under consideration has been released. Details on game locations, times, and dates will be finalized down the road based on the current circumstances and government approval.

Phase 2, which will allow players to train and participate in restricted practices at practice facilities, will not be implemented until June. Likewise, Phase 3 (training camp) will not take place earlier than July 1, while Phase 4 (return to play, play-in & round-robin) will start no earlier than late July. Again, none of this framework is considered final or set, and should rather be used as a rough estimate.

For the Panthers, this format obviously works in their favor as it guarantees them a chance to compete for a first-round berth. Matching up with the New York Islanders in a first-to-three series is no easy task to complete – especially against such a staunch, stubbornly-defensive opponent.

The two sides squared off for a total of four times during the 2019-20 season, with the Isles winning every meeting, including the two that went past regulation. Their last showdown took place on December 12 back in Florida, with the Islanders walking out of Sunrise in 3-1 fashion.

This time around, there will be no “Trocheck was tripped” or John Tavares heartbreak goals. But there will be Thomas Greiss, who’s given the Panthers a hard time in the past, especially this season. Oh, and don’t forget about Semyon Varlamov – he’s no slouch, either.

With two competent goaltenders who the Cats will have to beat if they want any shot of advancing to the next round, they also can’t forget about their defensive play – which has been nothing short of atrocious this year.

If the defense can hold up and the top-six can fire from all cylinders, then the Panthers should have a relatively decent chance of moving on past the qualifying round. Just as importantly, Sergei Bobrovsky will have to be on his game if the Panthers are going to have any shot of advancing, let alone making a deep run. As we’ve seen with Bobrovsky in the past (specifically in the postseason), when he’s on his game, he cannot only steal you playoff wins, but series as well.

The Panthers should have no excuses heading into these games. They have already had more than enough time to heal any injuries that they dealt with, along with any fatigue that came along the way. Everyone should be healthy, recharged, and ready to go come training camp time before the games officially begin.

Gary Bettman’s announcement is the reassurance we all need to get by this period. There may not be hockey for another little while, but at least we now have a general understanding of how the playoffs will work this summer.