The Florida Panthers play their final preseason game on Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. After three contests, two against the Carolina Hurricanes and one already against the Lightning, the Cats are 2-0-1. If they manage to defeat Tampa Bay for the second consecutive time, they would finish the preseason without a regulation loss for the first time in the salary cap era.
Panthers wrap up second winning preseason under Paul Maurice
When head coach Paul Maurice took over for the 2022-23 season, which ended with a Stanley Cup Final appearance, the Panthers had a lackluster preseason, going 2-4-0 with a minus-9 goal differential. Although Florida went 4-4-0 the following preseason en route to a championship, they also improved statistically, outscoring opponents by four goals, 25-21.
After celebrating their first Stanley Cup title in June 2024, the Panthers kicked off their title defense by going 5-3-0 during the 2024-25 preseason. They finished their eight-game schedule by scoring 30 goals and allowing 30, posting the fifth-best goal differential among Atlantic Division teams. Last year, after Aleksander Barkov went down in training camp with a season-ending injury, Florida stumbled to a 3-4-0 record with a minus-1 goal differential. Ultimately, after a slew of injuries to the team’s top stars, the club’s six-year playoff streak ended as they plummeted to the bottom of the division.
Overall, since Maurice took over, the Panthers are 14-15-1 in preseason action, and on Saturday, with a win over Tampa Bay, they would improve to .500. Meanwhile, win or lose, the club would finish with a winning record, just their second one in the past four seasons.
Florida looking to match rare 2014 and 2018 preseason records
In the salary cap era, which began in 2005-06, the Panthers have walked away from the preseason with just one loss on two occasions: 2013-14 and 2017-18. During the 2013-14 campaign, the Cats posted a 3-1-3 record; four years later, they went an impressive 4-1-1 in 2017-18. Interestingly, the club missed the playoffs both years, another funny indicator of how little preseason games mean when gauging a team’s success.
Considering Florida only made the playoffs twice between 2005 and 2019, both of those playoff appearances came after disappointing preseasons. In 2011-12, they went 1-4-1; in 2015-16, they went 3-3-0, under two different coaches.
Heading into the 2026-27 season, the NHL slashed the preseason schedule to just four games, just enough time for veteran players to get in some skates and get back into a groove. Usually, these games are meaningless for most players, except for those trying to land a spot in the opening night lineup. Win or lose, these statistics never go into the record books, but going into the regular season, it is always nice to start on a positive note.
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