More than a month has passed since the Florida Panthers became Stanley Cup champions.
Crazy, right?
As we delve deeper into the offseason and approach training camp, we’ll take a look back at the Panthers’ incredible Stanley Cup run in a series we’re calling Redemption Rewind.
This week we’ll go through each of the Panthers’ four playoff series and relive some of the magic that brought Florida its first Stanley Cup.
First up is the opening round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It was the third time in four years that the Panthers and Lightning would meet in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Tampa emerged victorious after the previous two meetings: knocking out the Panthers in six games during the first round in 2021, then eliminating the Cats in the second round the following year.
Things would be a little different this time, as Florida made the playoffs with an Atlantic Division Championship under its belt and was considered a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Although Tampa still had plenty of firepower and elite goaltending Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, this was the first time the Lightning faced Florida in the postseason as underdogs.
South Florida’s first two games were close, with a goal that included an overtime goal from Mr. Clutch himself, Carter Verhaeghe.
Florida would eventually take a 3–0 lead over the Lightning, eliminating the Bolts in five games and advancing to the opening round for the third straight postseason.
Check out a summary of the five fun games below:
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