The Panthers are the last team this season that hasn’t played any games against the Leafs. All three games on the now-modified schedule are in March and April, with the first tonight. This is a big deal because this season the Panthers feel like a team that has finally crossed over the line to be true contenders after spending the whole of the 2010’s trying and mostly failing to even get past the first round of the playoffs. Hey that story sounds familiar.
If anything, the Panthers have actually improved over the season. at least on paper. Even with their successful rise to the top of the standings, they were still big buyers at the NHL Trade Deadline, famously picking up Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux in a trade only one day after he had played his 1,000th game for his team.