Panthers’ Stars Shine During Eight-Game Winning Streak

The Florida Panthers keep on rolling.

Since the end of December, the Panthers have played their best hockey of the season.

After Tuesday night’s commanding 5-1 win in St. Louis, Florida extended their season best winning streak to eight games — with the past four coming on the road against Western Conference opponents. 

The Panthers last loss came on Dec. 21, ironically, it was to the St. Louis Blues. That 4-1 defeat in Sunrise was Florida’s fourth loss in their last five games. To make matters worse, they had scored just two goals over those four losses. 

Sitting at 18-12-2, with a decent string of losses under their belt, the schedule ahead didn’t look to be any more forgiving for the Panthers. The defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights return to Sunrise was next on the skid. 

But the Panthers didn’t waver when the guys who “ruined their summer” came to town — defeating them 4-2 in what could be looked back on as a statement win for the Cats.

Back to the present, the Panthers picked up seven straight wins after Vegas, defeating many of the league’s better teams like the Avalanche, Rangers, Lightning, and Knights again.

“I think we were struggling a bit, both mentally and physically through the grind. Getting back from those two long road trips in December,” Sam Reinhart said last weekend. “It was nice to be able to regroup over Christmas and come out strong.”

Florida now has 54 points, with a 26-12-2 record. They are just one game back of Boston for first in the East.

They are in a spectacular position at this point of the season, and there should be even more satisfaction considering last season they were 11th in the East on January 9th last season, with just 40 points in 41 games. They’d still end up making it to the Stanley Cup Final despite the bad start. 

So what’s clicked over the win streak? 

Well, a huge jolt has come from Matthew Tkachuk, who completely flipped the switch since the streak began.

Tkachuk had a slower start than what was initially expected of the superstar who was coming off a 109 point regular season and an unbelievable playoff run. But, it would be a disservice to Tkachuk if we didn’t acknowledge that he had broken his sternum, and played through it, back in June during the Stanley Cup Final. 

Prior to the Dec. 23 contest against the Knights, Tkachuk had just 22 points in 32 games — a bit alarming for last season’s Hart Trophy Finalist. Since that night, which began Florida’s winning streak, Tkachuk leads the Panthers in scoring with 17 points over the last eight games. 

“I haven’t changed anything. Maybe they’re just going in a little bit more,” Tkachuk told Bally Sports’ Katie Engelson.  “I haven’t changed one thing with my routine or how I prepare for games. I guess I was just waiting to get to 2024.”

He quickly clawed up to 39 points in 40 games — picking up a natural hat trick in his latest outing against his hometown Blues. But, Tkachuk is not the only Panther to shine of late.

While Tkachuk has been stacking points, Sam Reinhart has continued to fill the net with pucks.

Reinhart has led the Panthers in goals virtually the entire season and the 28-year-old forward has shown no signs of slowing down.

During the eight-game win streak, Reinhart scored 11 goals, putting him at 29 on the season — second most in the NHL. 

Reinhart is on pace to shatter his previous career high of 33 goals — whilst in the middle of a contract year. 

Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe have both had great offensive numbers as well. They both grabbed 14 points in their last eight, with Verhaeghe riding a six game point streak. 

Now just one game shy of the halfway mark of the season, the Panthers are currently tied for the longest active winning streak in hockey (Edmonton, 8). 

Everything is clicking for Florida at the moment. Their stars are performing at an elite level, both goaltenders have been more than solid and they have picked up five of their last eight wins on the road. 

The Panthers will return to Sunrise for the first time since the new year and they’ll be more than happy as nine of their next 12 games are at home.