Over a month has passed since the Florida Panthers became Stanley Cup Champions.
Crazy, right?
As we get deeper into the offseason, and closer to training camp, we’re going to do some looking back at the Panthers incredible Stanley Cup run in a series we’re calling Redemption Rewind.
This week we’re going to 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 marked the third time in four years that the Panthers and Lightning would face off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tampa came out on top after the previous two meetings: they knocked out the Panthers in six games during the first round in 2021, then swept the Cats right out of round two the following year.
Things would be a little different this time around, as Florida came into the playoffs with an Atlantic Division Championship under their belts and considered a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
While Tampa still had plenty of firepower, and elite goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, this was the first time the Lightning faced Florida in the postseason as underdogs.
The first two games in South Florida were tight, one-goal affairs that included an overtime goal off the stick of Mr. Clutch himself, Carter Verhaeghe.
Florida would ultimately take a 3-0 series lead on the Lightning, eliminating the Bolts in five games and advancing past the opening round for the third consecutive postseason.
Check out a recap of the five games of fun below:
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