The Two-Time Stanley Cup Champs Are About to Make History, and Not the Kind They Want

The Florida Panthers are 11 points out of the final playoff spot with seven games left, and if they fall short, they'll join a club nobody wants to be in: the sixth Stanley Cup champion to miss the playoffs the very next season. That's not a spoiler story. That's a collapse story. But don't tell the Panthers that, because they're heading into Pittsburgh on a two-game winning streak and they're ready to wreck someone else's season before their own officially ends.

Playing Spoiler While Everything Falls Apart

Yeah, the Panthers are basically eliminated. They sit at 37-35-3 with 77 points, and the Ottawa Senators hold that sixth and final wild-card spot 11 points ahead with five teams between them. But here's the thing: Florida just beat both Ottawa and the Boston Bruins in their last two games. Coach Paul Maurice's crew is banged up, missing Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, and Niko Mikkola, yet they're still showing up and making life difficult for teams fighting for their playoff lives. "We're trying to make sure that they don't get an easy one from us," Maurice said after Thursday's 2-1 win over Boston. That's the mindset of a team with nothing to lose and everything to prove.

Bennett Rising While The Panthers Sink

Sam Bennett has points in three straight games, including a goal against Boston. With 57 points (26 goals, 31 assists), he's putting up numbers and actually threatening to become the team's leading scorer before the season ends. Reinhart still leads at 61 points with 29 goals and 32 assists, but Bennett is making noise when the team needs it most. The Panthers might also get forward Cole Schwindt back Saturday after he's been out since Feb. 26 with a lower-body injury.

Pittsburgh Wants No Part of a Desperate Team

The Penguins are 38-22-16 with 92 points and sitting second in the Metropolitan Division after a brutal 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday. They need to stay sharp to keep first-round home ice, with the New York Islanders just three points back. Sidney Crosby leads the Penguins with 67 points but hasn't scored in seven games since returning from his Olympic injury on March 18. Anthony Mantha is hot though, with six points in his last four games and a team-leading 30 goals. Coach Dan Muse knows what's coming: "There's not going to be any easy games. Every game, every day is going to have a new challenge." Pittsburgh faces two games in Pittsburgh against Florida, then road trips to New Jersey, Washington (home-and-home), and finishes at St. Louis. None of those teams are in a playoff spot right now, but late April hockey forgives nothing.

Saturday night in Pittsburgh, a desperate team meets a team trying to hold on. That's playoff hockey energy even when one side shouldn't have any left.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.