Turning heads from Sunrise to Saskatoon while taking a big step forward last season, the Panthers finished with the fourth-best record in the league before losing in six games to the eventual back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Lightning in the opening round of the playoffs.
Not resting on their laurels, the Panthers went out and traded for Sam Reinhart, who led the Sabres with 25 goals last season, and signed future Hall of Famer Joe Thornton during the offseason, which let the rest of the league know they weren't content just making the playoffs.
By adding those players to an ever-deepening lineup highlighted by superstars like Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad, it's no surprise the Panthers have become a popular pick among media outlets around the league to take another step forward this season.
"We know what we can do," Huberdeau said. "It doesn't matter what everyone is expecting. We've just got to do it on the ice. Last year there were no expectations. Nobody was seeing us at the top, but we played well. … This year, we know what we can do as a team. We're trying not to listen to everybody outside, just focus on our team and be the greatest that we can be."
While tonight's contest will mark the first in a Panthers sweater for Reinhart and Thornton, it'll also be the NHL debut for rookie Anton Lundell. Drafted 12th overall in 2020, Lundell, who only just turned 20 on Oct. 3, is no stranger to playing against grown men as he spent the last three seasons suiting up in Finland's Liiga with HIFK where he led the team with 16 goals in 2020-21.
In his debut, Lundell will center a line with Frank Vatrano and Patric Hornqvist.
"I just want him to be comfortable out there -- play your game, trust your instincts," Quenneville said. "I know we've been reinforcing him in some areas that are maybe different from how he played in the past. I think his natural instincts are excellent. We just want him to have the puck, be around it and be comfortable with it. He's got some help with those experienced wingers."
As far as other important lineup notes go, the Panthers will be without defenseman Markus Nutivaara, who is nursing a minor injury. Helping fill up that void, rookie Matt Kiersted, who appeared in seven NHL games last season, was called up from the AHL to take his place.
Other than that, the lines that we saw this morning were pretty much what we've been seeing throughout most of training camp, including a decadently potent top-six forward group featuring Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Reinhart, Huberdeau, Sam Bennett and Owen Tippett.
In 2020-21, Huberdeau led the team in scoring for the second consecutive season with 61 points (20 goals, 41 assists), while Barkov, who also captured his first Selke Trophy as the league's top-defensive forward, sat second with 58 points, including a team-high 26 goals.
Turning to their two-time Vezina Trophy winner right off the bat, Sergei Bobrovsky, who went 19-8-2 with a .906 save percentage last season, will get the start against the Penguins tonight.
"We have four lines who can score, four lines who can defend against their top lines," Hornqvist said of Florida's depth. "We have three D-pairs who can play the puck and play shutdown roles. We have a deep team. Now it's just up to us to show ourselves and play hard for each other."
The top team in the East Division last season, the Penguins opened their 2021-22 campaign by putting a damper on what was supposed to be a celebratory banner raising ceremony in Tampa Bay with a convincing 6-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning on Tuesday.
Making that victory even more impressive was the fact they took the ice without three of their top stars as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel were all sidelined with injuries. Lat season, Crosby led the team in points (62), with Guentzel not too far behind him with 57.
After Danton Heinen, Brian Boyle and Dominik Simon scored to make it 3-0, Pittsburgh added three empty-net goals from Teddy Blueger, Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust in the third period as Tampa Bay continually pulled their goaltender in a last-ditch effort to spark a late comeback.
In net, Tristan Jarry stopped 26 of 28 shots.
"I thought they played a tremendous team game," Quenneville said of the Penguins, who the Cats didn't face last season due to the pandemic-altered schedule. "There are expectations when you're missing key guys, but it was just the opposite of that because their structure was very noticeable against a very disciplined Tampa team. I think they surprised everybody."
Not far removed from a season shaped by COVID-19 protocols, Huberdeau said players are also excited to simply play in front of a packed house full of Panthers sweaters once again.
"I'm excited to see our fans again," he said. "It's going to be fun. Even watching some of the other games so far, it's fun to see all the fans in the other buildings. It's kind of back to normal."
