The Florida Panthers had a heck of a business trip.
Sweeping their three-game trek away from home, the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champions picked up big wins in Winnipeg (2-1 SO), Minnesota (4-3 OT) and Chicago (5-1).
“Patience,” head coach Paul Maurice said when asked about the key to success on the trip.
Heading home with a playoff spot in sight, the Panthers (28-20-3) currently sit just four points out of third place in the Atlantic Division and three points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand following their fortuitous trip.
Continue below to see some stats that stood out from the 3-0-0 road swing.
1: Goal allowed at 5-on-5. The Panthers controlled play when the action was even during their road trip, leading 6-1 in goals at 5-on-5. Making that stat even more impressive is the fact that the Panthers spent 142:47 of their three-game trip with play at 5-on-5.
4: Points for Carter Verhaeghe. The man they call “Swaggy” led the charge up front with a team-high four points (1G, 3A) during the road trip. After dishing out two assists against the Wild on Jan. 24, he tallied a goal and an assist against the Blackhawks on Sunday. Heating up in 2026, he also leads the Panthers in scoring with 12 points (4G, 8A) since Jan. 1.
13: Players with at least one point. The Panthers spread out their offense during their three-game trip. In addition to those 13 players with at least one point, eight players had multiple points over the course of the road trip, including four players with at least three points.
207: Career road wins for Sergei Bobrovsky. With an 18-save performance against the Wild on Jan. 24, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner broke a tie with Ed Belfour to claim sole possession of third place on the NHL’s all-time list for road wins. The only two goaltenders still ahead of him on the list are Marc-Andre Fleury (246) and Martin Brodeur (310).
1,731: Days in between goals for Tobias Bjornfot. Maurice summed it up well after Bjornfot scored a pair of goals in the win over the Blackhawks on Sunday: “He’s patient.” A defensive defenseman, Bjornfot waited roughly five seasons before lightning the lamp for the second – and then third – time in his career. Prior to lighting the lamp twice in Chicago, Bjornfot hadn’t touched twine since May 1, 2021. Called up from the AHL on Jan 4, he’s helped Florida go 4-1-0 in the five games he’s played, averaging 11:48 of ice time per tilt.
26: Goals this season for Sam Reinhart. With a pair of goals during the trip, “Reino” hit the 25-goal mark for the sixth straight season. A second milestone, he also became the first player in franchise history to record at least 50 points in his first five seasons with Florida.
10: Hits for A.J. Greer and Sandis Vilmanis. Tied for the team lead in hits during the road trip, Greer and Vilmanis were both punishing opponents whenever they had the puck. For Greer, this is obviously nothing new as he leads the Panthers with131 hits this season.
.950: Save percentage for Daniil Tarasov. Florida’s backup goaltender was nearly unbeatable between the pipes during the road trip. Making two starts, he turned aside 38 of 40 shots for a .950 save percentage. After stopping 17 of 18 shots in Winnipeg on Jan. 22, he gobbled up 21 of 22 shots in Chicago on Sunday. Heading home on a hot streak, he’s won each of his last four starts, surrendering two-or-fewer goals in each of those starts.
6: Combined points for Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk. Getting closer to full health, the Panthers benefitted greatly from having two big stars back in the lineup. Marchand, who returned during the second stop of the trip in Minnesota, logged three points (2G, 1A) in two games, while Tkachuk, who returned just before the trip, had three assists in three games.
77:55: Total ice time for Gustav Forsling. He’s a machine, right? Since the start of Florida’s three-game trip on Jan. 22, no player in the NHL has seen more ice time. Looking at just the Panthers, the next-highest player on the team, Uvis Balinskis, skated 68:18. A workhorse on the blue line – especially since Seth Jones was knocked out of the lineup – Forsling played more than 27 minutes in two of the three games on the road trip. Prior to the trip, he’d only surpassed 27 minutes of ice time in 10 games during the regular season in his career.
