The Florida Panthers took a big step forward this season.
From the superstar ascension of young forwards like Aleksander Barkov and Vincent Trocheck to Roberto Luongo adding a few more milestones to the Hall of Fame career, the Panthers are coming off one of the most unforgettable seasons in the history of the franchise.
Top 10 Moments of 2017-18 Season
Under new head coach Bob Boughner, Florida shook off a slow start and became one of the most-successful teams in the league during the second half of the season, winning their final five games to cap off an incredible 25-8-2 stretch following the All-Star break.
In the end, the Panthers finished with 96 points - the third-best campaign in franchise history.
"We are still disappointed that we're not in the playoffs, but we know that we've had a heck of a year," Boughner said. "The start didn't go as planned, but the way we played as one of the best teams in the NHL in the second half, I think proved to everybody that we have what it takes to be a playoff team. This 96 would've made the playoffs in a lot of years.
"It didn't happen to be this year, but it's a good lesson to be learned that we have to be able to control our own destiny and not have to hope for other teams to lose. It's a goal that we've got to get past next year and 96 is where we finished and let's get to 100-plus next year and take all of the doubt out of it."
With plenty of positives to look back on, here are the top-10 moments from the 2017-18 season.
10. VATRANO SCORES IN PANTHERS DEBUT
Frank Vatrano wasted little time in making himself right at home with the Panthers.
Acquired in a pre-deadline deal with Boston for a third-round pick on Feb. 22, Vatrano made an immediate impact after joining Florida, scoring his first goal in his first game as a member of the Panthers in a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Rangers on March 10 at BB&T Center.
Waiting patiently on the doorstep, the 24-year-old forward received a beautiful backhand pass from Vincent Trocheck from behind the goal line and redirected the puck into the net to put the Panthers up 2-0 at 8:13 of the second period - his first goal since Nov. 11. "It's awesome," Vatrano said. "It's even better that it helped out in getting a win. For me, it's kind of just taking it shift by shift, getting used to the systems. I haven't played in about a month. It was probably the most minutes I've played in two years."
After scoring just two goals in 25 games with the Bruins prior to the trade, Vatrano really came into his own with the Panthers. He recorded eight points (five goals, three assists) in 16 games and led the team with 1.44 goals per 60 minutes. With players like Vatrano, Jared McCann and Denis Malgin coming off good seasons, the Panthers suddenly have plenty of depth at forward.
9. SATERI WINS 4TH STRAIGHT
Not all heroes wear capes. In fact, some wear goalie masks.
When the Panthers lost both starter Roberto Luongo and backup James Reimer to injuries this season, it was third-string goaltender Harri Sateri that came to the rescue, winning four straight games to keep Florida's playoff hopes alive long enough for the team to get healthy in net.
Sateri posted an absurd .950 save percentage while allowing two-or-fewer goals in each start during his four-game winning streak, which he capped out with a 26-save performance in 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 6 at BB&T Center.
"He deserves the net," coach Bob Boughner said after the game. "He's playing fantastic. I know the team's got a lot of trust in him. It's going to be a tough decision our coaches have to make [when our goaltenders return], but those are always great decisions when you have that kind of depth."
In nine games with Florida this season, the 28-year-old rookie owned a 4-4-0 record with a 2.92 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage and was voted the NHL's second star of the week for the week ending Feb. 4.
A smart offseason pickup by the Panthers, Sateri was an insurance policy that certainly paid off.
8. BARKOV HITS 70
With an assist in Florida's 3-0 win over the Boston Bruins on March 15, Aleksander Barkov became the first Panthers skater to hit the 70-point plateau since fellow Finnish forward Olli Jokinen reached that mark during the 2007-08 season.
"Can somebody else besides Finns get 70 points?" Barkov joked after the game.
Barkov, 22, went on to finish the season as the club's scoring leader, posting a career-high 78 points in 79 games - the fifth-best offensive campaign in franchise history. His 51 assists - also a career high - ranked 19th among forwards in the NHL.
Vincent Trocheck would later join Barkov in the 70-point club and finish the year with a career-high 75 points, including a team-leading 31 goals, which is tied for ninth in franchise history and the most by a Panthers skater since David Booth tallied 31 in 2008-09.
In the end, Barkov and Trocheck were just two of many Panthers to achieve career-high point totals this season, a group that included the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau (69 points), Evgenii Dadonov (65), Nick Bjugstad (49), Jared McCann (28) and Mike Matheson (27).
7. FOUR HATTYS
Nick Bjugstad scored a career-high three goals during a 5-4 overtime loss in Tampa on March 6, joining teammates Evgenii Dadonov, Vincent Trocheck and Radim Vrbata as the fourth and final skater to record a hat trick for the Panthers this season.
With two goals already in his back pocket, Bjugstad jumpstarted Florida's comeback in the third period against the Bolts, cashing in on a rebound from the doorstep to cut the deficit to 4-3 just 21 seconds into the final frame.
"He was a monster," coach Bob Boughner said of Bjugstad after the game. "He was taking pucks to the net and dragging people on his back. Since I've been here, that's the best game I've seen Nick play. We needed a performance like that."
The four hat tricks were Florida's most in a single season since Nathan Horton, Radek Dvorak, Steve Reinprecht and Stephen Weiss each recorded one in 2009-10. Overall, there have been 42 hat tricks in franchise history, with a team-record five coming during the 1999-00 season.
6. BORGSTROM'S 1st NHL GOAL
The Panthers got a brief glimpse into their future when top-prospect Henrik Borgstrom scored the first goal of his NHL career during the final game of the regular season - a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
Known as "The Artist" for his spectacular skills with the puck, Borgstrom gave fans a taste of his offensive upside when he beat former Vezina Trophy winner Tuukka Rask with a wicked wrist shot from the high slot to put the Panthers ahead 1-0 at 1:22 of the first period.
"I was just skating through the middle and saw the puck bouncing," Borgstrom said of his goal. "It was just 1-on-1. I thought about doing a toe drag, but then I figured, 'Why not shoot this puck here?' I don't know if I got a little lucky. Rask is a really great tendy. That was just a great feeling for me."
The 23rd overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Borgstrom inked a three-year, entry-level contract with the Panthers on March 26 after starring for two seasons at the University of Denver, where he tallied 45 goals and 50 assists in 77 games.
In four games with the Panthers this season, Borgstrom tallied one goal on six shots.
5. NOT WAVING THE WHITE FLAG
If there's a single moment that defined the Panthers' turnaround this season, this was it.
With a 12-point deficit to overcome in the Eastern Conference playoff race heading out of the All-Star break, the Panthers could have easily packed it in and started playing for lottery balls rather than points during the second half of the season - but they didn't.
In their first game out of the break, the Panthers came out strong in a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders at BB&T Center, showcasing the new, never-say-die brand of hockey that would come to define the club's second-half surge back into the postseason picture.
"No one's waving the white flag here," coach Bob Boughner said after the win. "We're going. We're going to scrape every point we can. Tonight was a good start for that."
That victory was the first of seven the Panthers would capture in their first eight games coming out of the break, a spark that lit the fire of an astounding 25-8-2 run to close out their campaign.
"The way we played as one of the best teams in the NHL in the second half, I think proved to everybody that we have what it takes to be a playoff team," Boughner said at locker cleanout.
4. BARKOV BACKCHECKS AT ALL-STAR WEEKEND
Aleksander Barkov simply can't turn it off.
The Panthers All-Star center picked up two assists in a 7-4 semifinal win over the Metropolitan Division at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa, making waves more for his defensive plays rather than his offensive contributions during the traditionally lackadaisical exhibition.
In that matchup against the Metropolitan, Barkov used his patented brand of forechecking to strip Hurricanes defenseman Noah Hanifin of the puck, a play that eventually led to a goal for Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews - the Atlantic Division's first score of the event.
"I'm used to playing 100 percent all the time, if it's defense or offense," Barkov said. "Here, I still didn't know how to play. It's tough. Still a lot of fun just to be there and sit on the bench, too."
Still, Sabres forward Jack Eichel said he and Matthews appreciated the defensive effort.
"He's probably the best in the d-zone of the three of us," Eichel said. "It was good. He's got a really long stick, he reads plays well, he's pretty smart. He wins a lot of battles."
A potential future Selke Trophy winner, Barkov was one of the top-defensive forwards in the NHL this season, leading the league with five short-handed goals, while also ranking 13th among forwards in blocks (67), fifth in takeaways (82) and second in average ice time (22:04).
3. PANTHERS MAKE HISTORY AT HOME
With a 4-3 shootout win tonight over the New York Rangers at BB&T Center on March 10, the Panthers set a new franchise record with their eighth consecutive win on home ice, surpassing the seven-game streak during the 2015-16 season.
Starting with a 3-2 win over Washington on Feb. 22, the Panthers won their next seven games at home, beating the likes of Pittsburgh (6-5), Toronto (3-2 OT), New Jersey (3-2), Buffalo (4-1) and Philadelphia (4-1) before making history against the Rangers.
"It was during that stretch that we were able to begin establishing ourselves and start playing the way that we wanted to play," defenseman Mike Matheson said. "I think that is really important for a team, to make sure that when teams come into your building they know it's going to be a hard game and it's not just going to be a walk in the park."
Florida went on to finish the season with a franchise-record 27 wins at home.
"It's a confidence thing," forward Colton Sceviour said. "We feel really comfortable at home. Our fans have been great here, especially down the stretch. Any time we come home, it's exciting. We've had some success here, so we feel comfortable that no matter what the game hands us or what's going on, we can win."
2. BOBBY LU'S 1,000th
In leading the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on April 5, Roberto Luongo crossed a significant milestone off his Hall of Fame checklist, becoming just the third goaltender in NHL history to play in 1,000 career games.
"It wasn't easy," Luongo said after the game. "I thought I was feeling a little bit sluggish today for some reason, but the boys probably played their best game of the year. I thought they were phenomenal on both ends of the ice. I think that was our best game by far. They didn't really have any chances at all and that's the best gift the boys could've gave me."
The fourth overall pick in the 1997 NHL Draft by the Islanders, Luongo currently ranks third all-time in games played (1,001), fourth in wins (471), seventh in career save percentage (.920) and is tied for ninth in shutouts (76) over 18 seasons with New York, Vancouver and Florida.
Of Luongo's 1,001 games, 529 have come with the Panthers.
"I feel like I've been part of two franchises my whole career," said Luongo, who is Florida's all-time leader in wins (212) and shutouts (37). Obviously, I got drafted by the Islanders, but Vancouver and the Panthers have been the teams that I had most games with and being here right now, my home, and being part of that is nice."
Although injuries limited him to just 33 starts, Luongo is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, posting an 18-11-2 record with three shutouts, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage - his best since 2003-04 during his first stint with the Panthers.
Luongo has already committed to return of his 19th NHL season in 2018-19.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said.
1. THE SPEECH
The biggest moment of season wasn't a goal or a save - it was just a few words.
In the wake of the horrific shooting deaths of 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland - located just 13 1/2 miles from BB&T Center - Roberto Luongo, a longtime Parkland resident and father of two, gave an emotional pre-game speech before backstopping the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Feb. 22.
"We all know happened," Luongo said, speaking eloquently from the heart. "It was hard for me to be on the West Coast and not be able to get back home and protect my family. No child should have to go through that. It's terrible. It's time for us as a community to take action. It's enough. Enough is enough. We got to take action."
It was a speech that echoed around the world of sports, an iconic moment in hockey history.
