On Tuesday, the Florida Panthers became back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 at home, 5-1.
Not only was it Florida’s second-straight Cup win, but it was also their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final. They lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 before besting the Oilers in back-to-back Cup years, and – given that they handily beat a very good Edmonton team in six games despite partaking in their third-straight Final – they may not show any signs of slowing down.
But this near-dynastic force, in a way, all started with a loss in the spring of 2023 by a different NHL team.
No, Florida isn’t where they are because of a singular notch in the “L” column by the Pittsburgh Penguins. But, had Pittsburgh won this one game, a lot may have changed for Florida that could have altered their destiny.
On Apr. 11, 2023 – in the penultimate game to their regular season – the Penguins were set to square off against the lowly, rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks on home ice. In order to end up clinching a playoff spot, Pittsburgh simply needed to beat Chicago, one of the league’s worst teams.
And they did not succeed.
Chicago went up, 1-0, approaching the midway point of the second period on a goal by defenseman Connor Murphy. Then, a little more than five minutes into the third, Penguins veteran forward Evgeni Malkin scored a power play goal to even the score.
But – five minutes later – Pittsburgh was dealt a double-gut punch. Just past the 10-minute mark of the final frame, Buddy Robinson and Andreas Athanasiou scored back-to-back within 26 seconds to put the Hawks up, 3-1, pretty much sealing the deal. Pittsburgh forward Danton Heinen scored sandwiched between two Chicago empty-net goals by Tyler Johnson and Mackenzie Entwistle, but it was not enough.
Pittsburgh was dealt a course-changing loss, as it, ultimately, led them to miss the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. They also lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets in overtime, 3-2, a few days later, but even if they won that game, the Penguins would have missed.
And the team that squeaked into the postseason instead? The Florida Panthers.
In the 2021-22 season, the Panthers won the President’s Trophy as the best team in the league, but they were swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning and made a shocking coaching change in the aftermath, hiring Paul Maurice and canning Andrew Brunette.
They also shook up their roster in the offseason of 2022, acquiring and then extending Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames in exchange for star forward Jonathan Huberdeau and top-four defenseman Mackenzie Weegar.
There were a sequence of moves in the following years that made them what they are. But, had they missed the playoffs in 2023 after a President’s Trophy-winning season – all because the Penguins beat the lowly Blackhawks – it stands to reason that Florida GM Bill Zito may have made some more impulse moves to shake things up after a near-miss.
Maybe they would have fired Maurice. Maybe they never go out and get veterans like Brad Marchand, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Seth Jones. There’s no telling how their timeline and their roster management would have played out had the Penguins won that game against Chicago.
Every ounce of credit goes to Zito and the Panthers for becoming the machine they are today. More than likely, it was bound to happen eventually, anyway, regardless of what happened in terms of the 2023 postseason.
But the Penguins inadvertently opened the door of opportunity for the Panthers to begin their run at three straight Final appearances when they lost, perhaps, one of the most winnable “must-win” games in franchise history.
As a result, the Penguins became a cellar dwellar. And the Panthers became a monster.
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Featured image credit: Charles LeClaire – Imagn Images
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