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The Stanley Cup playoffs have begun with 16 teams competing for the championship, notably without the Florida Panthers, who have previously hindered several teams' chances. This absence opens opportunities for teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes to reach the finals.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes will try and make it to the Stanley Cup Final this season after being thwarted by the Florida Panthers the past couple of years. The Edmonton Oilers have lost to Florida in the past two finals. // Photos by Imagn
The Stanley Cup playoffs started on Saturday afternoon with 16 teams al dreaming of being crowned the new champions in the coming months.
You can be sure quite a few are happy to see the Panthers are taking this postseason off.
Over the past three playoff seasons, the Panthers have spoiled the dreams of a number of teams along the way.
Four of those teams are in these playoffs.
In 2023 and 2025, the Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes met for the Eastern Conference championship.
The Panthers swept the Hurricanes in 2023 in one of a battle that was so close, each game was decided by a single goal.
Last yearâs ECF was not as tight â Carolina did win a game in a series dominated by the Panthers â but you could see the Hurricanes were getting awful sick of losing to Florida.
âWe knew it was going to be a big task to try to beat them,ââ Sebastian Aho said after Game 5 last year. âWe truly believe we have what it takes, but obviously we fell short yet again.â
Tampa Bay and Boston both know the feeling.
The Lightning have not made it out of the first round since 2022 and have seen its season end the past two with losses to the Panthers.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes are among the teams favored to win the Stanley Cup this season without the Panthers.
The Panthers have disrupted the playoff aspirations of multiple teams over the past three seasons, including the Edmonton Oilers, who lost to them in the finals.
The Stanley Cup playoffs started on Saturday afternoon, marking the beginning of the postseason for 16 teams.
The Panthers' absence opens the door for other teams to advance further in the playoffs, potentially leading to a new champion.

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The Panthers said that beating their nemesis Lightning in 2024 was a dragon they needed to slay if they wanted to win the whole stinkinâ thing.
That 4-1 series win over Tampa Bay certainly did help the Panthers win their first Stanley Cup championship.
A year later, the Panthers started Round 1 in Tampa â and it didnât matter much. Florida won it in Game 5 just like before.
This came after the Lightning knocked out the Panthers in the First Round in 2021, and swept them out of Round 2 in 2022.
âAt some point, you knew you were going to have them again, and youâve got to be able to get over that hump. We did it this year,ââ Sasha Barkov said in 2024.
âYou want to beat them. You want to get over that hump. Big respect to them. Theyâve been unbelievable the past few years, making the Finals and winning those Cups. âŠ.
âThis time we got the best of them.â
The Bruins have not seen the Panthers in the playoffs the past couple of years and, well, this Boston team is a little different than the one that lost to Florida in the second round in 2024.
Boston even lost captain Brad Marchand since then.
He, of course, plays for the Panthers these days.
But, the Panthers and Bruins rivalry is the one Paul Maurice points to as the one that comes to the forefront of the heat the comes from two teams playing each other in a best-of-7, win-or-go home environment.
And, in 2023, the eighth-seeded Panthers sent the NHLâs best team home when they upset the Bruins in 7.
Then they knocked them out again in 2024.
The Panthers and Lightning did not need to add any fuel to their rivalry.
The Panthers/Bruins became rivals based on the past couple of postseasons.
Maurice even sad he would pay good money to see the Panthers play the Bruins.
âItâs as heavy a hockey series that Iâve ever seen,ââ Maurice said. âIf we did 82 games, there would be nothing left of these men. But it is hard and fast, highly skilled at times and brutal and violent at times. Itâs what all of the best parts of hockey is, the Bruins series.â
Then, of course, comes the Edmonton Oilers.
If youâre the Oilers, you have to be thrilled the Panthers are hitting up Elbo Room after their rounds of golf right now.
Edmonton has been through two thrilling playoff runs with wins over the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final each time.
That got the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final â and ultimately, heartbreak at the hands of the Panthers.
In 2024, the Oilers trailed 3-0 in the series before storming back to win the next three and force a Game 7.
Rallying from a 3-0 hole and winning the Stanley Cup would have not only been historic, but it probably would have done damage to the Panthers that may not have been completely restored over the years.
Instead, the Panthers flipped the narrative and ignored the storyline everyone in the sports world â save for fans of the local team â wanted to see.
The Panthers won Game 7 in Sunrise in 2024, then won Game 6 to keep the Stanley Cup around by beating the Oilers again in 2025.
âLast year was like heartbreak,ââ Connor McDavid said. âThis year was more angry.â
At least this postseason, the Panthers cannot make anyone angry.
Perhaps they will try.
GAME 1
This article: Stanley Cup Playoffs without the Panthers Opens Door for a New Champ originally appeared on Florida Hockey Now.