Stanley Cup Playoffs without the Panthers Opens Door for a New Champ

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 year’s ECF was not as tight — Carolina did win a game in a series dominated by the Panthers — but you could see the Hurricanes were getting awful sick of losing to Florida.

“We knew it was going to be a big task to try to beat them,’’ Sebastian Aho said after Game 5 last year. “We truly believe we have what it takes, but obviously we fell short yet again. ” Tampa Bay and Boston both know the feeling.