Going by the standings, it’s pretty easy to break the Eastern Conference playoff contenders into three groups.
At the top are the Washington Capitals, a team that through the regular season has been head and shoulders above the competition. The Caps are already over the 100-point barrier. At the bottom are the bubble teams, with somewhere between three and four clubs realistically locked in a battle for the two wild-card slots.
In between is a group of five teams separated by all of two points. It’s a list that includes most of the teams one would expect. The last three Eastern finalists—the Lightning, Rangers and Bruins—are in this second standings tier. So are the New York Islanders, an up-and-coming young club and a 100-plus point team a year ago.
The fifth member of that group is the Florida Panthers.
Based on where they sit in the standings, we might think that the Panthers are a legitimate threat to come out of the Eastern Conference. However, there’s an element of smoke and mirrors to their record, and they’ll need to overcome that if they are to win in the post ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
Why the Florida Panthers Are Paper Tigers in the 2016 Stanley Cup Race
March 16th, 2016 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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