Dominating in Dallas after getting blown out in Colorado shows Panthers turnaround could be for real
The Florida Panthers made a statement on Saturday night.
Florida had just been run out of the building two nights before in Colorado, losing a 6-2 game to the league-best Avalanche that didn’t feel as close as the score indicated.
It was a defeat that came on the heels of three consecutive victories for the Cats, and put a sudden pause on what felt like a veteran team that was turning a corner toward some much-needed consistent success.
Now Florida’s road trip was continuing with a third game in four nights, and the Cats were facing the NHL’s second-best team, the Dallas Stars.
It was a turning point, to be sure.
Would Florida continue sliding away from the prospective positivity they were moving toward just a few days prior, or could they prove the Colorado game was just a one-off on their newfound path to prosperity?
The Panthers went with Option B, playing possibly their best game of the season against an incredibly good Stars squad, defeating Dallas 4-0.
“We knew we weren’t up to par in Colorado,” said Panthers forward Brad Marchand. “We didn’t play our best and played a disappointing game, but (Dallas) is the second-best team in the West and I really liked how we responded and bounced back. That’s what this team is really good at and it’s great that we showed it tonight.”
It’s only the second time this season that Florida has won four out of five, but considering the stretch comes after Florida had lost four of five, all on home ice, the continuing signs of moving in the right direction are exactly what this team needs.
Speaking of encouraging topics, for the first time basically all season, we’ve been able to say lately that the Panthers are starting to get healthier.
They just welcomed Eetu Luostarinen back into the lineup after he missed eight games due to injuries suffered in a freak barbecue accident, and Matthew Tkachuk is back on the ice and nearing a return that could come sometime this month.
The impact that Luostarinen’s return has had on the depth of Florida’s forward ranks has been quite apparent, so you can probably imagine the ripple effect that will come with the addition of Tkachuk to the Cats’ top six and first power play unit.
But getting back to Saturday night, we may have witnessed Florida’s first true signature win of the season.
If they continue on this path, and the season starts to move in the direction that it’s expected to as the team starts to resemble the one that has won back-to-back Stanley Cups, this win in Dallas will be viewed as one of the major indicators that the Panthers were, in fact, who we thought they were.
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Photo caption: Dec 13, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) and center Sam Reinhart (13) and right wing Mackie Samoskevich (11) celebrate on the ice after the Panthers win over the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)
