6. The Panthers’ struggle to keep their three-peat bid alive
The Florida Panthers’ hopes of becoming the first team to win three consecutive Stanley Cup championships since the New York Islanders’ run of four in a row from 1980-83 are on thin ice. Florida (29-25-3) has been hampered by injuries all season and trails the Boston Bruins (32-20-5) by eight points for the second wild card from the East with 25 games remaining. The Panthers still are missing forwards Aleksander Barkov (knee surgery), Tomas Nosek (knee surgery) and Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), and defensemen Seth Jones (upper body) and Dmitry Kulikov (upper body). Barkov and Nosek might not play this season unless Florida makes the playoffs.