2021–22 Florida Panthers season

The 2021–22 Florida Panthers season was the 28th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established in 1993. Head coach Joel Quenneville returned to coach his third season with the team, but resigned from his coaching duties as a result of the fallout from the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal on October 28, 2021. On October 29, assistant coach Andrew Brunette was named interim head coach.

Throughout the season, the team was defined by its high-scoring offense. The Panthers scored 4.14 goals per game, which was the highest mark since the 1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins, who scored 4.41 goals per game. The Panthers were scoring 1.07 goals per game above the league average, which counted as the 16th-highest mark in NHL history.

The Panthers began the season 3–0–0 for the second straight season, and later set a new team record for season-opening winning streak with an 8–0–0 record. They became the seventh team to begin the season at 8–0–0. The streak ended after the Panthers lost to the Boston Bruins 3–2 in a shootout on October 30. Florida became the first team to clinch a berth in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs following a 5–3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on April 3, 2022. On April 21, the Panthers clinched the Atlantic Division title, and on April 28, they won the Presidents' Trophy for the first time in franchise history.

On May 13, 2022, the Panthers won their first playoff series since the 1996 playoffs by defeating the Washington Capitals in six games, only to suffer an upset in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who swept them in four games. Until the 2025–26 season, this was the most recent year the Panthers did not advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

Standings

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

Regular season 2021–22 game logOctober: 8–0–1 (home: 5–0–0; road: 3–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 14 Pittsburgh 4–5 Florida OT Bobrovsky 14,308 1–0–0 2 2 October 16 NY Islanders 1–5 Florida Bobrovsky 12,936 2–0–0 4 3 October 19 Florida 4–1 Tampa Bay Knight 19,092 3–0–0 6 4 October 21 Colorado 1–4 Florida Bobrovsky 11,245 4–0–0 8 5 October 23 Florida 4–2 Philadelphia Bobrovsky 16,936 5–0–0 10 6 October 25 Arizona 3–5 Florida Knight 13,943 6–0–0 12 7 October 27 Boston 1–4 Florida Bobrovsky 12,306 7–0–0 14 8 October 29 Florida 3–2 Detroit OT Bobrovsky 15,593 8–0–0 16 9 October 30 Florida 2–3 Boston SO Knight 17,850 8–0–1 17 November: 7–4–2 (home: 7–1–0; road: 0–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 10 November 4 Washington 4–5 Florida OT Knight 12,542 9–0–1 19 11 November 6 Carolina 2–5 Florida Knight 13,835 10–0–1 21 12 November 8 Florida 3–4 NY Rangers Knight 14,877 10–1–1 21 13 November 9 Florida 3–7 New Jersey Knight 10,627 10–2–1 21 14 November 11 Florida 2–3 Pittsburgh SO Bobrovsky 17,194 10–2–2 22 15 November 13 Florida 2–3 Tampa Bay OT Bobrovsky 19,092 10–2–3 23 16 November 16 NY Islanders 1–6 Florida Bobrovsky 14,003 11–2–3 25 17 November 18 New Jersey 1–4 Florida Knight 12,157 12–2–3 27 18 November 20 Minnesota 4–5 Florida Bobrovsky 13,854 13–2–3 29 19 November 24 Philadelphia 1–2 Florida OT Bobrovsky 15,545 14–2–3 31 20 November 26 Florida 3–4 Washington Bobrovsky 18,573 14–3–3 31 21 November 27 Seattle 4–1 Florida Knight 15,305 14–4–3 31 22 November 30 Washington 4–5 Florida Bobrovsky 12,365 15–4–3 33 December: 5–3–1 (home: 4–2–0; road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 23 December 2 Buffalo 4–7 Florida Knight 11,751 16–4–3 35 24 December 4 St. Louis 3–4 Florida SO Bobrovsky 13,446 17–4–3 37 25 December 7 Florida 3–4 St. Louis OT Knight 16,372 17–4–4 38 26 December 10 Florida 3–1 Arizona Bobrovsky 11,974 18–4–4 40 27 December 12 Florida 2–3 Colorado Bobrovsky 16,548 18–5–4 40 28 December 14 Ottawa 8–2 Florida Knight 13,759 18–6–4 40 29 December 16 Los Angeles 4–1 Florida Bobrovsky 14,458 18–7–4 40 – December 18 Florida – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Moved to February 18. – December 21 Florida – Chicago Postponed due to COVID-19. Moved to February 20 – December 23 Nashville – Florida Postponed due to COVID-19. Moved to February 22. – December 27 Florida – Carolina Postponed due to COVID-19. Moved to February 16. 30 December 29 NY Rangers 3–4 Florida Bobrovsky 15,857 19–7–4 42 31 December 30 Tampa Bay 3–9 Florida Knight 15,001 20–7–4 44 January: 12–2–1 (home: 7–0–0; road: 5–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 32 January 1 Montreal 2–5 Florida Bobrovsky 13,584 21–7–4 46 33 January 4 Calgary 2–6 Florida Bobrovsky 13,164 22–7–4 48 34 January 6 Florida 5–6 Dallas SO Bobrovsky 17,678 22–7–5 49 35 January 8 Florida 4–3 Carolina OT Bobrovsky 18,680 23–7–5 51 36 January 11 Vancouver 2–5 Florida Bobrovsky 15,041 24–7–5 53 37 January 14 Dallas 1–7 Florida Bobrovsky 15,022 25–7–5 55 38 January 15 Columbus 2–9 Florida Bobrovsky 15,088 26–7–5 57 39 January 18 Florida 1–5 Calgary Knight 9,639 26–8–5 57 40 January 20 Florida 6–0 Edmonton Bobrovsky 9,150 27–8–5 59 41 January 21 Florida 2–1 Vancouver SO Knight 9,346 28–8–5 61 42 January 23 Florida 3–5 Seattle Bobrovsky 17,151 28–9–5 61 43 January 25 Florida 5–3 Winnipeg Bobrovsky 250 29–9–5 63 44 January 27 Vegas 1–4 Florida Knight 15,400 30–9–5 65 45 January 29 San Jose 4–5 Florida OT Bobrovsky 18,152 31–9–5 67 46 January 31 Florida 8–4 Columbus Bobrovsky 14,214 32–9–5 69 February: 3–4–0 (home: 0–3–0; road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 47 February 1 Florida 2–5 NY Rangers Knight 15,942 32–10–5 69 48 February 16 Florida 3–2 Carolina OT Bobrovsky 16,986 33–10–5 71 49 February 18 Florida 6–2 Minnesota Bobrovsky 18,300 34–10–5 73 50 February 20 Florida 5–2 Chicago Bobrovsky 19,619 35–10–5 75 51 February 22 Nashville 6–4 Florida Bobrovsky 14,234 35–11–5 75 52 February 24 Columbus 6–3 Florida Johansson 15,730 35–12–5 75 53 February 26 Edmonton 4–3 Florida Bobrovsky 15,628 35–13–5 75 March: 11–2–1 (home: 5–0–0; road: 6–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 54 March 3 Ottawa 0–3 Florida Bobrovsky 16,499 36–13–5 77 55 March 5 Detroit 2–6 Florida Bobrovsky 15,890 37–13–5 79 56 March 7 Florida 6–1 Buffalo Knight 7,906 38–13–5 81 57 March 8 Florida 4–3 Pittsburgh Bobrovsky 17,876 39–13–5 83 58 March 10 Philadelphia 3–6 Florida Bobrovsky 17,193 40–13–5 85 59 March 13 Florida 2–3 Los Angeles SO Knight 15,822 40–13–6 86 60 March 15 Florida 3–2 San Jose OT Knight 12,276 41–13–6 88 61 March 17 Florida 3–5 Vegas Knight 18,265 41–14–6 88 62 March 18 Florida 3–0 Anaheim Knight 12,296 42–14–6 90 63 March 24 Florida 4–3 Montreal Knight 20,788 43–14–6 92 64 March 26 Florida 4–3 Ottawa SO Bobrovsky 17,201 44–14–6 94 65 March 27 Florida 2–5 Toronto Knight 18,939 44–15–6 94 66 March 29 Montreal 4–7 Florida Bobrovsky 15,587 45–15–6 96 67 March 31 Chicago 0–4 Florida Bobrovsky 15,218 46–15–6 98 April: 12–3–0 (home: 5–1–0; road: 7–2-0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 68 April 2 Florida 7–6 New Jersey OT Knight 12,284 47–15–6 100 69 April 3 Florida 5–3 Buffalo Knight 11,787 48–15–6 102 70 April 5 Toronto 6–7 Florida OT Knight 15,260 49–15–6 104 71 April 8 Buffalo 3–4 Florida Bobrovsky 17,728 50–15–6 106 72 April 9 Florida 4–1 Nashville Knight 17,465 51–15–6 108 73 April 12 Anaheim 2–3 Florida OT Bobrovsky 16,204 52–15–6 110 74 April 15 Winnipeg 1–6 Florida Bobrovsky 17,625 53–15–6 112 75 April 17 Florida 6–1 Detroit Knight 14,566 54–15–6 114 76 April 19 Florida 3–2 NY Islanders OT Bobrovsky 17,255 55–15–6 116 77 April 21 Detroit 2–5 Florida Bobrovsky 16,238 56–15–6 118 78 April 23 Toronto 2–3 Florida OT Bobrovsky 17,132 57–15–6 120 79 April 24 Tampa Bay 8–4 Florida Knight 17,036 57–16–6 120 80 April 26 Florida 2–4 Boston Bobrovsky 17,850 57–17–6 120 81 April 28 Florida 4–0 Ottawa Knight 17,102 58–17–6 122 82 April 29 Florida 2–10 Montreal Johansson 21,105 58–18–6 122 Legend:

Playoffs

2022 Stanley Cup PlayoffsEastern Conference First Round vs. (WC2) Washington Capitals: Florida won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 3 Washington 4–2 Florida Bobrovsky 19,678 0–1 2 May 5 Washington 1–5 Florida Bobrovsky 19,636 1–1 3 May 7 Florida 1–6 Washington Bobrovsky 18,573 1–2 4 May 9 Florida 3–2 Washington OT Bobrovsky 18,573 2–2 5 May 11 Washington 3–5 Florida Bobrovsky 20,023 3–2 6 May 13 Florida 4–3 Washington OT Bobrovsky 18,573 4–2 Eastern Conference Second Round vs. (A3) Tampa Bay Lightning: Tampa Bay won 4–0 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 17 Tampa Bay 4–1 Florida Bobrovsky 19,656 0–1 2 May 19 Tampa Bay 2–1 Florida Bobrovsky 19,716 0–2 3 May 22 Florida 1–5 Tampa Bay Bobrovsky 19,092 0–3 4 May 23 Florida 0–2 Tampa Bay Bobrovsky 19,092 0–4 Legend:

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player 80 30 85 115 +35 54 67 39 49 88 +36 18 78 33 49 82 +25 13 74 31 27 58 +19 30 61 15 42 57 +38 26 78 24 31 55 +24 48 71 28 21 49 +27 74 54 18 29 47 +29 53 65 18 26 44 +33 18 80 8 36 44 +40 81 81 11 26 37 +15 48 71 10 27 37 +41 18 65 11 17 28 −5 19 78 9 17 26 +1 12 † 18 3 20 23 +7 6 ‡ 49 10 9 19 −2 16 55 9 9 18 +4 92 77 3 13 16 +27 105 40 7 7 14 +8 13 ‡ 42 6 8 14 +2 10 34 5 5 10 −10 10 40 3 6 9 +3 10 20 3 5 8 +2 11 † 20 2 6 8 +4 6 10 1 1 2 −8 2 9 0 1 1 0 5 † 16 0 1 1 0 10 1 0 1 1 0 0 6 0 1 1 −6 2 ‡ 13 0 0 0 +4 2 1 0 0 0 −1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 ‡ 10 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 +2 2 3 0 0 0 −4 0

Playoffs Player 10 6 6 12 +7 4 10 3 5 8 +2 0 10 2 5 7 +3 4 10 1 4 5 −2 11 10 1 4 5 +1 4 10 3 1 4 −4 2 10 1 2 3 +1 12 8 1 2 3 +4 4 10 0 3 3 +7 4 10 0 3 3 0 6 10 1 1 2 −3 2 10 1 1 2 −3 4 10 0 2 2 +1 6 9 1 0 1 −1 2 5 1 0 1 −1 2 4 1 0 1 −3 6 10 0 1 1 +1 10 10 0 1 1 −1 8 4 0 0 0 −3 0 9 0 0 0 −5 0 1 0 0 0 −1 0

Goaltenders Regular season Player 54 53 3,082:10 39 7 3 137 2.67 1,566 .913 3 0 0 4 32 27 1,740:14 19 9 3 81 2.79 876 .908 2 0 0 0 2 2 116:13 0 2 0 15 7.74 64 .766 0 0 0 0

Playoffs Player 10 10 600:18 4 6 27 2.70 303 .911 0 0 0 2 †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Panthers. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only. ‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions The Panthers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

Trades Date Details Ref To Buffalo SabresDevon LeviConditional1 1st-round pick in 2022 or 2023 To Florida PanthersSam Reinhart To Arizona CoyotesAnton StralmanVladislav Kolyachonok2nd-round pick in 2024 To Florida Panthers7th-round pick in 2023 To Vancouver CanucksNoah JuulsenJuho Lammikko To Florida PanthersOlli Juolevi To New York RangersFrank VatranoTo Florida PanthersConditional2 NYR or WPG 4th-round pick in 2022 To Montreal CanadiensTy SmilanicConditional3 1st-round pick in 2023Conditional2 NYR or WPG 4th-round pick in 2022To Florida PanthersBen Chiarot To Philadelphia FlyersOwen TippettConditional4 1st-round pick in 20243rd-round pick in 2023To Florida PanthersClaude GirouxConnor BunnamanGerman Rubtsov5th-round pick in 2024 To Buffalo SabresCGY 6th-round pick in 2022To Florida PanthersRobert Hagg To Carolina HurricanesMax DomiTyler InamotoTo Florida PanthersYegor KorshkovCBJ 6th-round pick in 2022To Columbus Blue JacketsAidan Hreschuk Notes: Buffalo will receive a first-round pick in 2022 if the selection is outside of the top 10; otherwise Buffalo will receive a first-round pick in 2023. Florida will receive the later of either New York's or Winnipeg's 4th-round pick. Montreal will receive Florida's 1st-round pick in 2024 if Florida retains their 2022 1st-round pick. Philadelphia will receive Florida's 1st-round pick in 2024 if it falls outside the top 10 selections, otherwise Philadelphia will receive Florida's 1st-round pick in 2025.

Players acquired