Panthers Miss Playoffs, Eyeing Bounce-Back

0:00It's April 5th. This is NHL News today, AI-powered updates on your team. I'm Corey with the story. The Florida Panthers just missed the Stanley Cup playoffs after back-to-back championships, dropping a 9-4 decision to the Pittsburgh. Pinguins on Saturday. Their record finished at 37 wins, 36 losses, and 3 overtime losses, snapping a streak of playoff appearances every year since. The 2018-19 season, including three straight trips to the final. Earlier this week, injuries wrecked the roster from the jump. Captain Alexander Barkov had surgery on his ACL and MCL in training camp, and sat out the whole year. Matthew Ticket-Shuck missed the first 47 games recovering from offseason surgery, and a bunch more like Seth Jones, Sam Reinhart, and Brad. Marshawn dealt with long absences, too. Coach Paul Maurice called it, tough, but no excuse, noting over 500 man-games lost to injuries. Goldtender Sergei Babroski struggled with the 305 goals, against average and 0.878 save

1:03percentage in 51 games, his. Worse stretch in years after carrying them to those titles. Meanwhile, sheer exhaustion hit hard after playing 314 games over three prior seasons, the most in NHL history for that span, plus, international tournaments draining the tank. Looking ahead, the core like Barkov and Ticket-Shuck should return healthy next season, with a shot at a top 10 protected first round draft pick from A, trade, fueling a hungry bounceback that can make these panthers dangerous again.