2019–20 Florida Panthers season

The 2019–20 Florida Panthers season was the 27th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 14, 1993.[1] It is their first season under head coach Joel Quenneville.[2]

2019–20 Florida Panthers
Division	4th Atlantic
Conference	10th Eastern
2019–20 record	35–26–8
Home record	17–14–4
Road record	18–12–4
Goals for	231
Goals against	228
Team information
General manager	Dale Tallon
Coach	Joel Quenneville
Captain	Aleksander Barkov
Alternate captains	Aaron Ekblad Jonathan Huberdeau Vincent Trocheck (Oct. 3 – Feb. 24) Keith Yandle
Arena	BB&T Center
Minor league affiliate(s)	Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Mike Hoffman (29)
Assists	Jonathan Huberdeau (55)
Points	Jonathan Huberdeau (78)
Penalty minutes	Josh Brown (39)
Plus/minus	Aaron Ekblad (+12)
Wins	Sergei Bobrovsky (23)
Goals against average	Chris Driedger (2.05)

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4] On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled.[5] The Panthers advanced to the playoffs for the first time since the 2015–16 season and lost in four games to the New York Islanders in the qualifying round.[6]

Standings

Divisional standings

Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	100
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	92
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	81
4	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	78
5	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	71
6	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	68
7	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	62
8	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	39

Source: National Hockey League[7]
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy.

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	PCT	Qualification
1	Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	.714	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament[8]
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	.657
3	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	.652
4	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	.645
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	.623	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round[8]
6	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	.596
7	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	.588
8	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	.579
9	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	.579
10	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	.565
11	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	.564
12	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	.500
13	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	.493
14	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	.493
15	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	.437
16	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	.275

Source: NHL Eastern Conference Points percentage

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 12, 2019.[9]

2019 preseason game log: 3–4–1 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 2–3–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1^[A]	September 16	Florida	3–6	Nashville		Desrosiers	—	0–1–0	Recap
2^[A]	September 16	Florida	0–1	Nashville		Bednard	17,200	0–2–0	Recap
3^[a]	September 18	Florida	3–4	Montreal		Driedger	—	0–3–0	Recap
4	September 19	Florida	4–5	Montreal	SO	Montembeault	19,101	0–3–1	Recap
5^[b]	September 21	Florida	6–0	Dallas		Montembeault	—	1–3–1	Recap
6	September 24	Tampa Bay	3–6	Florida		Bobrovsky	8,744	2–3–1	Recap
7	September 26	Tampa Bay	4–2	Florida		Bobrovsky	8,611	2–4–1	Recap
8	September 28	Florida	1–0	Tampa Bay	SO	Bobrovsky	14,732	3–4–1	Recap
Notes: ^A Indicates split-squad. ^a Game was played at K. C. Irving Regional Centre in Bathurst, New Brunswick as part of Kraft Hockeyville. ^b Game was played at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.[10]

2019–20 game log
October: 6–3–4 (Home: 2–1–1 ; Road: 4–2–3) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 3 Florida 2–5 Tampa Bay Bobrovsky 19,092 0–1–0 0 Recap 2 October 5 Tampa Bay 3–4 Florida Bobrovsky 17,424 1–1–0 2 Recap 3 October 8 Carolina 6–3 Florida Bobrovsky 11,638 1–2–0 2 Recap 4 October 11 Florida 2–3 Buffalo SO Bobrovsky 15,638 1–2–1 3 Recap 5 October 12 Florida 2–3 NY Islanders SO Montembeault 11,421 1–2–2 4 Recap 6 October 14 Florida 6–4 New Jersey Bobrovsky 13,208 2–2–2 6 Recap 7 October 18 Colorado 5–4 Florida OT Bobrovsky 13,382 2–2–3 7 Recap 8 October 19 Florida 3–2 Nashville SO Montembeault 17,534 3–2–3 9 Recap 9 October 22 Pittsburgh 2–4 Florida Bobrovsky 12,738 4–2–3 11 Recap 10 October 24 Florida 5–6 Calgary SO Bobrovsky 18,011 4–2–4 12 Recap 11 October 27 Florida 6–2 Edmonton Bobrovsky 17,278 5–2–4 14 Recap 12 October 28 Florida 2–7 Vancouver Montembeault 17,864 5–3–4 14 Recap 13 October 30 Florida 4–3 Colorado OT Bobrovsky 16,022 6–3–4 16 Recap
November: 7–5–1 (Home: 5–2–1 ; Road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 14 November 2 Detroit 0–4 Florida Bobrovsky 14,411 7–3–4 18 Recap 15 November 7 Washington 5–4 Florida OT Bobrovsky 14,085 7–3–5 19 Recap 16 November 9 Florida 1–2 NY Islanders Bobrovsky 13,100 7–4–5 19 Recap 17 November 10 Florida 6–5 NY Rangers SO Montembeault 17,464 8–4–5 21 Recap 18 November 12 Florida 5–4 Boston SO Montembeault 17,850 9–4–5 23 Recap 19 November 14 Winnipeg 4–3 Florida Bobrovsky 12,190 9–5–5 23 Recap 20 November 16 NY Rangers 3–4 Florida Bobrovsky 16,512 10–5–5 25 Recap 21 November 19 Philadelphia 2–5 Florida Bobrovsky 11,515 11–5–5 27 Recap 22 November 21 Anaheim 4–5 Florida OT Bobrovsky 11,316 12–5–5 29 Recap 23 November 23 Florida 2–4 Carolina Bobrovsky 18,159 12–6–5 29 Recap 24 November 24 Buffalo 5–2 Florida Montembeault 14,443 12–7–5 29 Recap 25 November 27 Florida 3–4 Washington Bobrovsky 18,573 12–8–5 29 Recap 26 November 30 Nashville 0–3 Florida Driedger 14,285 13–8–5 31 Recap
December: 7–6–0 (Home: 5–4–0 ; Road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 27 December 3 Minnesota 4–2 Florida Driedger 10,167 13–9–5 31 Recap 28 December 7 Columbus 1–4 Florida Bobrovsky 11,640 14–9–5 33 Recap 29 December 8 San Jose 1–5 Florida Bobrovsky 11,340 15–9–5 35 Recap 30 December 10 Tampa Bay 2–1 Florida Bobrovsky 10,685 15–10–5 35 Recap 31 December 12 NY Islanders 3–1 Florida Bobrovsky 12,609 15–11–5 35 Recap 32 December 14 Boston 4–2 Florida Bobrovsky 15,157 15–12–5 35 Recap 33 December 16 Ottawa 1–6 Florida Bobrovsky 10,448 16–12–5 37 Recap 34 December 20 Dallas 4–7 Florida Bobrovsky 14,040 17–12–5 39 Recap 35 December 21 Florida 4–2 Carolina Driedger 18,224 18–12–5 41 Recap 36 December 23 Florida 1–6 Tampa Bay Bobrovsky 19,092 18–13–5 41 Recap 37 December 28 Detroit 4–5 Florida Driedger 17,731 19–13–5 43 Recap 38 December 29 Montreal 5–6 Florida Bobrovsky 19,651 20–13–5 45 Recap 39 December 31 Florida 1–4 Columbus Bobrovsky 18,977 20–14–5 45 Recap
January: 8–2–0 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 5–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 40 January 2 Florida 6–3 Ottawa Bobrovsky 10,991 21–14–5 47 Recap 41 January 4 Florida 2–3 Buffalo Bobrovsky 17,731 21–15–5 47 Recap 42 January 5 Florida 4–1 Pittsburgh Driedger 18,564 22–15–5 49 Recap 43 January 7 Arizona 5–2 Florida Driedger 12,120 22–16–5 49 Recap 44 January 9 Vancouver 2–5 Florida Bobrovsky 12,648 23–16–5 51 Recap 45 January 12 Toronto 4–8 Florida Driedger 15,535 24–16–5 53 Recap 46 January 16 Los Angeles 3–4 Florida Montembeault 12,575 25–16–5 55 Recap 47 January 18 Florida 4–1 Detroit Bobrovsky 19,231 26–16–5 57 Recap 48 January 20 Florida 5–4 Minnesota Bobrovsky 17,255 27–16–5 59 Recap 49 January 21 Florida 4–3 Chicago Bobrovsky 21,559 28–16–5 61 Recap
February: 5–9–2 (Home: 1–5–1 ; Road: 4–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 February 1 Florida 0–4 Montreal Bobrovsky 21,302 28–17–5 61 Recap 51 February 3 Florida 5–3 Toronto Bobrovsky 19,156 29–17–5 63 Recap 52 February 4 Florida 0–1 Columbus OT Bobrovsky 17,811 29–17–6 64 Recap 53 February 6 Vegas 7–2 Florida Bobrovsky 15,057 29–18–6 64 Recap 54 February 8 Pittsburgh 3–2 Florida Bobrovsky 17,773 29–19–6 64 Recap 55 February 10 Florida 1–4 Philadelphia Bobrovsky 17,867 29–20–6 64 Recap 56 February 11 Florida 5–3 New Jersey Montembeault 12,732 30–20–6 66 Recap 57 February 13 Philadelphia 6–2 Florida Bobrovsky 15,556 30–21–6 66 Recap 58 February 15 Edmonton 4–1 Florida Montembeault 15,069 30–22–6 66 Recap 59 February 17 Florida 5–3 San Jose Bobrovsky 16,510 31–22–6 68 Recap 60 February 19 Florida 4–1 Anaheim Bobrovsky 15,716 32–22–6 70 Recap 61 February 20 Florida 4–5 Los Angeles Bobrovsky 16,911 32–23–6 70 Recap 62 February 22 Florida 3–5 Vegas Montembeault 18,480 32–24–6 70 Recap 63 February 25 Florida 2–1 Arizona Bobrovsky 12,391 33–24–6 72 Recap 64 February 27 Toronto 5–3 Florida Bobrovsky 16,322 33–25–6 72 Recap 65 February 29 Chicago 3–2 Florida SO Bobrovsky 16,055 33–25–7 73 Recap
March: 2–1–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 1–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 66 March 1 Calgary 3–0 Florida Montembeault 14,104 33–26–7 73 Recap 67 March 5 Boston 2–1 Florida OT Driedger 15,577 33–26–8 74 Recap 68 March 7 Montreal 1–4 Florida Driedger 17,873 34–26–8 76 Recap 69 March 9 Florida 2–1 St. Louis Driedger 18,096 35–26–8 78 Recap
Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home 70 March 12 Florida Dallas 71 March 14 New Jersey Florida 72 March 16 Florida Detroit 73 March 17 Florida Winnipeg 74 March 19 Buffalo Florida 75 March 21 St. Louis Florida 76 March 23 Florida Toronto 77 March 24 Florida Ottawa 78 March 26 Florida Montreal 79 March 28 Florida Boston 80 March 30 NY Rangers Florida 81 April 2 Ottawa Florida 82 April 4 Washington Florida
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

The Panthers faced the New York Islanders in the qualifying round,[11] where they were defeated in four games.

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs
Eastern Conference Qualifying Round vs. (7) New York Islanders: New York won 3–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 August 1 Florida 1–2 NY Islanders Bobrovsky 0–1 Recap 2 August 4 Florida 2–4 NY Islanders Bobrovsky 0–2 Recap 3 August 5 NY Islanders 2–3 Florida Bobrovsky 1–2 Recap 4 August 7 NY Islanders 5–1 Florida Bobrovsky 1–3 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[12] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Jonathan Huberdeau 69 23 55 78 5 30 Aleksander Barkov 66 20 42 62 2 18 Mike Hoffman 69 29 30 59 −5 28 Evgenii Dadonov 69 25 22 47 −7 10 Keith Yandle 69 5 40 45 0 20 Aaron Ekblad 67 5 36 41 12 26 Vincent Trocheck^‡ 55 10 26 36 −3 33 Frank Vatrano 69 16 18 34 −8 30 Brett Connolly 69 19 14 33 −3 26 Noel Acciari 66 20 7 27 2 21 Mike Matheson 59 8 12 20 −1 14 Anton Stralman 69 5 14 19 −6 14 Mark Pysyk 58 9 9 18 4 20 MacKenzie Weegar 45 7 11 18 6 33 Colton Sceviour 69 6 10 16 2 6 Brian Boyle 39 6 9 15 −5 17 Denis Malgin^‡ 36 4 8 12 −6 12 Dominic Toninato 46 4 7 11 4 37 Josh Brown 56 3 5 8 1 39 Riley Stillman 34 0 5 5 −3 14 Aleksi Saarela 9 2 2 4 2 0 Dryden Hunt 21 0 4 4 0 24 Jayce Hawryluk 15 1 2 3 −1 8 Lucas Wallmark^† 7 1 1 2 0 0 Erik Haula^† 7 0 2 2 0 2 Henrik Borgstrom 4 0 0 0 −2 2

Playoffs[13] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Mike Hoffman 4 3 2 5 −1 4 Aleksander Barkov 4 1 3 4 0 2 Jonathan Huberdeau 4 1 2 3 0 2 Keith Yandle 4 0 3 3 −2 0 Brian Boyle 4 1 0 1 −1 12 Erik Haula 4 1 0 1 −3 0 Evgenii Dadonov 4 0 1 1 1 2 MacKenzie Weegar 4 0 1 1 1 4 Riley Stillman 3 0 0 0 −3 0 Noel Acciari 4 0 0 0 −3 0 Dryden Hunt 2 0 0 0 1 0 Lucas Wallmark 2 0 0 0 −1 2 Aaron Ekblad 4 0 0 0 0 2 Josh Brown 2 0 0 0 0 0 Dominic Toninato 3 0 0 0 −3 0 Mark Pysyk 4 0 0 0 −1 0 Brett Connolly 4 0 0 0 −5 2 Anton Stralman 4 0 0 0 −5 2 Brady Keeper 1 0 0 0 −1 0 Aleksi Saarela 1 0 0 0 0 0 Frank Vatrano 2 0 0 0 −2 2 Mike Matheson 2 0 0 0 −2 8 Colton Sceviour 2 0 0 0 −1 0

Goaltenders

Regular season[14]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Sergei Bobrovsky	50	49	2,805:59	23	19	6	151	3.23	1,505	.900	1	0	0	0
Chris Driedger	12	11	642:40	7	2	1	22	2.05	354	.938	1	0	0	0
Sam Montembeault	14	9	700:45	5	5	1	39	3.34	356	.890	0	0	0	0

Playoffs[15]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Sergei Bobrovsky	4	4	234:23	1	3	12	3.07	121	.901	0	0	0	0

^†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 2019–20 season.

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Via	Ref
July 7, 2019	Scott Darling		[16]

Retirement

Date	Player	Ref
June 26, 2019	Roberto Luongo	[17]

References

1. National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
2. "Florida Panthers Name Joel Quenneville Head Coach". NHL.com. April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
3. "NHL statement on coronavirus". NHL.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
4. Fernandez, Gabriel (March 12, 2020). "Coronavirus live updates: NHL suspends season; MLB to halt spring training; NCAA conference tourneys canceled". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
5. Gulitti, Tom (May 26, 2020). "NHL plans to return with 24 teams competing for Stanley Cup". NHL.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
6. "Islanders trounce Panthers to advance to first round of playoffs". Sportsnet.ca. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
7. "NHL Hockey Standings". www.nhl.com. National Hockey League.
8. Rosen, Dan (May 26, 2020). "Return to Play: Eastern Conference". NHL.com. National Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
9. "Florida Panthers Announce 2019-20 Preseason Schedule". NHL.com. June 12, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
10. "Florida Panthers Announce 2019-20 Regular Season Schedule". NHLcom. June 25, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
11. "Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule". NHL.com. NHL.com. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
12. "2019–20 Regular season – Florida Panthers Stats – Skaters". NHL.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
13. "2019–20 Playoffs – Florida Panthers Stats – Skaters". NHL.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
14. "2019–20 Regular season – Florida Panthers Stats – Goalies". NHL.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
15. "2019–20 Playoffs – Florida Panthers Stats – Goalies". NHL.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
16. "Florida Panthers Buy Out Goaltender Scott Darling". Florida Panthers. July 1, 2019.
17. "Florida Panthers Goaltender Roberto Luongo Announces Retirement from NHL". Florida Panthers. June 26, 2019.