The Panthers finished 25th overall despite a 9th-ranked penalty kill because catastrophic goaltending (.877 save percentage, 28th in goals against) erased every structural advantage. A three-game win streak to close the season masked the season-defining failure: Sergei Bobrovsky's worst campaign in a decade cost Florida a playoff spot, turning a competent defensive structure into a 28th-ranked goals-against disaster.
The last-5 record of 3β2 with 4.2 goals scored and 2.8 conceded represents a dramatic reversal from season norms, cutting goals against by 17% while spiking offense by 37%. This late surge came too late to salvage an 84-point finish, but the 1.53 scoring trend and improved defensive structure suggest the team found coherence only after elimination, making the turnaround statistically irrelevant to playoff positioning.
Scoring is trending upward β up 1.5 goals/game vs the previous 5 games, a positive sign heading into the final stretch.
3rd period is simultaneously their most active β high-tempo play creates both chances scored and chances conceded.
Sergei Bobrovsky posted a catastrophic .877 save percentage and 3.07 GAA across 27 wins, ranking among the league's worst starters and directly causing the 28th-ranked goals-against total. Elite goaltending saves 10β15 goals over a season; Bobrovsky likely cost Florida 20+ goals relative to league-average performance, the single factor that eliminated playoff hopes.
NHL regular season only β stats update as games are indexed