David Banks-Imagn Images
Oct 28, 2026 6:56 PM
After weeks of chasing deficits, the Cats have ignited their offense. A sudden first-period scoring surge and revitalized power play are finally forcing opponents to play Florida's game.
During the first few weeks of the NHL season, the Florida Panthers struggled in one particular, crucial area.
They weren’t scoring early in games.
It’s extremely difficult to win in the best hockey league in the world when you are constantly having to come from behind, and that’s the situation that Florida found themselves in during the majority of their opening schedule.
Entering Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, Florida had scored just eight first period goals through their first 12 games.
As jarring as that stat sounds, it still doesn’t really tell the full story.
Of those eight goals scored during the first period this season, six had come over the Panthers previous four games.
That means Florida scored only one first period goal through their first five games.
It gets worse from there.
In terms of scoring the first goal of the game, after winning 1-0 in overtime on opening night in Carolina, it wasn’t until game number nine that Florida held a 1-0 lead again.
That’s right, they went seven straight games allowing the first goal, though escaping with a respectable 3-2-2 record in those outings.
“Everybody plays slightly different when you’re chasing the game,” said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice. “You’re trying to win, so if you’re down by one or down by two, your game has to open up a little bit. I think we’ve been pretty strong at not having that happen.”
Needless to say, early scoring was not something that came easy for the Panthers during the early stages of this season.
But perhaps the tide has turned.
Last Saturday, the Cats scored three goals during the opening period against the Seattle Kraken.
They went on to score another first period goal the following game in Ottawa, and added two more opening frame tallies on Sunday in Chicago.
Now, after putting up a 3-spot during the opening 20 minutes against Winnipeg on Tuesday, it might be safe to say that Florida has moved past their slow start issues.
“It is very nice,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said of playing with an early lead. “We played coming from behind quite a bit to start the season, so any time we get that first goal, it just plays into the game that we want. We want them to take chances, we want to be solid defensively and to capitalize on their mistakes.”
It also helps that Florida’s power play has finally gotten going after a slow start to the season.
Since the Seattle game, the Panthers have scored nine first period goals over a five-game span.
Five of those nine goals have come on the power play, including two of the three first period goals they scored in Winnipeg.
“I think right out of the gate, we came out moving the puck well, putting pucks in deep and drew a couple power plays, and that helped getting the first one and getting a little lead there,” said Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe. “We just took off from there.”
Now the Panthers will return to South Florida for a three-game homestand that will keep them local for over a week.
They’ll face the two teams they’ve most recently defeated, Winnipeg and Chicago, along with a divisional matchup against the Detroit Red Wings.
While the Blackhawks have allowed the third-most goals per game so far this season (3.67), the Jets and Red Wings are both in the lower third of the league in that department, with Winnipeg giving up an even three goals per game and Detroit allowing 2.92.
We’ll see if Florida can keep their offense humming along when they resume their schedule on Friday when they host a rematch with the Jets.
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Photo caption: Oct 25, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA;FloridaPanthersleft wing Sandis Vilmanis (95) celebrates his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period at United Center. (David Banks-Imagn Images)
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