Florida is picking up critical wins early in the season despite dealing with several obstacles

The first few weeks of the season have been challenging for the Florida Panthers.

It just might not show in the standings.

Florida has won seven of their first 11 games, sitting atop the Atlantic Division with 15 points and a 7-3-1 mark.

Considering they have yet to arrive for a game with a fully healthy roster and were missing Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk for large chunks of the season, that’s a pretty impressive start to their Stanley Cup defense.

Monday night in Buffalo, the Panthers played their seventh road game.

The 5-2 victory over the Sabres was Florida’s fifth straight on the road. It was also their first with Barkov back in the lineup since Oct. 10.

Let’s get to the takeaways:

BARKOV IMPACT ON ROSTER

There is a ripple effect that Barkov’s return has on the team.

It’s much more than just how the lines are composed.

It’s ice time. It’s special teams. It’s matchups.

Allow Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice to explain.

“It just changes so many things, the impact when he's on the ice, but the opportunities then for other players,” Maurice said. “Lundell’s line had a big goal at the start, and they've played against the other teams’ best for the last eight or nine games. There's a lot of responsibility that comes with that that Barky takes on, seamlessly, every night, but it changes our matchups too, even on the road. It makes running the bench quite a bit easier. You've got three guys with a lot of experience down the middle of the ice. You don't get trapped on icings as often.”

GAME SHIFTING SAVE BY BOB

Buffalo’s best stretch of the game came during the second period, when they quickly erased a two-goal deficit and threatened to take over.

The Sabres would’ve gone up 3-2 about 90 seconds after tying the game if not for the latest unbelievable save by Sergei Bobrovsky.

A drop pass from Alex Tuch to Tage Thompson after Buffalo entered Florida’s zone on the right side drew the attention of the Panthers defenders, and Thompson quickly fired the puck across the zone to a wide open Owen Power.

Bobrovsky, who was suddenly on the complete wrong end of the goal crease, turned his head to find the puck, twisted his hips and dug his left skate into the ice.

Pushing as hard as he could, Bob slid his body across the blue paint and stretched out his right leg as far as it would go, getting the bottom of his leg pad on the puck just before it would’ve slid inside the goal post.

Florida would re-take the lead, this time for good, less than three minutes later.

To say that the save was a seminal moment in the game would be an understatement.

“Especially on the road,” Maurice said. “They're coming a little bit, they've tied the game, now we're reeling a little bit, that's natural, on the road especially. He makes the big save, it just keeps their building from going, and their bench from going.”

THESE ARE CRUCIAL WINS

As mentioned at the top, the start to the season has not been an easy one for Florida.

The bumps in the road have been large and challenging.

A heavy travel schedule combined with missing top players is a recipe for disaster.

Fortunately, these Panthers are built for this. They are battle tested and prepared to have things rarely going in a favorable way.

The Panthers create their own good fortune by working their tails off and not letting excuses stop them from collecting wins.

Now, despite the difficult beginning to the season, Florida holds a strong record and place in the standings, setting themselves up for what they hope is another shot at a playoff run.

“It's very important,” Maurice said of the early season success. “Going into tonight, there's not a team in our division under .500. This is going to be a grinder right through. (Buffalo) is a better hockey team than they were a year ago, as we would expect. Ottawa the same. All these young teams that have drafted high have got powerful players coming of age. So you've got to win in October and you've got to win in April. It's going to be a grinder.”

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