Panthers forward Sam Reinhart speaks to the media after Florida's 3-2 overtime win over the Islanders on Jan. 27. The Florida Panthers are quickly becoming the NHL’s road warriors of the 2023-24 season. Entering the All-Star break, Florida is riding a franchise record eight-game road winning streak. It’s a run that has propelled the Panthers to a league-best 17 victories when playing away from home. After Florida’s most recent road win, Saturday night on Long Island, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice was asked about the team’s success while away from South Florida. As he explained, it not so much one thing they’re doing well, but more an ability to adapt to different situations and find ways to come out on top. “There wouldn't be a lot of pieces of our game that weren't right. The last two, our power play scored goals for us, and our goaltending has been very, very strong on the road, but we've had nights – well I guess in Pittsburgh the penalty kill, there was 15 minutes penalty kill time is brilliant – and the nights that those two units have been quiet, our five-on-five game has been good, so it's kind of whatever the game presented us, we've had an answer to it in part of our game.” Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Under Maurice, Florida has become a very cohesive, balanced group. They understand what it takes to execute Maurice’s systems to perfection, and that when operating at their best, its very, very difficult for other teams to defeat them. It says something about each individual willing to put in the work and make whatever sacrifices in their game is required to have the team operating at its highest level. “Just the way we've stuck together,” said goaltender Anthony Stolarz. “We went through a lot of adversity and guys are just sticking up for each other, and it's kind of in that next man up, you look at guys up and down the lineup, the guys that we can insert, they understand their roles, so everyone's just going out there and doing their job and good things are happening.” In terms of whether Florida’s ability to claw out wins on the road is sustainable, it seems much of that onus now falls on the players. There is a blueprint to success that has proven to work. It’s a matter of are they willing to put in the work, night in and night out. So far, these Panthers have shown they’re more than willing to do what it takes. After coming within three wins of claiming the Stanley Cup last year, can you blame them? “It’s sometimes easy to accept playing a tight game,” Panthers All-Star Sam Reinhart said of playing on the road. “We play it at home, too, but on the road it's easy to mentally prepare for that, because it's obviously so hard to win on the road in this league. When we play like that, we give ourselves opportunities every night.” LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA NHL honors Matthew Tkachuk as superstar's hot streak has coincided with Panthers' run [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/nhl-honors-matthew-tkachuk-as-superstars-hot-streak-has-coincided-with-panthers-run] Mackie Samoskevich returns to AHL, but for how long? [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/mackie-samoskevich-returns-to-ahl-but-for-how-long] Panthers’ Reinhart chasing pair of historic NHL records [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/panthers-reinhart-chasing-pair-of-historic-nhl-records] Three takeaways: Samoskevich moves to Lundell line, tired Panthers play smart game [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/three-takeaways-samoskevich-moves-to-lundell-line-tired-panthers-play-smart-game] Ekman-Larsson overtime goal gives Florida 3-2 win over Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/ekman-larsson-overtime-goal-gives-florida-3-2-win-over-islanders] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
