Panthers are about to set the NHL mark for games played in a 3-year span
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers don't play hockey every day. It only seems like that's the case.
When the Panthers take the ice for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton on Wednesday night, it will be the team's 309th game over the past three seasons and one that ties the NHL record for most games in a three-year span. And that, obviously, means they'll break the record in Game 2 on Friday.
There is no downside to making the Stanley Cup Final in three consecutive seasons, though there has been one unintended consequence — the Panthers are playing a ton of hockey. It's simultaneously tiring and exhilarating.
'We will have more energy for this series than any of the three prior,' coach Paul Maurice said. 'And I'm sure it's true of Edmonton as well. But the regular season was more of a grind for us this year than either of the two previous. And then in each round, it seemed a bigger build to excitement just because the light is at the end of the tunnel. There are no more than seven games left to this season, no matter what. So, you will see a new energy source from both teams in this series.'
Dallas (1997-98 through 1999-2000) and Detroit (2006-07 through 2008-09) hold the record for most games in a three-year span with 309; the Panthers' Game 5 win in Carolina to clinch the Eastern Conference title was their 308th in three seasons, putting them on the brink of passing those clubs.
And two Panthers players — Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling — have played almost every one of those games. Both have made 303 appearances for Florida in these three years; they have a chance to pass Pittsburgh's Phil Kessel for the most by any NHL player ever in a three-year span.
Kessel played in all 307 of Pittsburgh's games from 2015-16 through 2017-18.
'That is crazy,' Forsling said. 'I didn't know that stat. That is crazy, for sure. It's a lot of preparation and a lot of recovery and you have to do the right things. Otherwise, you're going to be struggling out there — because that's a lot of hockey. And mentally, you've got to take days off and not think about hockey as much. I have a son now; that takes my mind off things.'
Edmonton is going to fly up the most-games list as this series goes on as well.
Game 1 against Florida will be the Oilers' 300th in the last three years; if the series goes seven games, Edmonton's 306 games would be the seventh most in a three-year span behind the Panthers, those Dallas and Detroit teams with 309, along with Pittsburgh (2015-16 through 2017-18), Colorado (1999-2000 through 2001-02) and Detroit (1995-96 through 1997-98) with 307 each.
'This last stretch of the last couple of years has been some of the most fun I've had playing hockey,' Oilers star Connor McDavid said after the Western Conference final. 'I look forward to what's going to be an exciting month.'
The Oilers and Panthers have superstars atop the lineups, but both teams know they got here with depth. Both have had 19 different goal scorers in the playoffs.
'That's what's been winning us hockey games,' Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. 'And you need that this time of year. We knew we were going to need everybody. ... Our depth has been incredible.'
The Panthers set the tone for deep runs with grueling training camps, though that's just one small part of the story. Strength and conditioning is an everyday thing during the season as well, along with constant advising from nutritionists, a sports science department and others tasked with drawing out the best path to peak performance. The Panthers will be up to about 67,000 air miles logged this season — far more than most NHL teams — after the first two games of the Cup final; they tend to stay in cities after games instead of flying home late at night in order to keep some semblance of a normal sleep schedule.
'It is before practice, after practice, every day, so that's kind of the mindset and culture that we build here,' Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. 'A lot of guys on this team don't even drink anymore. It isn't the old NHL where you have beers after games every game. We can't afford that because we cannot afford to get behind the eight ball at all during the season. That's where our team is at now.'
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How will the measles outbreak in Alberta affect kids?
With the measles count inching closer to the 1,000 mark in Alberta, this could mean dire consequences for the province's youngest and most vulnerable. As of Friday, the province has recorded 778 cases of the measles in Alberta, with 364 diagnosed within kids and teenagers aged five to 17 years. Over 200 cases have been diagnosed in children younger than five years old, a demographic Dr. Daniel Gregson, an infectious disease specialist says is especially vulnerable to developing serious complications from the virus. 'Measles complication rates are higher the younger you are and so, under five, you have a much higher incidence of complications which require hospitalizations,' he said. 'Common ones are pneumonia, unremitting diarrhea and then there are some rare complications like encephalitis that can result in admissions as well.' As of the time this article was published, five people are hospitalized, two of whom are in the ICU. For weeks, doctors, experts and government officials have encouraged Albertans to get vaccinated against the measles, attributing the rise in cases to poor vaccination rates over the last two decades. The reason the infection is spreading fastest among kids and teenagers is because of the low immunization rates in that demographic, according to Gregson. 'And transmission also happens when people who are not immunized gather together in large numbers and that's generally in schools.' With school almost out for the summer, that may mitigate the exponential rise in cases but with the count inching closer to 1,000, that increases the possibility of fatalities. But it's a difficult infection to control, Gregson cautioned, because it can be transmitted airborne and can stay in the air for approximately two hours after being released. 'So you can imagine, someone going to a store to pick up something,' he said. 'There could have been somebody in there who had been incubating in that four-day window and breathing in the store and then the store becomes a source of infection for other people, even when that person is no longer there.' Most adults who get the measles would see experience cold-like symptoms and a rash. But the complications arise for children who could also experience ear infections, pneumonia, dehydration and in rare cases encephalitis and blindness. On average, one patient in every 1,000 affected could die from the disease, although it's difficult to predict how that may pattern. 'We may see no deaths for the first thousand and then see three deaths in the second thousand,' he hypothesized. Should cases rise into the quadruples, kids younger than five years are most vulnerable to fatalities, he said. Ontario recorded its first death of the year from the measles outbreak in the province, after an infant born prematurely died from contracting the virus before birth. It is possible for pregnant mothers to pick up the infection and transmit to their babies pre-birth, Gregson said. 'It could be quite devastating.' A pregnant mother infected with the disease could see increased risk of a premature birth, a miscarriage, a stillborn birth or a low baby weight. The infection if passed on, could mean congenital measles for the fetus and respiratory complications post-birth.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Alan Roden's RBI double
Blues Have Clear Free-Agent Defenseman To Target One area the St. Louis Blues should be looking to improve this off-season is the right side of their defense. Bringing in a top-four right-shot defenseman would certainly give their roster a boost as they look take another step forward in 2025-26. 4:17 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Marlins pitcher Ryan Weathers was terrifyingly struck in the head by catcher's throw
Marlins pitcher Ryan Weathers has gone through countless warmups during his baseball career, but Saturday's freak accident with catcher Nick Fortes had to be a first. With Weathers going through his regular routine ahead of Miami's game against the Rays, he finished his final warmup pitch and started walking across the path of the mound. That was when Fortes' throw over to second struck Weathers right on the head. Advertisement Weathers immediately went down in pain and understandably so — that was incredibly scary. The trainers took to the field to attend to Weathers, and at the time, he said he was fine to stay in the game. But after three innings, Weathers was taken out of the game. He described feeling increasingly worse as the game went on, via ESPN: "I just felt very disconnected out there a little bit just with like, just all that adrenaline left me," he said. "... It was kind of like that episode of 'SpongeBob' where like everything's on fire inside of his brain and I just felt like I was in pure chaos after that happened. So it was just kind of the right time to come out of the game there." Given the circumstances, it could have been much worse. He was cleared of a concussion on Saturday, and the Marlins won, 11-10. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Marlins pitcher Ryan Weathers struck in the head by catcher's throw
