2020–21 Florida Panthers season

The 2020–21 Florida Panthers season was the 27th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established in 1993. Head coach Joel Quenneville coached his second season with the team.^[2] On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Panthers would play this season in the Central Division and would only play games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season, and potentially, the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Division2nd Central

2020–21 record37–14–5

Home record20–5–3

Road record17–9–2

Quick facts Florida Panthers, Division ...

2020–21 Florida Panthers
Division	2nd Central
2020–21 record	37–14–5
Home record	20–5–3
Road record	17–9–2
Goals for	189
Goals against	153
Team information
General manager	Bill Zito
Coach	Joel Quenneville
Captain	Aleksander Barkov
Alternate captains	Aaron Ekblad Patric Hornqvist Jonathan Huberdeau Keith Yandle
Arena	BB&T Center
Minor league affiliates	Charlotte Checkers (AHL) Syracuse Crunch (AHL)^[1] Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Aleksander Barkov (26)
Assists	Jonathan Huberdeau (41)
Points	Jonathan Huberdeau (61)
Penalty minutes	Ryan Lomberg (67)
Plus/minus	MacKenzie Weegar (+29)
Wins	Sergei Bobrovsky (19)
Goals against average	Chris Driedger (2.07)
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

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On April 27, the Panthers clinched a playoff berth after a 7–4 win over the Nashville Predators.^[3] In the first round, they met their rivals the Tampa Bay Lightning in the playoffs for the first time. They were eliminated with a 4-0 loss in game six on May 26, continuing the league's longest playoff series win drought.

Standings

More information Pos, GP ...

Central Division
Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Carolina Hurricanes	56	36	12	8	27	179	136	+43	80
2	x – Florida Panthers	56	37	14	5	26	189	153	+36	79
3	x – Tampa Bay Lightning	56	36	17	3	29	181	147	+34	75
4	x – Nashville Predators	56	31	23	2	21	156	154	+2	64

5	Dallas Stars	56	23	19	14	17	158	154	+4	60
6	Chicago Blackhawks	56	24	25	7	15	161	186	−25	55
7	Detroit Red Wings	56	19	27	10	17	127	171	−44	48
8	Columbus Blue Jackets	56	18	26	12	12	137	187	−50	48

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Source: National Hockey League^[4]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.^[5]

More information January: 5–0–1 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 3–0–1), # ...

2020–21 game log

January: 5–0–1 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 3–0–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
—	January 14	Dallas	–	Florida	Postponed due to COVID protocol.^[6] Rescheduled for February 22.
—	January 15	Dallas	–	Florida	Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for May 10.
1	January 17	Chicago	2–5	Florida		Driedger	4,147	1–0–0	2	^[7]
2	January 19	Chicago	4–5	Florida	OT	Bobrovsky	3,667	2–0–0	4	^[8]
—	January 21	Florida	–	Carolina	Postponed due to COVID protocol.^[9] Rescheduled for February 17.
—	January 23	Florida	–	Carolina	Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for March 7.
3	January 26	Florida	4–3	Columbus	SO	Bobrovsky	0	3–0–0	6	^[10]
4	January 28	Florida	2–3	Columbus	SO	Driedger	0	3–0–1	7	^[11]
5	January 30	Florida	3–2	Detroit	OT	Bobrovsky	0	4–0–1	9	^[12]
6	January 31	Florida	3–2	Detroit		Driedger	0	5–0–1	11	^[13]

February: 8–4–2 (Home: 5–3–2; Road: 3–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
7	February 4	Nashville	6–5	Florida	OT	Bobrovsky	3,698	5–0–2	12	^[14]
8	February 5	Nashville	1–2	Florida		Driedger	3,977	6–0–2	14	^[15]
9	February 7	Detroit	4–1	Florida		Driedger	3,706	6–1–2	14	^[16]
10	February 9	Detroit	1–2	Florida		Bobrovsky	3,477	7–1–2	16	^[17]
11	February 11	Tampa Bay	2–5	Florida		Bobrovsky	3,808	8–1–2	18	^[18]
12	February 13	Tampa Bay	6–1	Florida		Bobrovsky	4,509	8–2–2	18	^[19]
13	February 15	Florida	6–4	Tampa Bay		Driedger	100	9–2–2	20	^[20]
14	February 17	Florida	4–3	Carolina	OT	Driedger	0	10–2–2	22	^[21]
15	February 19	Florida	7–2	Detroit		Driedger	0	11–2–2	24	^[22]
16	February 20	Florida	1–2	Detroit		Bobrovsky	0	11–3–2	24	^[23]
17	February 22	Dallas	1–3	Florida		Driedger	3,510	12–3–2	26	^[24]
18	February 24	Dallas	3–0	Florida		Driedger	3,324	12–4–2	26	^[25]
19	February 25	Dallas	2–3	Florida		Bobrovsky	3,844	13–4–2	28	^[26]
20	February 27	Carolina	4–3	Florida	SO	Bobrovsky	4,281	13–4–3	29	^[27]

March: 10–5–1 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 6–4–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
21	March 1	Carolina	3–2	Florida	OT	Driedger	3,817	13–4–4	30	^[28]
22	March 4	Florida	5–4	Nashville		Bobrovsky	—^[a]	14–4–4	32	^[29]
23	March 6	Florida	6–2	Nashville		Bobrovsky	—^[a]	15–4–4	34	^[30]
24	March 7	Florida	2–4	Carolina		Driedger	2,924	15–5–4	34	^[31]
25	March 9	Florida	4–2	Columbus		Bobrovsky	3,448	16–5–4	36	^[32]
26	March 11	Florida	5–4	Columbus	OT	Bobrovsky	3,739	17–5–4	38	^[33]
27	March 13	Chicago	2–4	Florida		Bobrovsky	4,721	18–5–4	40	^[34]
28	March 15	Chicago	3–6	Florida		Bobrovsky	4,512	19–5–4	42	^[35]
29	March 18	Nashville	2–1	Florida		Bobrovsky	4,559	19–6–4	42	^[36]
30	March 20	Nashville	0–2	Florida		Driedger	4,358	20–6–4	44	^[37]
31	March 21	Florida	3–5	Tampa Bay		Bobrovsky	3,800	20–7–4	44	^[38]
32	March 23	Florida	2–3	Chicago		Driedger	0	20–8–4	44	^[39]
33	March 25	Florida	0–3	Chicago		Bobrovsky	0	20–9–4	44	^[40]
34	March 27	Florida	4–3	Dallas	OT	Bobrovsky	4,209	21–9–4	46	^[41]
35	March 28	Florida	4–1	Dallas		Driedger	4,026	22–9–4	48	^[42]
36	March 30	Detroit	1–4	Florida		Bobrovsky	4,321	23–9–4	50	^[43]

April: 10–5–1 (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 4–4–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
37	April 1	Detroit	2–3	Florida	OT	Driedger	4,359	24–9–4	52	^[44]
38	April 3	Columbus	2–5	Florida		Bobrovsky	4,375	25–9–4	54	^[45]
39	April 4	Columbus	0–3	Florida		Driedger	4,069	26–9–4	56	^[46]
40	April 6	Florida	2–5	Carolina		Bobrovsky	4,987	26–10–4	56	^[47]
41	April 8	Florida	0–3	Carolina		Driedger	4,987	26–11–4	56	^[48]
42	April 10	Florida	1–4	Dallas		Bobrovsky	4,165	26–12–4	56	^[49]
43	April 13	Florida	3–2	Dallas	OT	Driedger	4,199	27–12–4	58	^[50]
44	April 15	Florida	2–3	Tampa Bay	OT	Driedger	3,800	27–12–5	59	^[51]
45	April 17	Florida	5–3	Tampa Bay		Bobrovsky	3,800	28–12–5	61	^[52]
46	April 19	Columbus	2–4	Florida		Bobrovsky	4,041	29–12–5	63	^[53]
47	April 20	Columbus	1–5	Florida		Knight	4,132	30–12–5	65	^[54]
48	April 22	Carolina	4–2	Florida		Bobrovsky	4,683	30–13–5	65	^[55]
49	April 24	Carolina	3–4	Florida	OT	Driedger	4,838	31–13–5	67	^[56]
50	April 26	Florida	1–4	Nashville		Driedger	—^[a]	31–14–5	67	^[57]
51	April 27	Florida	7–4	Nashville		Knight	—^[a]	32–14–5	69	^[58]
52	April 29	Florida	4–3	Chicago	OT	Knight	0	33–14–5	71	^[59]

May: 4–0–0 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 1–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
53	May 1	Florida	5–4	Chicago		Bobrovsky	0	34–14–5	73	^[60]
54	May 3	Dallas	4–5	Florida	OT	Knight	4,702	35–14–5	75	^[61]
55	May 8	Tampa Bay	1–5	Florida		Bobrovsky	5,040	36–14–5	77	^[62]
56	May 10	Tampa Bay	0–4	Florida		Driedger	5,040	37–14–5	79	^[63]

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) Postponement

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Playoffs

More information 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, Central Division First Round vs. (C3) Tampa Bay Lightning: Tampa Bay won 4–2 ...

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs

Central Division First Round vs. (C3) Tampa Bay Lightning: Tampa Bay won 4–2
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series	Recap
1	May 16	Tampa Bay	5–4	Florida		Bobrovsky	9,646	0–1	^[64]
2	May 18	Tampa Bay	3–1	Florida		Driedger	9,646	0–2	^[65]
3	May 20	Florida	6–5	Tampa Bay	OT	Bobrovsky	9,508	1–2	^[66]
4	May 22	Florida	2–6	Tampa Bay		Bobrovsky	9,762	1–3	^[67]
5	May 24	Tampa Bay	1–4	Florida		Knight	11,551	2–3	^[68]
6	May 26	Florida	0–4	Tampa Bay		Knight	10,092	2–4	^[69]

Legend: Win Loss

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Draft picks

Below are the Florida Panthers selection at the 2020 NHL Draft which was held on October 6–7 at NHL Network Studios.

More information Round, # ...

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationally	College/Junior/Club team (league)
1	12	Anton Lundell	(C)	Finland	HIFK (Liiga)
2	43	Emil Heineman	(LW)	Sweden	Leksands IF (SHL)
3	74	Ty Smilanic	(C)	United States	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
3	87	Justin Sourdif	(RW)	Canada	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
4	105	Zachry Uens	(D)	Canada	Merrimack Warriors (H-East)
5	153	Kasper Puutio	(D)	Finland	Everett Slivertips (WHL)
7	198	Elliot Ekmark	(C)	Sweden	Linkoping J20 (SuperElit)
7	212	Devon Levi	(G)	Canada	Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL)

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Notes

[a]
Spectators were in attendance, but the exact number was not reported.

2020–21 Florida Panthers season

Standings

Schedule and results

Regular season

Playoffs

Draft picks

Notes

References

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