Boston improved to 14-1-3 overall and 4-0-0 after losses. The Bruins have 31 of a possible 36 points so far — by far the best in the league, yet slightly behind their pace from last season when they had 32 points through 18 games.

Boston finished with an NHL-record 135 points last season, then lost to Florida in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs while the Panthers went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Florida is 0-1-1 against the Bruins this season.

John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk scored in a 3:05 span in the second period to put Boston in control, and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins.

Anton Lundell scored for Florida. The Panthers had won six in a row at home.

Stenlund had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, who have won six consecutive games at home and are 7-1-0 in their last eight games. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett also scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots.

Connor McDavid scored twice for the Oilers. Evander Kane also scored for Edmonton, and Calvin Pickard — making his first start since March 27, 2022 — stopped 27 shots.

The Oilers fell to 1-10-1 this season when allowing three or more goals.

“We are trying to keep the puck out of our net, obviously,” McDavid said. “That’s our main focus and we haven’t done that.”

Edmonton jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by McDavid and Kane. Verhaeghe and Mikkola tied it up for Florida, and McDavid scored on a penalty shot 5 minutes into the second period for a 3-2 lead.

It was the 52nd multigoal game of McDavid’s career and his first of the season. He was due for a breakout; the four goals he had entering Monday night represented the fewest he’d had through 14 games played to start any of his nine NHL seasons.

He was also due for a big game at Florida — McDavid entered Monday with only one goal in five appearances on the Panthers’ home ice.

But Mikkola tied it up for a second time just 1:08 after the penalty shot, and Stenlund put the Panthers up for good with 6:18 left in the second.

Mikkola had two goals, total, in his last 148 games played including playoffs entering Monday — spanning 2,559 minutes of ice time for the Finnish defenseman.

“The coaches and teammates trust you to jump up into the play every time you see it,” Mikkola said when asked about his offensive success. “We want to have one defenseman up in the play and get chances that way. I like it.”

It was Florida’s second successful rally from a two-goal deficit this season, after coming from 2-0 down to top Seattle 3-2 on Oct. 28. Edmonton wasted a two-goal lead for third time this season and the second in as many games; the Oilers blew a 2-0 lead in what became a 6-4 loss Saturday at Tampa Bay.

The Panthers improved to 10-0-0 when leading with 5 minutes left in regulation. Bennett sealed it with an empty-netter with 42.6 seconds remaining, his first goal of the season after dealing with injuries for much of the early part of the year.

Florida was without captain Aleksander Barkov, who is listed as day-to-day. He took a knee-to-knee hit in Florida’s win at Anaheim on Friday, and tests over the weekend showed he avoided serious injury.

“You can win on any given night no matter how many injuries you have, but you just can’t win long-term with key guys out,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But the pro scouts have done a good job of finding players that fit the style of hockey we play and we brought in some key players that helped us survive.”

UP NEXT

Oilers: Visit Carolina on Wednesday.

Panthers: Host Boston on Wednesday.

Barkov was hurt when he was hit by Anaheim’s Jackson LaCombe on Friday night in what became a 2-1 win for the Panthers. LaCombe initially was assessed a 5-minute major after the play; the penalty was downgraded to a 2-minute minor for tripping after review.

Barkov needed help getting off the ice and immediately went to the locker room area for evaluation. The Panthers were off Saturday, then returned to the ice for practice Sunday. Barkov won’t play Monday when the Panthers open a three-game homestand against Edmonton.

“We got lucky,” Maurice said.

There were some indications Friday night that Barkov hadn’t been seriously injured; he was walking around postgame, which the Panthers took as a good sign. Still, the official sigh of relief didn’t come until the team returned home Saturday to begin a more complete evaluation.

“We’ll leave him at day to day,” Maurice said.

The Panthers entered Friday’s game as healthy as they’ve been all season. That game marked the return of defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, both of whom had not played since the Stanley Cup Final last June and needed shoulder surgeries after that series. They returned much quicker than originally expected; the Panthers at one point were bracing for both to be out until mid-December.

Barkov appeared in 16 of Florida’s first 17 games this season, with six goals and 11 assists for 17 points. If he misses the entire homestand, he’ll also be out for games Wednesday against Boston and Friday against Winnipeg.

“Anytime you’re missing Alex Barkov, it’s never going to be easy,” Ekblad said. “But we’ve got to find a way to get it done against three good teams here coming up.”

Barkov has only had two instances of missing at least 10 consecutive games in his Panthers career. He missed 10 games with a hand injury in 2015-16, then missed 15 games with a back injury in 2016-17.

Barkov is in his 11th season with the Panthers, tied with Stephen Weiss and Roberto Luongo for the most in team history. The Panthers’ captain is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (680), goals (249) and points (648), along with second in assists (399, 16 behind Jonathan Huberdeau) and power-play points (189, one behind Huberdeau).

Maurice said Barkov will be assessed daily, checking things like the level of swelling in the knee and his range of motion. Knee-to-knee hits often end up with a far worse result and can cause serious injury.

“Those are dangerous, dangerous plays,” Maurice said.

Eetu Luostarinen also scored for the Panthers, who have won seven of their nine games in November.

Florida center Aleksander Barkov left in the third period after a knee-to-knee collision with Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe near center ice. Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Barkov would undergo further testing when the team returned to Florida.

“We’ve played some pretty darn good hockey (this month) and most of it is just scratch and claw and grind,” Maurice said. “I think in the first part of this game was the first time we were moving pretty good offensively.”

Frank Vatrano put in his team-leading 12th goal for Anaheim. John Gibson, who was in net for his 441st game with the Ducks and tied Guy Herbet for second-most in franchise history, made 31 saves.

“We weren’t very good. Let’s be honest. The first couple of periods, we were lucky it was only 2-1.,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We waited until the third period. I think we were going before we got the power-play goal, we were getting some zone time. Then, we played with some urgency and it was too little, too late.”

Jakob Silfverberg thought he put in the tying goal midway through the third period, but there was no conclusive video evidence to show that his shot crossed the Florida goal line.

Silfverberg said he thought the puck made it across the line, which a couple of angles on the videoboard showed, but it was not overturned to a goal.

“I really don’t have anything to say. I think anybody that watched the replay can form their own opinion,” Cronin said. “I saw the same thing that 16,000 people saw. I have to respect what they saw in Toronto. I have no control over it.”

Anthony Stolarz stopped 33 shots for the Panthers.

Ekman-Larsson gave the Panthers a two-goal advantage at 18:06 of the first period with a snap shot that went in off the far post. It was his seventh goal and 25th point in 59 games against the Ducks.

“I thought we started pretty good in the first, let in one on the (penalty kill) in the third and then it’s a tight game,” Ekman-Larsson said. “I mean it’s not easy coming in here after we played last night (a 2-1 loss at Los Angeles), but we knew it was going to be a tough game and we got two points and that’s most important.

Lundell, who has 85 career points, passed Vincent Trocheck and Ed Jovanovski for the eighth-most points by a Panthers player before age 23.

Luostarinen scored his first goal of the season at 14:50 of the first when he got Lundell’s pass from behind the net, skated to the near post and put a wrist shot past Gibson.

Vatrano got the Ducks within a goal at 7:39 of the third period on the power play when he put in a rebound after Stolarz.

Panthers defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad made their season debuts after missing the first 16 games due to shoulder injuries. Montour led Panthers defensemen in goals last season with 16 and Ekblad was second with 14.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Open a three-game homestand against Edmonton on Monday.

Ducks: Host St. Louis on Sunday.

Cam Talbot made 30 saves, and the Kings won in their own building for the second time in eight games.

“It’s no secret that we need to make this building a little tougher to play in, and I think tonight’s a good step in the right direction,” Talbot said.

Sam Reinhart scored for the third straight game, Sergei Bobrovsky allowed two goals on 26 shots, and the explosive Panthers were held to their lowest-scoring output since being shut out at Minnesota in their season opener on Oct. 12.

“I thought we were a little slow,” coach Paul Maurice said. “I would expect them to be quick, they were sitting on four days’ rest. But I thought we just didn’t move the puck the way we wanted to.”

Fiala, whose offensive production has been offset by his inconsistent puck-handling and mistakes on defense, beat Bobrovsky with a backhand off the rush 1:20 into the game.

Fiala kept up the positive play by feeding Kopitar for a one-timer on the power play and a 2-0 lead midway through the second period.

It was 13th assist and 16th point through 15 games for Fiala.

“Tonight, you saw the energy and the drive and the battle and the commitment,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “If we get that all the time, we got one hell of a player. And it’s there. He’s been a little bit frustrated and we’re trying to help him, but I was proud of him tonight. He made some real good plays and responded well.”

Even more impressive was the defensive effort by the Kings in shutting down the Panthers, who had scored at least four goals in every game during their win streak.

“It wasn’t going for us all night,” Reinhart said. “I think we were trying to do a little too much, and give them credit, they kind of bring that out of you.”

Florida struggled to generate truly dangerous chances, with most of its shots coming from the outside and easily turned away by Talbot.

Reinhart eventually broke through with his 13th goal on a wobbly shot from the slot that beat Talbot with 9:45 remaining in the third period.

“We were able to stick with it and kind of get ourselves back to have a fighting chance,” Reinhart said. “You give them credit that they’re a team when they have the lead, it’s not easy to come back on them.”

Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois sustained an apparent lower-body injury when he lost his footing on a breakaway and crashed into the post late in the third. He went straight back to the dressing room and did not return.

McLellan said Dubois was being evaluated and the team would have a better sense of how serious the injury might be on Friday.

The Panthers did not have defenseman Josh Mahura for the second half of the game because of a lower-body injury, but Maurice did not believe it was significant.

Fortunately for Florida, defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour could each make their season debut against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. Ekblad and Montour both underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason.

Sam Reinhart scored his 12th goal, tied for second-most in the NHL behind Toronto’s Austin Matthews and Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor, who lead the league with 13. Reinhart also added an assist for his fifth straight multi-point game.

Ryan Lomberg and Aleksander Barkov also scored for Florida, which beat San Jose for the 10th consecutive time.

Matthew Tkachuk had two assists to extend his point streak to seven games.

“I think everyone’s stepping up,” Verhaeghe said. “We have a lot of guys in and out of the lineup. Everyone’s playing well. … Every win is kind of a total team win. Everyone is contributing in a different way.”

Tomas Hertl and Luke Kunin scored 1:10 apart earlier in the third to give San Jose a 3-2 lead. Hertl’s goal was the 206th of his career, tying him with Owen Nolan for fifth-most in team history. Mike Hoffman scored his first goal as a member of the Sharks.

Verhaeghe tied the game at 3 with his 100th NHL goal. Stenlund put Florida ahead with his fourth of the year.

“We know we can score at any time,” Stenlund said. “We’re confident. We’ve just got to keep working. We did that and we won.”

Sam Bennett appeared to extend the lead to 5-3 less than a minute later, but the Sharks successfully challenged for offside and the goal was taken off the board.

Fabian Zetterlund nearly tied it for San Jose but his wrist shot hit the goal post.

Barkov added an empty netter with 2:13 remaining.

“I thought San Jose played a good game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “You’re not going to get an easy game out of any team in the NHL when they play as hard as they did.”

Anthony Stolarz made 19 saves to earn his second win of the year.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 27 shots for San Jose.

“There were a lot of good signs overall throughout the game,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “But against a team of that caliber, you’ve got to make sure that you’re thorough in all areas for 60 minutes.”

Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic played in his 1,252nd career game, moving into sole possession of 100th place in NHL history.

San Jose was without Anthony Duclair, who missed his third straight game due to illness.

Reinhart had two goals and two assists, Carter Verhaeghe got the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Panthers withstood two highlight-reel scores from Bedard to beat the Blackhawks 4-3 on Sunday.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and an assist, while Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues each had a pair of assists for Florida. The Panthers have won a season-high four straight and are 9-2-1 in their last 12 games.

“Any time you can get home and pile some points together, it’s key,” Reinhart said.

Bedard — who has nine goals in his first 13 games — became the youngest player to score twice in a game against Florida, doing so three days after he became the youngest player to have a two-goal game against Tampa Bay.

“It’s nice to see him rolling and feeling good about it,” Chicago forward Nick Foligno said. “You can see the game’s starting to slow down for him, which is scary.”

Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago, which got 27 saves from Arvid Soderblom.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots for the Panthers, who were leaving after the game for a 5 1/2-hour flight to San Jose. A three-game West Coast swing starts Tuesday.

There have been three instances of a player having multiple points in four straight games so far in this NHL season. Detroit’s Dylan Larkin has one — and now, Reinhart has the other two such streaks. He has 10 points in his last four outings, and his four-point game tied a career best.

“Happy for him,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He’s worked hard to get himself to this point.”

The Panthers never trailed, with Ekman-Larsson opening the scoring 39 seconds into the contest — Florida’s fastest goal to open a game in just over a year.

Reinhart’s goals gave Florida leads of 2-1 and 3-2. Both times, Bedard would net the equalizer.

The 18-year-old scored his first of the afternoon late in the opening period, taking the puck off the stick of Florida’s Kevin Stenlund near the goal line to the left of Bobrovsky, seeing an opening and flicking one over the left shoulder of the Panthers’ goalie from a tight angle.

Bedard’s second goal, midway through the second, came after picking up the puck along the left-wing boards between the blue line and center ice, skating in and beating Bobrovsky low to the glove side.

“He’s an elite player,” Rodrigues said, “especially in transition.”

Both scores were unassisted. The Blackhawks were Bedard’s helpers in other ways.

When Florida’s Dmitry Kulikov — an NHL rookie when Bedard was 4 — delivered a hard-but-clean check on the young Chicago star late in the second, Foligno immediately took offense. He went at Kulikov and was penalized for hooking and roughing, giving Florida a 4-minute power play.

“I just didn’t like the hit,” Foligno said. “You can’t let one of your best players get hit like that, right?”

Chicago killed it off, and the teams went to the third tied at 3-3. But Verhaeghe cashed in on Florida’s next power play, getting what became the game winner just 2:44 into the final period.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Host Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Panthers: Visit San Jose on Tuesday.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots on the way to winning his fourth consecutive start. Rookie Uvis Balinskis got his first NHL goal for Florida, and Kevin Stenlund added an empty-netter with 3:42 left for the Panthers.

Sam Reinhart had two assists for Florida.

“We know what to do on the ice right now and we know how to play the right way,” Barkov said. “If we do that, we will always get a chance to win and obviously (Bobrovsky) has been giving us a chance to win every night.”

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes, and Jordan Martinook assisted on both goals. Antti Raanta made 30 saves for Carolina, which had won five of its last six games.

But of late, Panthers-Hurricanes games always seem to go Florida’s way. Carolina won 11 of 13 meetings between the teams, one of those in a shootout, between Nov. 23, 2018, and April 22, 2021. Florida has won 10 of the 12 games between the clubs since, including all four in last season’s playoffs.

“They were good, we were bad. That combination is not good,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We have to give them credit. They played exactly how they wanted to and we never, ever got anything going.”

Kotkaniemi opened the scoring 1:20 in with a quick goal off the rush. Tkachuk tied it less than 3 minutes later, and the Panthers never trailed again. Balinskis took a pass from Tkachuk and scored for a 2-1 lead late in the first.

“He’s done everything he possibly can to stay in the lineup and he earned it,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Balinskis, the Latvian rookie. “He comes over here, completely different league, doesn’t know anybody, training camp is really difficult and then he earned his spot in the lineup.”

It was 3-2 Florida after two, with Barkov scoring off a rebound and Carolina getting within a goal again when Aho scored late in that period.

But the third was all Florida with Verhaeghe scoring on a redirect to restore the two-goal edge and Stenlund getting the empty-netter.

Florida was again without injured forward Sam Bennett, though his return is evidently looming.

Bennett will get “a full, hard practice” on Saturday, Maurice said, and then a decision will be made on his return. It could be as early as Sunday’s home game with Chicago, though Maurice cautioned that may be optimistic.

“I think he’s fairly close,” Maurice said.

Also potentially back for the Panthers in the next 10 days or so: defenseman Brandon Montour, who hasn’t played since the Stanley Cup Final because of shoulder surgery. He and fellow defenseman Aaron Ekblad — also out for shoulder surgery recovery — were originally slotted to miss games until potentially December, though Montour is a bit ahead of that pace. Still, Florida will be cautious.

“We’re not putting five months into this to bring him back a day early,” Maurice said.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Visit Tampa Bay on Saturday night.

Panthers: Host Chicago on Sunday afternoon.

Rodrigues tied it early in the third period, Sam Reinhart scored 15 seconds into OT and the defending Eastern Conference champions rallied to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 on Wednesday night for a second consecutive victory. Much of the core group that reached the Stanley Cup Final is back, and Rodrigues is a newcomer enjoying jumping along for this ride.

“There’s definitely no quit in this team, and no matter what the score is we’re not going to roll over,” Rodrigues said. “When we’re down in games, the room doesn’t get quiet. It’s uplifting, it’s motivating and I think that’s why you see late in games so many comebacks.”

Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and captain Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers. Two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves and was hardly to blame for the three goals he allowed.

“They got a bunch of shots and then not so many for a while,” coach Paul Maurice said. “I think that was a veteran goalie’s game. That was a mentally difficult game.”

Florida, despite being without top defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour for the entire season so far as they recover from shoulder surgery, and more recently injured center Sam Bennett, has been among the better defending teams in the NHL.

“The identity we’re wanting to play, the game plan we’re trying to execute on a nightly basis, it’s to be successful when you’re not 100%,” Reinhart said.

The Panthers got some more goals, most notably Reinhart’s goal on the first shift of 3-on-3 OT, to win for a third time in four games. The past two have been comeback wins in OT, including Monday against Columbus.

“They’re two games that haven’t been pretty from start to finish,” Reinhart said. “We had our moments in them, but we were able to stick with it.”

The Capitals ended their five-game homestand on a losing note despite two goals from Anthony Mantha, one short-handed score from Connor McMichael and two assists from Aliaksei Protas. Mantha left in distress in the third period after taking a puck to the left side of his face and did not return.

Coach Spencer Carbery had no update on Mantha afterward.

Darcy Kuemper allowed four goals on 25 shots, including one after a turnover by young defenseman Alexander Alexeyev, who had a rough night in under 10 minutes of ice time.

“We made some egregious mistakes with the puck that, against a team like them, you just can’t make, especially against their best people, who are all feeling it tonight and buzzing around,” Carbery said. “We just made some really, really mind-boggling plays with the puck, decisions with the puck, positional stuff, in the second and third period.”

Alex Ovechkin remains stuck on two goals this season, matching his lowest total through 11 games (2008-09) and slowing down his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career record.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday in a rematch of last season’s East final.

Capitals: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Friday in the first half of New York-area back to back.

Florida led 3-0 barely six minutes into the contest, gave up the next four goals and then needed the late heroics from Cousins and Verhaeghe.

Ryan Lomberg, Gustav Forsling and Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves.

“It felt good,” Verhaeghe said. “Definitely nice to get the win, but it’s obviously not how we drew it up. We started off good and let them back in it, but there are no bad wins.”

Sean Kuraly, Boone Jenner, Alexandre Texier and Kirill Marchenko scored for the Blue Jackets. Spencer Martin made 35 saves in relief of Elvis Merzlinkins, who allowed three goals on 11 shots in the first 6:09.

“It didn’t surprise me at all that we responded,” Martin said. “I love the guys in this room so much. We battle and it seems like we’ve done this type of thing in a few games already and, man, I really wish I could have gotten the win for them.”

Lomberg opened the scoring with a bank shot off of Merzlinkins’ back 2:19 into the game. Forsling added a goal 50 seconds later that quickly gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead. Barkov scored a backhand goal while falling on a rebound to put Florida up 3-0, prompting Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent to swap out his goaltenders.

The Panthers outshot Columbus 20-0 from the 1:19 mark of the first period until the Blue Jackets got their first goal of the game with 4:19 to go in the first.

Kuraly picked up an Erik Gudbranson rebound and stuffed it past Bobrovsky to break the streak. Boone Jenner added a second goal with 1:09 to go in the opening frame with a quick wrist shot off the rush.

Marchenko tied the game with a power-play goal 10:02 into the second period.

Texier stuffed in a loose puck sitting in front of a wide-open Florida net to put the Blue Jackets ahead 4-3 with 7:30 left in regulation. But Cousins got the tying goal off a turnover late, then Verhaeghe won it.

“He’s had some incredible chances and he has generated them,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Cousins. “Right now, with Sam Bennett out, he is a really important piece. He is a guy who can come into the top nine to kind of fill that hole.”

Florida defenseman Mike Reilly made his Panthers debut after being a healthy scratch in the team’s first 10 games. Columbus defenseman Andrew Peeke — a native of nearby Parkland, Florida — drew into his first game since the team’s season opener on Oct. 12.

Nick Foligno, Nikita Zaitsev and Taylor Hall scored in the first for Chicago, which was coming off an ugly 8-1 loss at Arizona on Monday. Petr Mrazek made 38 saves.

“I would have loved to see us play with that jam all night long,” Hall said of Chicago’s quick start. “We came out with some juice and, like I said, we didn’t really sustain that as well as we want to.

“But over the course of this year, hopefully that’s something we get to.”

Chicago (4-6-0) won its first home game in three tries this season.

“We haven’t been here that much yet this year,” coach Luke Richardson said. “I think we refocused after last game and played a really solid first period.”

It was the first goal of the season for Zaitsev and Hall, who was activated from injured reserve after being sidelined by a left shoulder injury. Hall, the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, was acquired in a June trade with Boston.

Florida’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored on a screened power-play shot 6:33 into the third, ending Mrazek’s bid for his first shutout since April 2021. Matthew Tkachuk tucked in a rebound at 12:29 but Chicago held on.

“I think we got sloppy in the second period,” Richardson said, “but they found a way in the third just to block shots and grind it out.”

Carter Verhaeghe assisted on both Florida goals. Anthony Stolarz made 19 saves in his second start this season.

The Panthers entered on a 3-0-1 roll. They were coming off a 2-0 victory at Detroit on Thursday behind Sergei Bobrovsky.

“We had a really tough first,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ll play 246 periods (in the regular season) and I’m hoping that one’s our worst.”

Chicago had scored a total of five first-period goals this season, but put together a fast start.

Foligno opened the scoring at 6:25 on a power play. He fired in a loose puck from slot after Seth Jones’ shot from the point struck Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling and dropped to the ice.

Zaitsev connected from the slot at 9:21 after taking a feed from Kurashev, who retrieved his own rebound.

Hall plowed down the left wing and beat Stolarz between the legs at 12:39 with a low shot that struck the goalie’s stick and slid in.

Bedard scored 5:29 into the second, snapping a shot under Stolarz’s glove from the left circle. It was the fifth goal in 10 games for the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NHL draft.

Ekman-Larsson cut it to 4-1 at the end of a Florida power play — with Bedard off for high-sticking — after Chicago failed to clear the zone. Tkachuk scored from the edge of the crease with Mrazek down.

Florida outshot Chicago 15-3 in the final 20 minutes, but Kurashev tacked on an empty-netter with 10 seconds left to seal it.

“After the first period, there’s nothing else left for us to do but find a way out of it,” Maurice said. “That was probably as dominant a two periods after that we’ve had.”

Blackhawks rookie defenseman Wyatt Kaiser played with a neck guard after former NHL forward Adam Johnson died last weekend after his neck was cut by a skate blade during a game in England. Both Minnesota natives, Kaiser and Johnson played NCAA Division I hockey at Minnesota-Duluth, but at different times.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Host Columbus on Monday.

Blackhawks: Host New Jersey on Sunday.

Lorentz, who was acquired in an offseason trade with San Jose, scored with 52 seconds left in the second period with an assist from Niko Mikkola.

“It’s huge whenever you can get a goal in the first minute or last minute of a period — it feels like a backbreaker for the other team,” Lorentz said. “I was just trying to shoot it hard on net and I got a bounce. Hopefully, the bounces are going to be coming our way a little bit more.”

Anton Lundell provided insurance with an empty-net goal with 1:12 remaining, also his first of the season.

Bobrovsky now has a 25-6-1 career record against the Red Wings, including four shutouts.

“It’s a great win. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking about my career or my personal achievements out there,” said Bobrovsky, who was appearing in his 650th career game. “We’re focused on the standings. That team is ahead of us and we know we have to work to catch them.”

Aleksander Barkov appeared in his 672nd career game with the Panthers, a franchise record. He had been tied with Jonathan Huberdeau, who now plays for Calgary.

Detroit was shut out for the first time this season. James Reimer made 25 saves.

“He’s been really sharp,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said of Reimer. “That’s a positive for us. Every time he’s been in the net, he’s given us a chance. Tonight was obviously no different.”

The Panthers had a 10-6 advantage in shots on goal in the first period but the closest any player came to scoring was Detroit’s Daniel Sprong, who banged a shot off the crossbar during a power play.

Both teams came up empty on three power plays in the second period. Detroit went 0-for-5 on the power play and has not scored with the man advantage for four consecutive games. The Red Wings scored 11 power play goals in their first seven games.

“We bobbled pucks at key times and we forced it at key times,” team captain Dylan Larkin said. “We just didn’t get the one that we needed. I think on the power play we need one bad. The sense of urgency has to be there from the first power play to our last power play.”

Lorentz broke the deadlock with a shot from the left side that deflected off Reimer’s glove, the crossbar and the back of the goaltender’s leg before settling into the net.

Florida is 3-0-1 in its last four games.

“I think our penalty kill is a lot like our power play — the numbers aren’t good at all, but we’ve been perfect in our last three games and I think our expected goals is actually pretty solid,” coach Paul Maurice said. “Our expected goals on the power play are also solid. That’s what coaches do — when the analytics are good, talk about the analytics.”

UP NEXT:

Panthers: At Chicago on Saturday.

Red Wings: Host Boston on Saturday.

How long this absence will be is still unclear.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice told reporters after the team practiced in Detroit on Wednesday that the reigning Eastern Conference champions aren’t sure on the prognosis for Bennett, Florida’s fourth-leading scorer in last season’s playoffs. Bennett missed the first seven games of this season with a lower-body injury, returned for about 8 minutes of ice time in Monday’s 3-2 loss at Boston, and got hurt again after Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm fell on him in front of the net.

Bennett needed to be helped off the ice, unable to put any weight on his left leg.

“He’s not day-to-day. He’s going to be a little longer,” Maurice said. “We don’t think it’s as significant as the first one. Have to see how he feels. What happens in the first three days will tell us how long it’s going to be.”

Florida plays at Detroit on Thursday and visits Chicago on Saturday to end a three-game road trip. The Panthers have dealt with injuries throughout this young season, with defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour still expected to be weeks away from making their 2023-2024 debuts. Both men needed shoulder surgery after last season’s Stanley Cup Final.

Thursday will be a milestone game for Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov — who will play in his 672nd regular-season contest for Florida and break a tie with Jonathan Huberdeau for the most in team history.

Barkov is already the club’s all-time leader in goals (245) and points (639). Maurice was asked Wednesday what about Barkov is most impressive.

“That it’s every day, that he works hard every single day, takes care of his body, trains hard to be the best he possibly can,” Maurice said. “He’s an incredibly consistent professional. … He doesn’t complain ever about anything. He loves playing in Florida, loves the fans, loves the area. We’re just very fortunate.”

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced the ban Tuesday, saying after a disciplinary hearing that McAvoy made Ekman-Larsson’s head the principle point of content on a hit in which head contact was avoidable.

McAvoy hit Ekman-Larsson in the head with his left shoulder midway through the third period of the teams’ game Monday night. McAvoy was ejected with a match penalty, and Ekman-Larsson did not return after leaving the ice.

The Panthers also took issue with a hit that McAvoy delivered on Carter Verhaeghe in the first period. Asked after the game what his view of the hit to Ekman-Larsson was, Florida coach Paul Maurice said, “I thought it was exactly like the hit on Verhaeghe in the first.”

McAvoy scored the tying goal about two minutes before the hit on Ekman-Larsson.

It’s McAvoy’s second NHL suspension for a head shot and the first since getting one game for an illegal check on Columbus Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson in the second round of the 2019 playoffs. He has also been fined once before in his six-plus year professional career.

McAvoy will forfeit $197,917 in salary and, barring appeal, won’t be eligible to play again until Boston’s game Nov. 11 at the Montreal Canadiens.

Gustav Forsling also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for Florida (4-3-0), which has now won 13 games in which it trailed by at least two goals since the start of the 2021-22 season.

Jared McCann and Eeli Tolvanen scored for the Kraken. Joey Daccord made 35 saves for Seattle (2-5-2).

“I think we got a little harder on the puck,” Forsling said of Florida’s second-period surge. “We got it out when we needed to and we got a couple of lucky bounces. But I think we deserved it.”

McCann put the Kraken ahead with a breakaway goal 7:58 into the first period. Tolvanen added to the lead by deflecting Jaden Schwartz’s shot past Bobrovsky 7:34 into the second.

And then, it was time for Florida to do what it has so often in recent seasons — start a comeback.

Forsling, Tkachuk and Cousins were all goalless on the season entering Saturday, and picked the right night to change that for Florida. Forsling and Tkachuk got their goals 11 seconds apart to tie the game; Forsling’s goal was on the power play, barely a minute after Schwartz gave Seattle the 2-0 lead.

Tkachuk — coming off a 40-goal season a year ago — needed until the seventh game of this season to get goal No. 1. He’d never needed more than four games to score his first goal in any of his previous seven NHL seasons.

“He understands his game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He is point-per-game with assists, which isn’t his normal rate, but he knew it was coming.”

Cousins got the game winner into a wide-open net after Daccord was caught off-guard by a bounce off the boards.

“It was on me. I should’ve stayed in the net,” Daccord said. “Late in the game, tie game, the stanchions here are pretty bouncy and it was an unfortunate bounce, but I should have just stayed in the net and at least given myself a chance to make a save there. I feel like I let the team down tonight.”

The Panthers got more good news Saturday than just the win. Maurice said injured defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour — who haven’t played since last season’s run to the Stanley Cup Final following shoulder surgeries — will join the team for practice on Sunday. Their return timeline has been moved up from mid-December to late November.

UP NEXT

Kraken: Visit Tampa Bay on Monday.

Panthers: Visit Boston on Monday.

Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Kevin Stenlund each scored for the Panthers (3-3-0), who were without captain Aleksander Barkov because of an illness. Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves in his Florida debut, almost flawless in his first chance as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup.

“He has earned that because he worked really hard and he did that straight through camp,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Stolarz. “He knows the job so he knows those practices have to be his games and he prepared himself very well. He is a big man, but efficient. Not a lot of scramble in his game. It was really good.”

Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves.

At 0-5-1, San Jose has matched the worst six-game start in franchise history. The Sharks also went 0-5-1 for one point through six games in 1993-94 — part of what became an 0-8-1 start. San Jose turned things around that season, getting to the second round of the playoffs.

“I just thought we kept giving the puck away,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “I didn’t think we were committed in our battles and against a team like that you are going to spend a lot of time in your end and give up chances. That is kind of what happened, but as the game went on that happened less and less.”

Zetterlund gave San Jose the lead 8:30 into the second period, scoring a power-play goal off of a pass from William Eklund.

That was it for the Sharks’ offense. The rest was all Florida.

Verhaeghe tied the game 1:18 after Zetterlund’s goal, scoring off a one-timer set up by Matthew Tkachuk — the first of his two assists in the game. Reinhart’s goal came at 15:23 of the second, a power-play score for his seventh goal of the season.

Reinhart’s goal streak is the longest of his career; he’d had a four-game goal streak on four other occasions before this run.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had (a hot streak) at the start of the year,” Reinhart said. “When it doesn’t go at the start of the year, it’s a lot worse than when it’s in the middle of the year because you have nothing to fall back on. It just adds to that pressure, so to be able to start like this is nice.”

Stenlund added an empty-netter with 1.5 seconds left.

NOTES: Barkov was replaced by rookie forward Mackie Samoskevich, who has called up from AHL Charlotte on Tuesday afternoon. … Veteran defenseman Marc-Eduoard Vlasic was a healthy scratch for the Sharks for a second-straight game. … San Jose forward Anthony Duclair and Florida forward Steven Lorentz played against their former teams for the first time since getting traded for each other on July 1. … Stolarz and forward William Lockwood made their Panthers debut after signing with the team as free agents in the offseason.

UP NEXT

Sharks: Visit Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Panthers: Host Seattle on Saturday.

Quinn Hughes, Carson Soucy, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser also scored for Vancouver, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Casey DeSmith made 34 saves.

“He went to the net with vengeance tonight,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said of Kuzmenko. “He was in front battling. Those are the things we are looking for. If he has effort like that, he is a dominant player.”

Sam Reinhart scored two third-period goals to rally the Panthers from a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 tie with 5:59 left. Aleksander Barkov also scored for Florida while Evan Rodrigues picked up two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.

Reinhart is already up to six goals this season.

“He has continued to improve himself every year and he worked incredibly hard this summer to be one of our fittest athletes,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “You can tell he’s got the legs.”

Hughes opened the scoring for Vancouver with a quick shot from the point on the power play with 9:51 to go in the first. Barkov was credited a goal to make it 1-1 20 seconds later.

Soucy walked into the slot and beat Bobrovsky with a wrist shot on the power play with 9:19 to go in the second. Pettersson extended the lead to 3-1 less than a minute later, sending a shot through traffic off of a backhand feed from Kuzmenko.

Reinhart and Rodrigues teamed up for both Florida goals in the third, before Kuzemko scored off a rebound to put Vancouver up for good. Panthers forward Steven Lorentz crashed into Bobrovsky, leaving him unable to contest the shot.

Boeser sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 2:10 left.

“The crowd started getting into it at 3-3 and in the last couple years, we’ve let a lead like that slip away,” Hughes said. “It was big for us to hold our ground and have confidence. (DeSmith) made some big saves and we had guys who were ready to play and wanted to win the game.”

NOTES: F Ilya Mikheyev picked up an assist in his season debut for the Canucks. He played for the first time since a knee injury in January. … The Panthers continue to be without C Sam Bennett, still out with a lower-body injury. Florida is hoping he can play Tuesday. … Panthers D Oliver Ekman-Larsson played against the Canucks for the first time since they bought out his contract in July. The $19.3 million buyout was the fifth-most expensive in NHL history.

UP NEXT

Canucks: At Nashville on Tuesday night.

Panthers: Host San Jose on Tuesday night.

Perfectly summed up the night for the Panthers, who got a scratch-and-claw win in their home opener.

Stenlund and Oliver Ekman-Larsson got their first Florida goals, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots and the Panthers helped their goalie by blocking a barrage of shots in the final minutes on the way to topping the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in a playoff rematch Thursday night.

“Everybody was putting their bodies on the line,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “That’s very important. We saw what it was like last year. We got in (the playoffs) by one point and these points matter.”

Stenlund scored with 2:52 left in the first, Ekman-Larsson made it 2-0 with seven seconds left in the opening period and that was enough for Bobrovsky. Sam Reinhart added a short-handed empty-net goal as time expired.

Mitch Marner scored his first goal of the season, coming on the power play, midway through the second period for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves for the Maple Leafs, who opened a season-long five-game road trip.

“The result was not great today,” Samsonov said.

Samsonov went to the bench with 2:10 left for an extra attacker, and Florida captain Aleksander Barkov was called for a penalty with 1:09 remaining — giving Toronto a 6-on-4. But nothing got to Bobrovsky the rest of the way, and Florida held on.

“There were a few blocks in a row, big blocks, important blocks,” Bobrovsky said.

Including playoffs, Florida improved to 6-1-1 in its last eight games against the Maple Leafs. Toronto had scored exactly two goals in each of the first seven meetings in that span.

Given that it was the home opener, there were the expected nostalgic reminders for the Panthers, to commemorate last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Final. The new Eastern Conference championship banner was displayed to fans for the first time and spotlighted in the pregame ceremony, along with a highlight video from last spring.

“It’s definitely a little bit of a sign of the success that you had last year and it’s definitely no little feat; that was big-time for us to get that and keep moving the needle with this organization and keep having success,” Tkachuk said. “We know what the last piece of the puzzle is after last year, to finish the job.”

There was another reminder of last spring’s playoff run — “We want Florida” chants from the Panthers fans, a nod to how Toronto fans chanted the same before Florida ousted Boston in a Round 1 stunning upset of the team that had just posted the best regular season in NHL history. The Panthers then beat Toronto in five games in Round 2.

The Panthers — who drew a sellout crowd of 19,288 — entered the night as one of four teams yet to play their home opener this season. Colorado was also making its home debut for the season Thursday, while Chicago and Arizona don’t open their home slates until Saturday.

NOTES: It was Bobrovsky’s 107th win as a Panther, breaking a tie with John Vanbiesbrouck for second-most in franchise history. Roberto Luongo has the club record with 230. … A pregame moment of silence was held for those impacted and killed following Hamas militants attacking Israel earlier this month, with the Maple Leafs and Panthers jointly mourning the loss of life. … Barkov and Reinhart assisted on Ekman-Larsson’s goal for Florida. Stenlund’s was unassisted. … John Tavares got his sixth assist of the year on Marner’s goal, and William Nylander got his fourth.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: Visit Tampa Bay on Saturday.

Panthers: Host Vancouver on Saturday.

Sam Reinhart moved up to the top line and scored two goals and the defending Eastern Conference champions held off a late rally by New Jersey in posting a 4-3 victory over the Devils on Monday night.

“We wanted to win and we did everything we could and obviously they played really well in the third period,” Panthers center Aleksander Barkov said. “We didn’t shut them completely done but we got enough goals to defend the lead.”

Carter Verhaeghe and Niko Mikkola also scored goals and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for the Panthers, who had opened the season with losses at Minnesota and Winnipeg.

“We got to be a very close group last year,” Maurice said of the team that lost the Stanley Cup to the Vegas Goldens Knights. “Then you have seven new guys show up. So, we’re kind of putting them all together but we’re starting to have a little bit of fun with that.”

Sergei Bobrovsky carried a shutout into the third period but saw Erik Haula, Michael McLeod and Jesper Bratt tally to get New Jersey within a goal with 2:23 to play. The 35-year-old, who has started all three games this season, finished with 31 saves.

“He made some great saves, for sure at the end of the game, he made some really, really big saves there,” Devils forward Tyler Toffoli said. “It would have been nice to tie it up and give us a chance to get two points. But obviously we fell short.”

Vitek Vanecek finished with 26 saves despite spending the final 4:14 on the bench as the Devils played with an extra skater.

Reinhart, who was moved up from the third line to replace Verhaeghe on the top line with Barkov and Evan Rodrigues, scored on deflections in front. The first came 3:54 after the opening faceoff, and the second came on a third-period power play that gave Florida a 4-0 lead. The goals were the 200th and 201st of his career.

“He’s one of the smartest players in the league and he has this stick that suits him well in front of the net,” Barkov said. “He can do whatever he wants with that, and touches pucks and makes plays and just one of the smartest players I’ve seen.”

Devils coach Lindy Ruff was angry after the Devils (1-1-1) started poorly for the third straight game.

“Yeah, to a man we all should be,” Ruff said. “Players, coaches, we all should be angry at ourselves.”

He promised changes unless his team started playing with more desperation from the start.

NOTES: Maurice coached in his 1,769th game Monday night, passing Joel Quenneville for third all-time among NHL coaches. … Forward Sam Bennett and defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour have yet to play this season because of injuries. … RW Justin Sourdif, a third-round draft pick in 2020, made his NHL debut for the Panthers. … The loss denied coach Ruff his 100th win with New Jersey. Bratt and Haula each had a goal and an assist.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Return to Sunrise, Florida, to host to Toronto on Thursday in the start of a four-game homestand.

Devils: Head to Long Island to face the New York Islanders on Friday night.

Mark Scheifele and Mason Appleton each had a goal and an assist for the Jets, who lost 5-3 at Calgary on Wednesday in their opener. Morgan Barron and defenseman Dylan DeMelo also scored.

Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for the Jets in the opener of a three-game homestand.

“Home opener. You’re back in front of your home fans. You gotta be a little fired up,” said Scheifele, who signed a seven-year contract extension on Monday.

“You’re playing against a team that went to the Stanley Cup Final last year. A lot of reasons to be excited for it.”

Evan Rodrigues had two goals and two assists for the Panthers, who were coming off a 2-0 loss at Minnesota in their season opener on Thursday. Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots.

“It’s nice to know we’re not just going to roll over and give up games,” Rodrigues said. “I think as a whole it wasn’t good enough.

“I thought we played really well against Minnesota and I thought maybe as a team we thought it was going to be easy today. I think to be successful we have to play like we did against Minnesota. I don’t think we did today.”

Rodrigues scored his first goal 25 seconds into the second period to give Florida a 2-1 lead. But Winnipeg responded with four straight goals.

Connor tied it up again just 10 seconds after Rodrigues scored. Barron made it 3-2 at 8:20, and DeMelo fired the puck in from the high slot at 9:55.

“It was more defensively, we weren’t very stout,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said of the second period, noting his team had 16 shot attempts.

The third period opened with Scheifele and Matthew Tkachuk throwing some punches at each other just over a minute into the action. Earlier in the game, Tkachuk and Jets captain Adam Lowry exchanged some shoves and heated words.

Appleton made it 5-2 with a short-handed goal, putting a shot under Bobrovsky with 5:43 remaining.

Florida closed to 5-4 on goals by Verhaeghe at 16:31 and Rodrigues at 17:36. Tkachuk hit the post less than a minute later, but Connor scored an empty-netter with 1:10 remaining.

Florida was 1 for 7 on the power play, and Winnipeg went 2 for 6.

HELLO FANS

The Jets have won their past six home openers. Connor has scored in each of those games, netting a total of eight goals, which is the most for home openers in franchise history.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Monday.

Jets: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday,

Joel Eriksson Ek assisted on Faber’s goal and scored on a 4 on 3 in the second period, and Gustavsson took it from there to pick up where he left off in goal in his strong debut last season with the Wild.

“It’s not going to be like that every night, that’s for sure,” Gustavsson said. “It’s on the limit a few times. It’s very close, that the puck goes by me. But sometimes you’re lucky, and you create your own luck.”

The Wild are 9-1-1 in season openers at Xcel Energy Center and 11-2-3 at home against the Panthers.

Faber, the native of Minnesota who starred in college for the home-state Gophers and joined the Wild for the final two games of the regular season, skated on the first defensemen pair with Jonas Brodin. He a snagged a drop pass from Matt Boldy at the blue line, waited a second to find a seam and ripped a slap shot past Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s stick.

“It was more just a shot to get it down there than to pick a corner, but I got lucky,” Faber said. “Everyone just kind of started skating toward me, so I figured something good happened.”

The Wild had been outshot 10-2 before Faber’s strike.

“Jumped into the play a lot. He’s just a very intelligent hockey player,” coach Dean Evason said.

The game looked more like an exhibition at times and grew increasingly rough and tumble. Bobrovsky, who finished with 19 saves, was put in a precarious position after dual penalties put both teams down a skater. After the Wild’s Alex Goligoski hit the crossbar on a 4-on-4 shot, Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was called for tripping Mats Zuccarello to give the Wild a 4 on 3.

Eriksson Ek took advantage by gathering a loose puck at the edge of the crease with his back to Bobrovsky, deftly pivoting toward the net and knocking it in for the two-goal lead.

The Panthers were the last Eastern Conference team to qualify for the playoffs last spring and the last Eastern Conference team standing in a remarkable first season under decorated coach Paul Maurice and with star right wing Matthew Tkachuk.

The same core is back with increased familiarity of the hard-driving Maurice, giving the Panthers optimism they can not only return to the Stanley Cup Finals but win it for the first time in franchise history. Rookie Mackie Samoskevich had an active debut on the third line. Tkachuk put 10 shots on net and had 15 attempts.

“We’ve got to get the right traffic at the right time, but I’m not going to complain about it,” Maurice said. “When your goalie plays a game like that you should have a chance to win.”

The Wild’s normally sound defense was vulnerable at times, with captain Jared Spurgeon out for multiple weeks with an upper body injury that occurred when he was checked into the board in a preseason game and Matt Dumba now in Arizona after 10 years with Minnesota.

But the Wild blocked 26 shots, and Gustavsson was up to the task.

“I think some of our best chances never got to the net,” Maurice said.

After giving him a new contract, making him the clear starter ahead of Marc-Andre Fleury and filming a clever new promo revolving around his nickname, the Wild are ready to ride the “Gus Bus” again this season. He had a 2.10 goals against average and a .931 save percentage in 39 games last season.

“It gives you a lot of confidence as a defenseman when you see your goalie playing the way he was,” Faber said. “It makes our job very easy. Obviously we hope to support him a little more.”

UP NEXT

Panthers: Play at Winnipeg on Saturday. Their home opener isn’t until Oct. 19 against Toronto.

Wild: Play at Toronto on Saturday. Fourteen of their first 17 games are against Eastern Conference foes.

Everything has a purpose. And as the Panthers learned last year, there also can be a payoff.

The Panthers are coming off a season where they won the Eastern Conference, went to the Stanley Cup Final and shed any notion that the franchise can’t contend for hockey’s biggest prize. The journey to all that started in camp last fall, and Maurice almost took glee in making this year’s camp even tougher.

“The reinvestment,” Maurice said, “has to be made.”

The Panthers are entering this season with one goal, and everyone knows what it is. Florida’s season starts Thursday night at Minnesota, when the Panthers’ 56-year-old head coach – quietly, one of the most accomplished in NHL history — will resume his quest to finally get to hoist the Stanley Cup. He came close last spring. His mission now is to finish the job, and that’s why camp was again no cakewalk.

“He tells us he wants it to be hard and he wants us prepared to work hard,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. “In the long run, it’s going to pay off for us. I think everyone in here has bought into that and trusts the process.”

Much of the core of last season’s team — Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sergei Bobrovsky, Aaron Ekblad, Carter Verhaeghe and more — returns this season. Maurice didn’t have to spend this summer getting to know players and staff like he did after being hired by Florida in the summer of 2022. The system he spent a few months installing last season, with some growing pains along the way, is in place.

It was not easy to change the way Florida played the game. But like those rough camp practices, Maurice had reasons for doing what he did. And the results showed he made the right moves.

“Last January, I knew I had to get these guys to walk through a gate they don’t want to walk through,” Maurice said. “And then they did, and after that, it was just a whole hell of a lot of fun to come to the rink because you didn’t have to worry about anybody’s compete level. There’s absolutely no laziness here. I worked them so hard and they did the rest.”

Vegas wound up topping the Panthers in five games to win the Cup, but at least any questions about Maurice — an often-hilarious person who is unafraid to yell on behalf of his team, yell at his team also when necessary or to use a profane word or two or more for emphasis — were answered.

Then again, at this point, there shouldn’t have been many.

By the time this season ends, Maurice should be No. 2 on the NHL’s all-time games coached list behind only Scotty Bowman. (Maurice is fourth now with 1,767, one behind former Florida coach Joel Quenneville, 45 behind Barry Trotz and still a few years from catching Bowman’s total of 2,141.) Maurice enters the year sixth on the all-time win list; he should be fourth or fifth by next spring.

There’s only one thing missing from the resume. The Cup. It’s one of the reasons why he took general manager Bill Zito’s call and came to Florida, determined to change just about everything. So far, so good.

“Everyone pretty much knows what to do now and how to play,” said Barkov, the Panthers’ captain. “And obviously, systems are important. But at the same time we realize that no system is good if you don’t work hard and if you don’t play hard.”

Maurice said — probably only half-seriously — that he spent the first two weeks of his offseason crying about the loss in the finals. Then came the real work for the summer, some self-evaluation. What could he do better? What has to change? Why is he still doing this? He wanted the players to consider all that themselves, and felt like he had to ask the same questions.

It didn’t take long to find his answers. He trusts the players in the room. He respects their work ethic and their desire to win. He finds Zito — an Ivy League-educated man who is well versed on about a billion matters outside of hockey — fascinating to talk to regardless of topic.

And he still likes showing up to work every day. Camp wasn’t fun. Everything else seems to be.

“It’s just the most fun place I’ve ever been,” Maurice said. “If anyone asks me, ‘Why do you go to the rink?’ my answer is easy. It’s just a hell of a lot of fun.”

Knight hasn’t played in a game that counts for Florida since Feb. 18. The 22-year-old stepped away from hockey for several months to focus on his mental health, and recently revealed that he has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

He had a 2.43 goals-against average and stopped 91.8% of the shots he faced during the preseason.

Knight knew this was a possibility entering camp, especially with Sergei Bobrovsky locked in as the No. 1 goalie. Sending Knight to Charlotte — a move the Panthers do not look at as a demotion — simply allows him to play more in the short term.

“This was something that we looked at from the start,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He’s made great progress in his program. He feels good. He looked fantastic in training camp. But we need to put him in kind of a No. 1 position, a No. 1 role and then run his program and work on what he’s working on.”

Anthony Stolarz will start the season as Bobrovsky’s backup. The plan is for Knight to play regularly with Charlotte and open as the go-to starter there.

Knight is in the first year of a $13.5 million, three-year deal and clearly remains a big part of Florida’s plans going forward. Teammates raved about what they saw from him in camp, with captain Aleksander Barkov saying Knight has improved.

“For me, he was like Knighter 2.0,” Barkov said. “He was really good in practice. He was really good in games. He battled, he competed, he works hard. He comes here and he’s one of the most professional guys that I’ve been around. He’s at the gym all the time, doing something, trying to become better. … It’s good for him to get a lot of games down there, but obviously we’re waiting for him to come back.”

Knight started in 19 games and appeared in 21 last season, going 9-8-3 with a 3.18 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. He’s 32-17-6 in parts of three seasons with Florida.

“What’s best for Spencer Knight right now is also what’s best for the Florida Panthers long-term,” Maurice said. “He looked good in camp and we want to keep that going.”

COACH: Paul Maurice, second season. (817-712-99 over 26 seasons)

SEASON OPENER: Oct. 12 at Minnesota.

DEPARTURES: F Anthony Duclair, F Eric Staal, D Marc Staal, D Radko Gudas, G Alex Lyon.

ADDITIONS: D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D Dmitry Kulikov, F Steven Lorentz, D Niko Mottola, G Anthony Stolarz.

GOALIES: Sergei Bobrovsky (24-20-3, 3.07 GAA, 0.901 save percentage) and Spencer Knight (9-8-3, 3.18, 0.901).

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK STANLEY CUP ODDS: 20-1.

LAST SEASON: Matthew Tkachuk’s first season with the Panthers was a resounding success. They were the last team to make the Eastern Conference playoffs and almost were the last team standing in the NHL, after ousting Boston — the best regular-season team in league history — followed by Toronto and Carolina in what became the Panthers’ first run to the Stanley Cup Final since 1996. Year 2 of the Paul Maurice era brings stability, and there’s an understanding of the systems that he needed much of the year to install last season.

STRENGTHS: Tkachuk doesn’t even think he’s entering his prime yet, which is a delightful sentiment for Florida and probably a frightening one for every other club. Including the playoffs, he finished his first Florida season with 133 points and 197 penalty minutes — only the second player in NHL history to post such numbers in a season (Kevin Stevens, 1991-92). Aleksander Barkov is still one of the most underappreciated stars in the game, and Sergei Bobrovsky’s scintillating playoff run shows he still can be one of the best goalies in the NHL.

WEAKNESSES: Injuries are already a problem and the Panthers haven’t played a real game yet. Florida knew when last season ended that several players — most notably defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad — would miss lots of time to start this season because of what they played through during last season’s playoffs. Montour and Ekblad are both recovering from shoulder surgeries and could be back sometime around mid-December, but Florida will be about 30 games into the season by then.

WHAT TO EXPECT: A core that features Tkachuk, Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe and Bobrovsky is going to be good enough to compete. But the Atlantic Division is brutal and could be the NHL’s best. Nobody — not even the Panthers — thinks it will be easy to get back into the playoffs. But the lesson from last year has to be that every game counts, and that it’s incredibly hard to get into the postseason when there are pronounced regular-season slides.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Bobrovsky. Playoff Bob was a sight to behold last spring; he wasn’t the reason why Florida didn’t win the Cup. If he can bring flashes of that to the regular season, it will take pressure off the scoring lines. But Bobrovsky is also going to have new defensemen in front of him, and that’s going to take some time to adjust to.

The 2021 first-round pick has been making waves during the Panthers’ pre-season games, leaving a strong impression on fans and coaches alike.

“I thought I played good, but some things clean up for sure so, I’m happy with that,” said Samoskevich.

In his first three pre-season match-ups, Samoskevich has already netted three goals and provided an assist, showcasing his impressive skills on the ice. Panther Head Coach Paul Maurice has taken note of Samoskevich’s exceptional hand skills and pro-level puck handling, praising his performance.

“Guys battling for the open positions are legitimate hockey players,” said Maurice.

With the Panthers aiming to finalize their roster with 28 players by Monday, Samoskevich is making a compelling case for a spot. Coach Maurice acknowledges the competition among players vying for open positions, emphasizing their talent and determination.

“There’s young guys that are skilled that wanna show it, wanna show their skill level,” said Maurice. “[Samoskevich] did a good job showing his and now we have to fit that skill level into the game.”

Samoskevich is determined not to make the decision easy for his coach. His dedication to honing his skills over the summer is evident in his performance.

“Going from college to pro, there’s a lot of things that you kind of have to dial in,” said Samoskevich. “You know, you kinda gotta know your play before you get the puck. I think that’s the biggest thing. You don’t really have much time to think with it. So obviously everyone’s a good player now.”

Teammates, such as Eetu Luostarinen, appreciate Samoskevich’s speed, agility, and scoring ability, further solidifying his standing within the team.

“I really like to play with him,” he said. “He’s a really fast, shifty guy. He can shoot the puck.”

As the pre-season progresses, all eyes are on Samoskevich, the 20-year-old talent with the 11-letter last name, as he strives to secure a spot on the Panthers’ final roster.

Mike DiPasquale: After a quick summer turnaround for the Florida Panthers, making it to the Stanley Cup Finals, Cass, as we know, came up short. Do you expect them to make a run for the cup this season?

George Richards: That’s going to be tough. The Florida Panthers upset the Boston Bruins as the No. 8 seed last year. Then beat Toronto, beat Carolina and then lost to Vegas. It was an incredible run by the Florida Panthers. I believe the Florida Panthers will be a playoff team. They’re going to be right in contention. I don’t expect them to win the Atlantic. I don’t think it’s going to be easy for Florida, especially with the injuries that they’ve got right now to start off the season. But, Florida will be right in that mix as we saw last year. Good things might just happen.

Mike DiPasquale: Well get to the injuries in a moment, but first this off-season, General Manager Bill Zito was busy. What were his biggest moves?

George Richards: Well he didn’t have a whole lot of money to play with, he had uh — and I thought he spent it well — he went out and got a top-six forward Evan Rodrigues, Sasha Barkov. Evan Rodrigues has shown throughout his NHL career that he’s a pretty capable forward. Florida also went out to address their defensive debt. Bill Zito spent not a lot of money but got a lot of good players defensively. It was a good free agency period for Bill Zito, although, again, not a whole lot of big splashes but he added to the team and this team looks deeper than it did last year.

Mike DiPasquale: On the injury front as we mentioned, Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour went through individual drills away from the team during his training camp. What is their timetable to return?

George Richards: Well Bill Zito told us it’s gonna start on Dec. 15. Now, one player might be before that, one player might be after. I think Brandon Montour probably will be the first player of those two to be back. They both had shoulder injuries but Aaron Ekblad was going through some other stuff, he had a broken foot, he had a groin injury, to go along with the shoulder. So, they’re going to miss all of October and at least most of November. I think we’ll see Brandon Montour back sometime early December and perhaps January for Aaron Ekblad.

Mike DiPasquale: Finally, the Panthers announced that the lower bowl section of the arena is sold out for this season. Fans are clearly jumping on board. How important it continue that momentum this season.

George Richards: Oh! Absolutely huge. You have to continue moving forward. Every time, in the past, that the Florida Panthers have been good, they followed that up with a poor season. Now you’re seeing a consistency that the Panthers always talked about. They’ve been in the playoffs the past three years, they’ve been in the postseason the last four [years]. Last year they went all the way to the Stanely Cup finals. So the Panthers are showing consistency. This is a good program. They’re doing things the right way and fans are buying in.

As George Richards aptly pointed out, the Florida Panthers are riding a wave of consistency and fan enthusiasm that hasn’t been seen in years. With smart moves in the offseason, an eye on returning stars recovering from injuries, and a sold-out lower bowl section in the arena, the Panthers are poised for an exciting season ahead.

The stage is set and there’s no doubt that hockey fans will be keeping a close eye on the Florida Panthers as they aim to make their mark in the NHL once again.

And then about a month ago, he started feeling right again.

With that, the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers have their first win of the season — their leading scorer is ready for Thursday’s start of training camp. The facial scruff is in place, the collar has been ripped off his team-issued T-shirt and he has pronounced himself ready to go.

“I feel really good,” Tkachuk said Wednesday at the team’s media day, the annual prelude to camp starting. “It’s exciting to be back. It’s more exciting to be back fully ready to go.”

That’s not the case with everyone on the Panthers’ roster. Top defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour remain out while recovering from offseason shoulder surgeries, with mid-December the current target for their potential returns. It’s a very fluid date, but if that time frame holds up they each could miss the first 30 games or so this season.

Tkachuk had a flair for drama throughout Florida’s playoff run: 11 goals, 13 assists, 24 points, four game-winning goals, two of those being overtime game-winners against Carolina (including one with 13 seconds left in the fourth OT of Game 1 of that series) and the East final-winner with 4.9 seconds left against the Hurricanes to cap Florida’s first postseason sweep.

Including the playoffs, he finished his first Florida season with 133 points and 197 penalty minutes. That combination of numbers is almost unheard of in NHL history; the only other player to finish a full season, including playoffs, with that many points and penalty minutes was Kevin Stevens — who had 151 points and 282 penalty minutes for Pittsburgh in 1991-92.

“I saw him play golf the other day, so I think he’s all right,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said of Tkachuk. “Yeah, just to see him, given the skates we had last week and the scrimmages and just to see what he can do on the ice and how easy it looks when he does what he does with the puck, without the puck, how he finds everyone on the ice, it’s close to no one. It’s great to have that type of guy on your team and that type of leader on your team.”

Tkachuk was an MVP finalist last season and played part of the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas — and scored a goal, even — with a fractured sternum. It was so painful that teammates had to help him put his pads on, get his jersey over his head and tie his skates. He couldn’t play in Game 5, when Vegas clinched the series by rolling past Florida to win its first title.

But now he’s back and says it’s time to turn the page toward goals for the coming season.

“I know he worked awfully, awfully hard,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “He was in contact with our sports science and trainers very regularly, just on making sure that he was doing everything he could. A presence like that … Matthew, what he does on the ice is one thing. What he does off the ice, how he comports himself as a person, helps his teammates, it’s that total package. So, having him in camp, participating is huge.”

“After a comprehensive search with WME Sports over the past year, we felt expanding our experienced and successful partnership with Amerant Bank would be the best business decision to align with both our goals of delivering first-class customer service and serving our local South Florida community,” said Panthers President & CEO Matt Caldwell in a press release.

Both the Panthers and Amerant Bank, serving Broward, Miami Dade, and Palm Beach counties, said they would collaborate their efforts to support South Florida communities.

Amerant Bank currently operates four branches in Broward County, with an upcoming location in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, an operations center in Miramar, and plans for a Broward County Regional Headquarters in Plantation.

“Adding naming rights to the arena to the already strong and extensive partnership we have with the Panthers just seemed like the next logical next step for us,” said Amerant Bank Chairman and CEO Jerry Plush in a press release. 

Amerant Bank said it will maintain its entitlement of the premium center-ice seating area, referred to as the ‘Amerant Vault,’ and continue its role as a supporting partner of the Panthers Kids Club and youth hockey initiatives.

Last season, the Panthers and Amerant Bank partnered for the inaugural ‘Saves for Vets’ campaign, donating $40 for every save made by a Panthers goaltender during the 2022-23 regular and postseason.

With Panthers goaltenders making over 3,011 saves, a total of $120,440 will be divided among nine veteran-focused nonprofit organizations in the South Florida area. These organizations include Broward County Community Development Corporation, Chariots On Ice Sled Hockey, DELIVER THE DREAM INC, Faith-Hope-Love-Charities, Inc., Heart2Heart Outreach of South Florida, Our Father’s House Soup Kitchen Inc., Rebuilding Together Broward County, Inc, Soldiers’ Angels, and The 22 Project, Inc.

Luostarinen, 24, had a breakout season in 2022, setting career highs in goals (17), assists (26) and points (43). During the Panthers’ 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs run, Luostarinen had five points over 16 games, including the winning goal in Game 6 of the opening round against Boston.

The Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Carolina selected Luostarinen in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft. He was traded to Florida in 2020. He has skated in 212 NHL games, with 78 career points.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound native of Siilinjarvi, Finland, spent three seasons (2016-17 to 2018-19) in Finland with KalPa (Liiga). He appeared in 141 games, collecting 63 points.

These children needed a more hands-on approach to learn about sports, and the Panthers made that happen when they hosted the young visitors at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise. on Friday morning.

The Florida Panthers have always had a clear message that hockey is for everyone.

Among their many outreach programs to make that possible in our community, there’s one that made this day special for these kids.

The team hosted a special hockey clinic for visually impaired children. The students played and enjoyed hockey as part of their experience.

“I’m actually having pretty good fun right now, me and my friends are just hitting the balls around with these pucks,” said participant Jamina Dayen. “It’s actually – I’m enjoying myself, I’m having a good time.”

Virginia Jacko, CEO of Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, said she felt grateful to see the visually impaired children playing hockey.

“So grateful that the Florida Panthers are including visually impaired children in learning the game of hockey,” she said.

The students at the hockey clinic used tailor-made floorball equipment — no pucks, but balls with bells inside them — and were given a locker room touch tour.

“We are so, so lucky to have the wonderful group of kids here today from Miami Lighthouse, to show them what it’s like to play hockey in South Florida,” said Matt Smith, community relations manager for the Panthers, “and what better way to use FLA Live Arena during the offseason than for this purpose?”

The Panthers are in partnership with the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Lighthouse of Broward, recipients of several grants from the Florida Panthers Foundation.

“The Florida Panthers have collaborated with Miami Lighthouse for quite a number of years, with our free eye care program throughout the state to prevent blindness,” said Jacko, “and for the last several years, they’ve included our summer camp teenagers in experiencing hockey.”

The Lighthouse of Broward’s mission is to provide leadership and services needed to improve the lives of people who are blind and visually impaired in the county.

“The enthusiasm is fantastic, and they’re gonna tell everybody back at Miami Lighthouse,” said Jacko, “and they’re gonna go home tonight and say to their parents, ‘I played hockey today.'”

Jacko said the organization will be invited back next year for another arena experience

Since 2018, this is something the Panthers have done for this group to experience the great game of hockey in a different but rewarding way.

Sounds like vacation — but they were also big steps toward getting him back to the NHL.

Knight has been on the ice this week at a development camp with the Panthers, the first time he’s been around the team since entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in February. He was not with the Panthers for the remainder of the season, including their run to the Stanley Cup Final. The development camp has both on- and off-ice events, including the concert this week at the team’s home arena and other team-building events.

“I honestly approach it like it’s just a great opportunity to play hockey,” Knight said. “I think any opportunity to play hockey is a great opportunity. But I think honestly in terms of my game, I think it is, too. You’ve got to come in and just work hard.”

Knight has not addressed his reasons for entering the program. The Panthers revealed last month that they had been in contact with Knight and they believe he’ll be with the team when training camp starts in the fall — though that doesn’t necessarily guarantee he’ll immediately be back in the NHL.

“He’s doing well and we expect him back in the fold in the fall,” general manager Bill Zito said.

Knight isn’t the oldest player in the development camp — it’s mostly for players rising from juniors and the college level — but he’s the only one on the ice for Florida this week with NHL experience. He started in 19 games and appeared in 21 this past season, going 9-8-3 with a 3.18 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.

He last appeared for Florida on Feb. 18, and said he was enjoying being back on the ice.

“There’s things I’m working on here, whether it’s your positioning or your skating, (that) I always say you can’t really replicate in environments where there’s not a structure or intensity,” Knight said. “So, this is one step. … It’s fun to just get back in the swing of things.”

The NHL and NHLPA started the player assistance program in 1996, giving players access to a confidential phone line and counselors in each city in the league. The jointly funded group assists players and their families with mental health, substance abuse and other matters.

There will also be scars. Missed games. And a lot of rehabbing.

The Panthers’ goal for next season is simple and obvious — get back to the Cup final and win it all. But coach Paul Maurice is sounding a cautionary alarm, already aware that the physical toll this postseason took on some players will carry over into next season.

“We’re going to have a hell of a time making the playoffs next year,” Maurice said. “That’s a fact.”

The math says he’s not wrong. Florida got into the playoffs this year by the slimmest of margins, just one point. There was no room for error, and he already knows next season’s opening-night lineup won’t be the best one Florida can have on the ice.

There were at least four Panthers who finished the season with broken bones. Some players will need a few weeks to heal. Others will need as many as six months, Maurice said. Surgeries will start soon, and one of the few downsides of making it to the Cup final is this — it’s a really short offseason. Training camp starts in about three months. Some Panthers won’t be ready by then.

“We had so many injuries,” goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky said. “The guys played through the broken bones. They found a way. We competed. … Yes, we didn’t go all the way, but we have done an unbelievable job.”

Matthew Tkachuk, an MVP finalist this season, played part of the final — and scored a goal, even — with a fractured sternum, courtesy of a hit in Game 3 against Vegas. He eventually was hurting so much that teammates had to help him get his pads on, get his jersey over his head, and tie his skates. He couldn’t play in Game 5 of the Cup final, when Vegas rolled past Florida to win its first title and eliminate the Panthers.

Aaron Ekblad broke a foot in the first round against Boston, plus twice went through shoulder dislocations, needed to pass a concussion test and tore an oblique muscle; he missed one game. Radko Gudas should have missed six weeks with a high ankle sprain; he missed one period. Sam Bennett was banged-up and kept playing.

“There’s no stopping now. There’s no stopping here,” Ekblad said after Vegas’ 9-3 win to finish off the series. “Bump in the road and it’s going to sting. It stings now. But we’ll find a way to come back next year and be stronger because of it. How could you not, going through what we went through this year?”

Progress was made. They lost in the qualifying round in 2020. Lost in the first round in 2021. Lost in the second round in 2022. And lost in the Final this year.

This much is clear: The Panthers are getting closer to hockey’s ultimate prize. This is also clear: They aren’t there yet.

Year 1 of the Tkachuk era in Florida was a success — even with an ending the Panthers didn’t want. They made it to the Cup final for the first time in 27 years, have most of the key parts of that run under contract for next season (many for well beyond next season), and now the singular goal for the franchise is crystal clear.

There’s no longer a question as to whether Florida is good enough to contend for a championship. It’s now a question of when the Panthers can get it done.

“All the good things in this game actually aren’t the game,” Maurice said. “The hockey’s great. We love the sport. But the best it can be is in a room like that. It was a brilliant year.”

Just like that, the ride for the No. 8 seeds from South Florida is over.

The Panthers and Miami Heat were mirror images of each other, all the way to the end this season. Both scrambled to make the playoffs. Both snuck in as the last seed from the Eastern Conference. Both pulled off an upset in Round 1, and another in Round 2, and another in Round 3.

And then came the title rounds. The Heat lost in five games, ultimately falling on the road to Denver — which hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time. A day later, the Panthers lost in five games, ultimately falling on the road to Vegas — which hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time.

“For sure, it’s something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “Every time I step on the ice, whether it’s a practice or a game, I’ll remember this group. Hell of a journey.”

Coach Bruce Cassidy, in a nod to the Knights’ brief history, started five of the original Vegas players known as the Misfits and put the sixth on the second shift. Cassidy sounded confident the day before the game that his team would play well, and it certainly did, blowing open a one-goal game in the second period to lead 6-1.

Vegas closed out the series in five games to win the cup before a delirious franchise-record crowd of 19,058 at T-Mobile Arena that drowned out the pregame introductions of forward Jonathan Marchessault and goalie Adin Hill and cheered all the way through the final buzzer.

Stone’s hat trick — with the third into an empty net with 5:54 left — was the first in a Stanley Cup Final since Colorado’s Peter Forsberg in 1996, also against the Panthers.

The Knights got the rest of their scoring from Nic Hague, Alec Martinez, Reilly Smith, Michael Amadio, Ivan Barbashev and Nicolas Roy. Martinez’s goal in the second period came nine years to the day after he delivered the double-overtime goal in Game 5 to give the Los Angeles Kings’ the cup.

Hill came through with another strong performance that has quickly made him a Knights fan favorite, even earning “MVP! MVP!” chants in the third period. Jack Eichel, the eight-year pro playing in his first postseason, had three assists.

Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky was overwhelmed in another tough performance against Vegas after carrying Florida to the final. Missing from the lineup was Matthew Tkachuk, the king of game-winning shots during the playoffs but never the same after crushing blow to his shoulder by Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar in Game 3.

The Knights have set the standard of what an expansion franchise should look like, making the Cup Final in their first season and the playoffs in every year but one. Six players remain from the initial 2017-18 team that lost in five games to the Washington Capitals in the final.

Those players watched the Capitals skate with the Stanley Cup that night, and then they got the chance to do the same Tuesday to fulfill owner Bill Foley’s quest to win the championship in the sixth year.

By creating such a lofty standard at the outset, the Knights played with high expectations, but repeatedly fell short despite four runs to at least the NHL semifinals – until Game 5 against the Panthers.

This is Las Vegas’ second pro title in nine months – the Aces claimed the WNBA championship in September – and continues the stunning growth of a sports market that was limited largely to prize fights, UNLV athletics, NASCAR and lots of golf before the Golden Knights took the city by storm. The Raiders began playing here in 2020, the Oakland Athletics appear headed to the desert, Las Vegas will host a Formula One race this year and the Super Bowl will be at Allegiant Stadium in February.

As for the Knights, their connection to Las Vegas was sealed ever since the shooting Oct. 1, 2017 that took 60 lives. They played an integral role in helping the city heal, reaching out to the community off the ice and winning big on it.

Beating Florida justified the many moves Knights management made to remake the roster over the years. Stone, Eichel and Alex Pietrangelo are the most notable players Vegas has acquired to get to this moment.

And Cassidy, hired a week after getting fired by the Boston Bruins last year, proved to be the coach to get them there, seemingly pushing all the right buttons in helping Vegas become the Western Conference’s top seed and then the NHL’s champion.

The Knights also won the title with an unlikely goalie in Hill, who was injured when the playoffs began. Laurent Brossoit was the starter until going out with an injury in Game 3 of the second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, and then Hill got his chance.

Vegas nearly won it the first year, making the Stanley Cup Final before losing in five games to the Washington Capitals. For the players on that team, high expectations came from the top and came early.

“Maybe (Foley) saw something that we didn’t see,” said Jonathan Marchessault, one of the players on that 2017-18 team.

Marchessault and his Vegas teammates have the opportunity to make good on the owner’s projection. The Knights, who are in their sixth season, take a 3-1 series lead into Tuesday’s Stanley Cup Final game against the Florida Panthers.

Meaning the Stanley Cup will be in T-Mobile Arena for the second time. The first time was in 2018 when the Capitals skated around the rink holding the cherished prize.

The Knights have their own version of the Original Six, the half-dozen members still in the Vegas dressing room who were on that inaugural club. They called themselves the Golden Misfits, a collection of players assembled from teams around the league through the expansion draft and trades.

The six Misfits have ingrained in their collective memory of coming so close to what would have been a shocking championship, and they have been working ever since to get back to that point. Those players are careful to point out no celebrations can take place unless they beat the Panthers.

“It would be sweet, but at the same time, we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” said Shea Theodore, an original Knight. “It’s good to be at this point, but at the same time, it’s not done. We can talk about that after, but our focus is on going to work for 60 minutes. I feel like if we’re on top of our game, then we should be good.”

The Misfits have their fingerprints all over these playoffs.

Marchessault is the overwhelming favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for MVP of the NHL playoffs. His 13 goals are tied for the league postseason high as are his 24 points.

William Karlsson has scored 11 goals, and his defense has been key. Coach Bruce Cassidy usually rolls his four lines, but played a little bit of a matchup game in the second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers by often putting Karlsson’s line on the ice with Connor McDavid.

Theodore’s nine assists are third among playoff defensemen. He snapped a 27-game goal drought with a key score in Game 1 against Florida and had an assist.

William Carrier, Brayden McNabb and Reilly Smith also made important contributions.

“All the guys have stepped out, had big moments and played solid,” McNabb said. “I think it kind of (speaks) to the depth on our team. When you have that buy-in, it’s a pretty hard team to beat.”

Vegas has been tough to beat from the beginning.

Facing the usual low expectations of an expansion team, the bond between team and city began to be forged after the mass shooting Oct. 1, 2017, that initially claimed 58 lives. The death total from what in Las Vegas is commonly referred to as One October has since been revised to 60.

More than providing a distraction for a hurting city, the Knights won from the beginning. They surprisingly made the playoffs and then went 12-3 in the first three rounds to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

After falling short to the Capitals, management decided to begin taking apart the team and setting the stage to bring in high-profile players, eventually adding the likes of Mark Stone, Jack Eichel and Alex Pietrangelo. The Knights also are on the third coach despite making the postseason each year but once.

This season’s team bears little resemblance to the first. Except for those six remaining players.

“We came that close in the first year, but there are a lot of guys in this room that have been playing a long time, a lot of hard games, a lot of battles trying to get to this moment,” Theodore said.

Foley set the expectations from beginning.

Playoffs in three. Cup in six.

“After we lost in the finals the first year, Bill said, ‘OK, Stanley Cup in three,’” Smith said. “I don’t know if that got published, but we’ve felt we’ve had the team every year to push and to challenge for the Stanley Cup. We’re in a better spot today, but there’s a lot of work to be done.”

Vegas leads the series 3-1 and can win the NHL championship on home ice Tuesday night. Getting to the verge that wasn’t easy.

Chandler Stephenson scored twice for the Golden Knights, and William Karlsson broke through to end his series-long goal drought to build a 3-0 lead. The Panthers scored twice — Brandon Montour on a pinball goal late in the second period, and Aleksander Barkov’s first of the series early in the third — to claw back into it.

But their rally fell short despite a brief, late power play and a flurry that led to a fracas at the final horn.

“Obviously, that was a battle till the last second,” Vegas forward Nicolas Roy. “They pushed back there. We knew they would. They’ve been doing it all series. But it’s nice to get that one, for sure.”

Now Florida, the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and final team to qualify for the playoffs, is on the brink of this improbable run coming to an end.

“We’ve earned the right to play our best hockey,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Where we’ve been at our strongest is at the most critical time. I think you’ll see that.”

Down 2-1 in the series, Sergei Bobrovsky again almost kept the Panthers afloat, stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced and giving up goals when teammates left him out to dry. At the other end of the ice, journeyman goaltender Adin Hill made 29 saves for his 10th win since stepping in during the middle of the second round.

The Golden Knights need only win one more game to deliver a championship to Las Vegas in just their sixth year of existence, making good on owner Bill Foley’s goal to win the Stanley Cup in that period of time. They reached the final in their inaugural season in 2017-18 before losing to Washington in five games.

Vegas is more talented and has certainly looked more prepared for the spotlight this time around. Stephenson — who beat them five years ago as a member of the Capitals — and Hill were trade acquisitions, as was first-line center Jack Eichel and captain Mark Stone, who had two assists in Game 4.

A couple of original Knights players also helped them take the penultimate step to the peak of hockey’s mountaintop. Jonathan Marchessault assisted on Karlsson’s goal that made it 3-0, his 24th point that ties for the playoff lead in scoring.

Then the Panthers made it interesting. Montour scored by banking the puck off the right skate of Brayden Montour and then the right skate of Shea Theodore and past Hill with 3:51 remaining in the second period and set up Barkov with a perfect pass from behind the net 3:50 into the third.

Missing leading scorer Matthew Tkachuk for several shifts, Florida kept buzzing around Hill and got a few more big stops from Bobrovsky to continue the pressure. A 17.4 second 6-on-4 advantage when veteran Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo put the puck over the glass provided a final few chances but did not yield the team’s first power-play goal of the series.

It also caused a scrum that resulted in six penalties, including two unsportsmanlike penalties and two misconducts.

“I kind of felt my helmet get ripped off, and they had six guys on the ice, we had four, so get in there a bit and try and help out teammates,” said Hill, who threw some punches as part of the melee. “I don’t know if there’s really a message to be sent. We’re just getting ready for (Game 5) Tuesday.”

That will be a last gasp chance for the Panthers, who will have to have to replicate their opening round comeback from down 3-1 to Boston to keep Vegas from winning it all.

There’s only one topic.

“Chirpin’ who gets to score the goal,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

Turns out, the Panthers don’t really care who scores it — as long as they score it. And in these playoffs, no team has been anywhere near as good as the Panthers have in extra time. They’re 7-0 in overtime in this postseason, the most recent of those wins coming Thursday when they rallied to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

“Overtime wins are more fun,” Maurice said. “They are, right? We’ve had a whole bunch of them. And we haven’t over-celebrated but they are more fun, right? You win a game in regulation, half your team kind of walks off the bench, and they skate and they tap pads and it’s fun. It’s a good thing. … But we allow ourselves to celebrate the overtime wins.”

Vegas still leads the series 2-1. Game 4 is Saturday night on the Panthers’ home ice.

No team over the last seven seasons has more playoff OT wins than Florida, which is 10-0 in its last 10 postseason games that have gone past the 60-minute mark — and the Panthers weren’t even in the playoffs for three of those years. They have more playoff overtime wins this year than any two other teams in the NHL combined, and Sergei Bobrovsky has stopped all 56 shots that he’s faced after regulation this spring.

Carter Verhaeghe got the gamewinner on Thursday night 4:27 into overtime. It was his second OT gamewinner of these playoffs, and he became the first player in NHL history to have at least two OT goals in back-to-back postseasons. He had two last year for the Panthers.

“Whenever we get to overtime, just give the puck to Carter Verhaeghe and then usually good things happen,” Florida’s Nick Cousins said. “Yeah, I don’t know what it is. It seems like every time we get to overtime, we always have somebody step up. With our group, it’s definitely pretty special.”

It’s not just Verhaeghe. Matthew Tkachuk has three OT gamewinners for Florida this year, tying the NHL record held by three other players. He and Verhaeghe are the first teammates with multiple OT gamewinners in the same year since Montreal had three players — John Leclair, Guy Carbonneau and Kirk Muller — do it in 1993, the last time the Canadiens won the Cup.

Cousins and Sam Reinhart have the other OT gamewinners for Florida this spring.

“We’ve got guys that can score. We’ve got guys that are comfortable in a situation where they can be asked to bury one,” Florida veteran Eric Staal said. “We’ve got guys that have some gamebreaking ability and when you have that in your lineup, it takes one quick look. Obviously, we saw that last night but we saw it over the whole course of the playoffs. There are guys in our room that are built for moments like that and hopefully there’s some more ahead here as we continue on.”

This isn’t a new thing for Florida, either. Some call the Panthers the Comeback Cats, some say the Cardiac Cats, and both are appropriate. They needed rallies late in the regular season when making their push just to get into the playoffs, then had a flair for drama over and over again in Round 1 against overwhelmingly favored Boston, Round 2 against Toronto and Round 3 against Carolina.

Including playoffs, Florida has 91 comeback wins over the last four seasons — tying Tampa Bay for the most in the NHL over that span.

None of the first 90 meant as much as the one Thursday did. For the first time, the Panthers have won a game in the Cup final. They’ll need a comeback story to finish the job and win the Cup, but the Panthers are convinced they have the pedigree to do just that.

“We just believe,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We’re getting into overtime because I think we’re playing the right way, and we just continue to do that, continue to work hard and we’re going to get chances at some point.”

To take advantage of this service, fans can park for free at BCT’s Pop-Up Park & Ride located at Government Center West (GCW), situated at 1 North University Drive in Plantation. From there, they can use bus stop #0906 on Broward Boulevard, just west of University Drive, to catch the bus to the game. A regular bus fare is required for the service.

For fans heading to the arena, westbound buses from GCW to the FLA Live Arena (Bus Stop ID 0906) are scheduled to depart at the following times: 6:00pm, 6:30pm, 7:00pm, 7:30pm, and 8:00pm.

After the game, eastbound buses will be available for the return trip from the arena (Bus Stop ID 4246) to GCW. The scheduled departure times for these buses are as follows: 10:00pm, 10:20pm, 10:40pm, 11:00pm, 11:20pm, and 11:40pm.

BCT said they’re excited to welcome hockey fans aboard Broward County’s new electric buses, ensuring a comfortable and eco-friendly journey. Fans can simply sit back, relax, and let Broward County Transit take care of their transportation needs to and from the FLA Live Arena.

For more detailed information about the Park and Ride service on game day, click here.

And for the first time, they’ve won a game in the Stanley Cup Final.

Carter Verhaeghe snapped a wrister from the slot high into the back of the net 4:27 into overtime and the Panthers rallied to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Thursday night in Game 3. Vegas still leads the title series 2-1, but Florida has life and found a way to turn overtime into its favorite time once again.

“We’re the Cats,” said Verhaeghe, after his fourth career playoff overtime goal. “We have whatever lives we have, but it’s awesome. It shows how great our team is and the guys on our team have no quit in them.”

The Panthers are 7-0 in these playoffs in OT — actually winning more games in extra sessions than they’ve won in regulation.

“We don’t know how we’re going to get there,” said Matthew Tkachuk, who tied the game with 2:13 left in regulation. “But we’re going to do everything we can to get there.”

Tkachuk gave Florida a chance, and the Panthers won their first title-series game in seven tries. Florida had to fend off a power play to start overtime, and Verhaeghe got the winner with Tkachuk providing some traffic in front of the net.

“I had a little bit of time to walk in and shoot,” Verhaeghe said. “I’m so happy it went in.”

Game 4 is Saturday night.

“There’s a little bit of collective confidence,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice, whose teams are 23-7 in overtime games over his playoff career.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots for Florida. Adin Hill made 20 saves for Vegas, but got beat on the only shot that came his way in overtime.

“Normally that’s a shot that we’re going to give up, get the save and move on,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It wasn’t like an odd-man rush through the middle so I didn’t mind the way we defended it. … I mean, they’ve got good players. They’re going to make some plays.”

Brandon Montour also scored for Florida, which pulled Bobrovsky down 2-1 late in the third for the extra attacker and Tkachuk — who left for parts of the first and second periods after taking a big hit and needing to be cleared by the NHL’s concussion protocol program — made that move pay off when he tied the game.

His goal breathed life into a very nervous building. But the Panthers were furious — and replays showed they had a case — when Gustav Forsling was sent to the box with 11.2 seconds remaining for tripping. Florida survived that scare, and a few minutes later, had life in the series again.

“Nobody cares how we got here,” Tkachuk said. “It’s a 2-1 series.”

The odds are still long, but the Panthers at least have a bit more statistical hope now. Of the previous 55 teams to trail 2-1 at this point of the Stanley Cup Final, 11 have actually rallied to hoist the trophy.

It’s improbable, sure. So are the Panthers, who were the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, were down 3-1 to Boston in Round 1, were 133 seconds away from trailing this series 3-0 — and now have tons of reasons for optimism.

“We found our legs a little bit,” Florida’s San Reinhart said.

Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone had power-play goals for Vegas.

Marchessault’s goal was his 13th in his last 13 playoff games, his fourth of this series and his third with the man advantage.

As if all that wasn’t enough, there was a little history in there as well. Vegas joined the 1980 New York Islanders as the only team with at least two power-play goals in three consecutive games in the Cup final. And Marchessault became the third player in the last 35 years to score in each of the first three games of a title series — joining Steve Yzerman in 1997 with Detroit and Jake Guentzel with Pittsburgh in 2017.

But it wasn’t enough to give Vegas a 3-0 lead in the series.

“I didn’t mind our game,” Cassidy said. “They made a play in overtime. … Sometimes that happens to you.”

AROUND THE RINK

Florida’s 0-6 record in Stanley Cup Final games before Thursday was well short of the record for franchise futility in the title series. St. Louis lost its first 13 games in the Cup final. … Before Thursday, Florida’s last home game in the title series was June 10, 1996, when Uwe Krupp scored in the third overtime for a 1-0 win as Colorado finished off a four-game sweep of the Panthers for the Cup. … Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was in the crowd, as was NBA great Charles Barkley, and former Dolphins star Dan Marino was the celebrity drummer to welcome the Panthers onto the ice.

After two road game losses, the Cats made it back to Sunrise to play against the Vegas Golden Knights, but Panthers fans said they have faith that their team will win Thursday night’s game.

“There’s a lot of confidence, goose bumps. At the same time, you know, everyone’s nervous,” said fan Gordon Maxwell.

The arena is set to be packed, but just a few feet away from the action on the ice, a free watch party will be hosted in the parking lot.

“I think it’s a great idea, and it gives the Panthers fans that can’t afford the games able to get somewhat of a feeling of what a game’s like,” said fan Karen Utegg.

Rudy Colon was the first fan to set up in front of the stage where South Florida rapper Flo Rida is performing a free concert. A big screen was set up in the same spot to watch the game.

“Too pricey for me right now. I’m kind of enjoying everything they’re giving us,” said Colon, who lives near the arena. “I honestly have been waiting for them to do this all playoffs long. I mean, they’ve had their playoff parties down in Fort Lauderdale, I think. It’s OK to go to, but traffic over there is a pain in the butt, and I’m not that far from here, so I’d rather go ahead and come here when I can and enjoy while it’s still here.”

Fans both inside and outside the arena are ready for the Panthers to turn the series around.

“But with the energy of the crowd, I think things can happen,” said Denis Boucheka, who is visiting from Germany, “so I’m pretty excited to see what happens today.”

“It’s not over ’til it’s over,” said Colon.

Panthers fans haven’t moved from the party despite the gloomy weather, as they plan to stick around to see their team play, hoping for a win.

A South Florida plastic surgeon has been on double duty for nearly two decades. While he mostly performs cosmetic work for people who want to change their looks, he’s also there to help Florida Panthers players who are taking pucks to the face.

Dr. Gregory Albert’s knowledge extends from the operating room into the game of hockey. He’s been a part of the Florida Panthers’ medical team for more than 15 years.

He was recruited by another team doctor.

“Didn’t really know that much about hockey, but it quickly became a passion, and it’s been just the greatest thing working with professional athletes that are on top of their game and want to get back to the game quickly,” Gregory said.

Albert is known for his face-lifts, breast work and new liposuction treatment. but as soon as he’s done with his work at his Delray office, he’s off to the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise for every home game, watching all the action, brawls and bruises up close.

“It’s mostly big cuts from the skates, but most likely pucks,” he said. “The pucks could go 70 to 100 miles an hour hitting the face, breaks the nose. It’s a lot more pieces than it would a patient.”

From facial fractures to lacerations, Gregory needs to work fast.

But even the toughest players are afraid of needles

“Some guys try to be macho and say, ‘No, I don’t need any anesthesia,’ and then they do,” Gregory said. “One of the players asked a trainer to hold his hand during suturing, and I looked over, and the trainer was crying, and he said, ‘Can you let go of my hand cause my tobacco is in my hand, and it’s killing me.'”

Gregory said the injuries are less severe on the ice, but switching into doctor mode takes the same amount of skill.

The guys like having me there,” he said. “They like having the comfort of knowing a plastic surgeon is there that does this all the time, and I do it quickly, efficiently so they can go back to the ice and heal quicker.”

Some players end up getting work in the off season.

But for now, the focus is to make sure players are healthy to play and ultimately take the Stanley Cup up home.

“It’s been a long road, several years, difficult years, but even through those difficult years, it’s great being part of a team,” he said. “The players, the trainers and the coaches, we all have a good time, even if things are kinda down, but to end it off with a Stanley Cup Final finish would be really nice.”

The Panthers are scheduled to face off against the Vegas Golden Knights on Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, Thursday night.

The Miami Heat are in the NBA Finals, the Florida Panthers are in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final and the area is hosting championship-series games four nights in a row. During that unprecedented stretch, Messi announced he’s going to sign with Inter Miami of Major League Soccer, and for good measure the Marlins are surprisingly in second place two months into the baseball season with Luis Arraez hitting over .400.

All this after the F1 Miami Grand Prix and NHL All-Star weekend were staged in South Florida, the sudden center of the sports universe. It also had two teams in college basketball’s Final Four, a women’s team in the Elite Eight and the Division II national champions in men’s basketball.

“I’m so excited for the city of Miami, to be able to have a player of that caliber here,” said Heat star Jimmy Butler, who has often said soccer — he calls it futbol — is his favorite sport. “I’m excited for the city of Miami in so many different ways. Obviously, us being in the finals and having an opportunity to do something special. Now that he is here, I think all the futbol-slash-soccer fans from all over the world are going to come here and get an opportunity to watch him compete. I’m glad he is here.”

Some of it is coincidental, but certainly not all of it. Florida having no state income tax makes the contracts signed by Messi, Jimmy Butler and Matthew Tkachuk worth more than in many other places, and it plays a role in elite athletes wanting to call the state home.

“Every now and then all the stars are aligned,” said Ed Schauder, a sports and entertainment lawyer who now lives in Florida. “It’s just a perfect storm. What’s happening is Florida’s becoming the go-to destination. Of course, it starts with LeBron James when he announced that he was coming to Miami (in 2010). And the beautiful weather and the whole vibe, so it’s just a snowball effect.”

Schauder, a New Yorker who moved to Florida and works at Nason Yeager Business Law Firm, knows from decades doing deals with the likes of Derek Jeter and Carmelo Anthony how Florida has become so attractive.

“As more and more people are migrating to Florida, the same principle goes with athletes,” he said. “Athletes are going to want to live in a state that’s beautiful, weather is great, there’s a great vibe, there’s great nightlife. And there’s no income tax. And when there’s no income tax, it’s going to attract anybody.”

Also attractive? Winning.

The Heat have won three championships and the Marlins and NFL’s Dolphins two apiece. The University of Miami and Florida Atlantic each came two wins away from a men’s basketball national title this spring. Miami’s women’s team went to the Elite Eight, falling to eventual national champion LSU, and Nova Southeastern won the Division II national title in men’s basketball.

South Florida is the current epicenter of sports madness. No market before has hosted final round NBA and NHL games on four consecutive nights.

“It’s cool to be a part of,” Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg said. “Thankfully for us, (the Heat play) on the off nights, so for us they’re pretty easy to tune into. Any time you can support your fellow South Florida sports teams, it’s good.”

His coach, Paul Maurice, said to his wife a sentence he never had when calling home from Las Vegas: “The Heat game just ended.” Michelle Maurice was watching, too.

The hockey lifer, now a quarter-century in with his fourth NHL organization, hopes the concurrent team runs create more hockey fans in what’s still a newer market for the sport.

“It’s a great introduction for us — we kind of get to move together on this,” Maurice said. “There’s lots of sports going on, and when you get on one of these runs, the energy level just comes up. Well, in our market now, it’s up on two sports and it doesn’t end.”

Even when these best-of-seven series are over, Messi is coming. Fresh off leading Argentina to a World Cup title, the soccer superstar left Saudi money on the table to play in Miami — reportedly, for a lot of money.

“I appreciate the guys who went through a lot of struggles to even get us to this point where we can make decisions on where we want to be and it’s about us being happy,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said. “To be able to turn down one place and go to where you want to be, that’s the ultimate goal.”

When Messi arrives, the Marlins look to remain in the NL East race — and hope Arraez remains on pace to join the .400 club. They were excited about the Messi signing.

“Felicidades, Messi!” Marlins star Jazz Chisholm shouted Wednesday in a video released by the team. “Dale!”

The message, translated: Congratulations, Messi, and let’s go!

He won’t play in South Florida until next month. So for now, the focus is on the Heat and Panthers, each of whom trail their respective series and have opportunities to claw back at home in front of fans charged up by the success.

“For all South Florida just being able to watch us one night, watch the Heat the other night, it’s very cool,” Panthers MVP finalist Matthew Tkachuk said. “Hopefully, can make for a fun last few weeks here. It would be nice if we could reward them all.”

With wife Ryian going into labor earlier than expected, the Panthers defenseman left Las Vegas not long after the series opener and flew back to Florida on a private jet. Montour made it in time to be there for the birth of the couple’s first child, a son they named Kai.

Montour returned for Game 2 and played 26:13, the most of anyone on either team.

“I tried to get there as quick as I could,” Montour said Wednesday recalling his whirlwind journey. “Luckily I was there for it all and got to experience it with her.”

The baby’s due date was June 18, and the plan was to induce labor on June 14. Ryian instead went into labor just before Game 1 started, but Montour didn’t learn that until General manager Bill Zito and coach Paul Maurice told him just after the final horn, and the journey began.

Montour said he left Las Vegas as the only passenger on the plane around 2 a.m. Eastern Sunday, arrived in Boca Raton around 6:30 a.m. and that Kai was born around noon. With little time to waste, he was back in Vegas by 10 p.m.

“Monty’s a physical specimen — he can handle a little fatigue,” said Maurice, a father of three. “It was a good way for him to get used to becoming a father, right? Or a mother, for that matter. Sleep (deprivation) is your life for the next 12 years. He flew back and forth a couple of times, was there for the birth, which was really a good thing to happen.”

Wednesday’s NBA Finals game in Miami between the Heat and Denver Nuggets starts a stretch of four consecutive days of either NBA or NHL title matchup contests in South Florida. The Florida Panthers are home for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, followed by Game 4 of Heat-Nuggets on Friday and Game 4 of Panthers-Golden Knights on Saturday.

There have been three consecutive days of home NBA or NHL title-round series in one building (or market, in this case) on two previous occasions — but never four in a row, until now.

On May 3, 1972, the New York Knicks had a home finals game at Madison Square Garden, followed by the New York Rangers the next night and the Knicks again on May 5. And on June 4, 2016, the San Jose Sharks had a home Stanley Cup Final game, with the Golden State Warriors playing the next night and the Sharks again on June 6.

The Sharks and Warriors had home buildings about 35 miles apart at that time, almost identical to the distance between the buildings that the Heat and Panthers call home.

There were instances of NBA and NHL final games on back-to-back nights in 1957 (Celtics and Bruins in Boston), 1974 (also Celtics and Bruins), 1980 (76ers and Flyers in Philadelphia), 1994 (Rangers and Knicks), 2003 (Nets and Devils in New Jersey). The Sharks and Warriors also had a back-to-back, a few days after their back-to-back-to-back, in 2016.

Even the Miami Marlins are getting in on the fun. They moved their start time for a Wednesday home game against the Kansas City Royals up 30 minutes, to 6:10 p.m. — or roughly 2 1/2 hours before the start of Heat-Nuggets.

“All eyes are on South Florida sports, and we want our fans to enjoy the fun in rooting on the Marlins followed by the Heat on Wednesday,” Marlins President of Business Operations Caroline O’Connor said.

If someone wanted to attend all four of those games as a fan, based on prices Tuesday, they could expect to pay at least $2,500 — and that’s for seats in both arenas about as far away from the playing surface as possible.

WELCOME TO THE U

Playing back in Miami is a homecoming of sorts for Denver guard Bruce Brown, who spent two college seasons at the University of Miami under coach Jim Larrañaga.

“I could finally congratulate them for making it to the Final Four in person,” Brown said. “I loved my two years at Miami.”

The Hurricanes were 43-22 in Brown’s two seasons at the school in Coral Gables, a few miles from the arena where the Heat play. This season, Miami made the Final Four for the first time — a story that has been part of a huge year of basketball accomplishments in South Florida.

Florida Atlantic also made the men’s Final Four, Miami made the women’s Elite Eight, Nova Southeastern won the Division II men’s national championship, and teams from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties won eight of a possible 14 boys and girls state high school championships.

Brown got to see his old campus Tuesday; Nuggets veteran Jeff Green has a house in a neighborhood near Coral Gables — “all the way out in Narnia,” Nuggets guard Jamal Murray joked — and had the team over for dinner Tuesday night.

“We drove by UM,” Brown said. “It just brought back memories … it’s great to be back.”

HERE AND THERE

— Heat guard Tyler Herro (broken hand) still isn’t cleared to play. He was going through another contact workout Tuesday.

— Denver is 9-0 when giving up 109 points or fewer. The Nuggets are 4-4 when allowing more than 109.

— Nikola Jokic has scored at least 40 points four times in his playoff career. The Nuggets are 0-4 in those games, 0-3 this season.

— Bam Adebayo’s 47 points in his past two games tie for the second most he’s ever had in a two-game postseason span. He had 48 points (21, then 27) in Games 2 and 3 against Boston of the 2020 Eastern Conference finals.

— Heat coach Erik Spoelstra (109) is two victories from tying Doc Rivers (111) for No. 4 on the NBA’s all-time postseason win list. The only coaches ahead of them: Phil Jackson (229), Pat Riley (171) and Gregg Popovich (170).

Off the ice, the teams were connected by tragedy just over five years ago. Within months of each other, Las Vegas and South Florida were devastated by mass shootings not far from their arenas — and the then-expansion Knights and the Panthers played a role in the healing that has followed.

The teams mourned the Las Vegas Strip and Parkland high school victims during pregame ceremonies, brought relatives to games, honored first responders and donated to family foundations. They erected permanent memorials inside their arenas — in Vegas, to its 60 victims, and in Florida, to the 17 who died at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.

“The idea that these two teams, impacted by gun violence at almost the same time, are now playing each other for the Stanley Cup is such a huge deal,” said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime died at Stoneman Douglas.

“The Knights, even though they were a new team, they stepped into their community and became such an important part of helping that community heal,” he said. “The Florida Panthers, not only are they my hometown team, they are now like family to me.”

Orin Starn, a Duke University cultural anthropology professor who studies the impact sports have on society, said teams often contribute to their communities’ recovery after tragedies. He pointed to the New York Yankees’ first home game after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and New Orleans Saints players assisting relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

There are other examples, including the Miami Heat giving jerseys and also hosting families of Stoneman Douglas victims and the Houston Astros hosting residents of Uvalde, Texas, after last year’s school shooting there.

“Tragedy, like the Stoneman or (Vegas) killings, rips apart the fabric of society,” Starn said. “Returning, after proper time for mourning, to the rink or the court marks a gesture of refusing to give in to forces of violence and intolerance, and beginning to mend.”

VEGAS

On Oct. 1, 2017, the Golden Knights were finishing training camp, five days from playing the first NHL game in team history and nine days from their home opener. Vegas sports fans were abuzz about the city’s first major league team.

But then a sniper opened fire from a Strip hotel’s 32nd floor, initially killing 58 at an outdoor country music concert. Two more died years later. More than 800 people were wounded.

The team scrapped its raucous opening night celebration. The boards that surround the ice were stripped of ads, replaced by the motto “Vegas Strong.” The pregame focus was on victims and first responders. It culminated with then-defenseman Deryk Engelland giving an emotional speech.

”To the families and friends of the victims, know that we will do everything we can to help you and our city heal,” said Engelland, who now works for the team’s foundation.

During that season’s home games, the Knights recognized the Vegas Strong Hero of the Game, a first responder or citizen who risked their life to save the wounded.

At the regular season’s conclusion, the Knights retired the number 58 for the victims who had died to that point. The names of all 60 victims are on a banner hanging in the arena’s rafters.

Amber Manka said the Knights’ lasting support has been a source of light for the tens of thousands of people affected by the Las Vegas shooting. Her mother, Kimberly Gervais, died of her wounds in 2019.

The team’s work “gives people hope and reassurance that there is good in the world,” she said. “I think one good deed leads to another, and it makes a difference. That’s what they’re doing.”

That inaugural team shocked the NHL by winning its division and three playoff rounds before falling to the Washington Capitals in the Cup final. By far, it is the best performance by a modern expansion team in North America’s four major sports leagues.

Forward Jonathan Marchessault, an original Knight still with the team, said it has been a “love-love situation” with the fans.

“It’s been really great to be part of this. It’s been an unbelievable run for the past six years,” he said last week.

PANTHERS

When a former Stoneman Douglas student gunned down 14 students and three staff members on Feb. 14, 2018, the Panthers were in Vancouver to play the Canucks — as far from South Florida as possible within the NHL. Parkland, a well-off bedroom community just north of the team’s practice facility, is home to many players, coaches and executives.

Shawn Thornton, a 14-year NHL player and the team’s chief revenue officer, said owner Vincent Viola told him to do anything needed and not worry about the cost. Thornton turned to friends working for the Knights and two Boston teams, the Red Sox and Bruins, for advice as they had dealt with tragedies in their communities.

“The thing we learned is that everyone is going to grieve differently, that everybody needs support in different ways. Just sit back and listen to what’s needed and not expect to know what’s needed,” Thornton said, his voice breaking throughout an interview.

At the team’s next home game a week after the shooting, a 15-minute pregame memorial that brought some players to tears ended with a speech by then-goalie Roberto Luongo.

“To the families of the victims, our hearts are broken,” Luongo said. “Just know that we’re there for you if you guys need anything. You’ll be in our prayers, and let’s try to move on together.”

Eleven days after the shooting, the Stoneman Douglas hockey team — which included Guttenberg’s son, Jesse — won the Florida state championship. As the Eagles prepared for the national tournament in Minnesota, the Panthers hit them with surprises.

First, the Eagles practiced at the Panthers arena, with players and Thornton, a hard-nosed brawler during his career, giving pointers — including Thornton’s lighthearted lessons on fighting.

When practice ended, to the players’ amazement, Thornton brought out the Stanley Cup for them to skate with — only NHL champions usually do that. The Panthers then flew the Eagles and their families on the team plane to the tournament and brought them back.

“Shawn Thornton coming out with the Stanley Cup was just surreal,” said Matthew Hauptman, that team’s captain. “Everything that the Panthers did for us was just very high class. It made us feel very welcomed. … Five years later, it is still something I think about.”

On the shooting’s first anniversary, the Panthers unveiled a memorial in the arena’s main concourse that includes the victims’ portraits and the phrase “MSD Strong.” On the recent fifth anniversary, the team wore special shirts while traveling honoring the victims, and their arena has hosted graduations and other student events.

“They have been supportive over and over through the years,” said Tony Montalto, president of Stand with Parkland, the group that represents most victims’ families. His 14-year-old daughter, Gina, died in the shooting.

Florida state Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, then-Parkland’s mayor, hopes no other teams ever have to step up.

“There are too many opportunities for people to help one another after these awful, awful tragedies,” she said.

Fred Guttenberg said some of his happiest memories with Jaime are from Panthers games. When she was young, when the team scored he would prop her on his shoulders as they clapped and yelled.

“There is one more super fan who is there every (Panthers) game and that’s my daughter,” he said. “I have no doubt she is watching these games.”

Florida was torched for a second consecutive game, losing 7-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday to fall into a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-seven series.

And while the series may be far from over as the scene shifts to Florida for Games 3 and 4, the Panthers will need a much better effort from their contingent of stars that led them past three of the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference and into the Cup Final.

“The parts of our game that we know that we can improve, we’re going to have to get to real fast. There’s no doubt about that,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ll have a pretty simple game plan. I don’t think it’s about scoring goals in this series because I think it’s about defending the rush, and we weren’t great at that tonight.”

The Panthers allowed an average of 2.6 goals through their first 16 playoff games, but have been lit up for 12 in the first two of the final. Vegas’ 12 goals match the most by a team through the first two games of the Cup Final since the NHL expansion era began in 1967-68.

Sergei Bobrovsky, the hottest goaltender in hockey going into the final, was pulled midway through Game 2 after allowing four goals on 13 shots to the Golden Knights.

It marked the first time this postseason the 13-year veteran allowed four goals in consecutive games. He also gave up four goals in each of his last two regular-season games.

Jonathan Marchessault and Alec Martinez gave Vegas a 2-0 lead in the first period. Nicolas Roy made it 3-0 just 2:59 into the second, and Brett Howden ended Bobrovsky’s night minutes later when he deked his way across the crease and tapped the puck into a wide-open net.

Alex Lyon, who opened the playoffs as Florida’s starter, replaced Bobrovsky after Howden scored 7:10 into the second.

Bobrovsky coming into the series had won 11 of 12 games and stopped 438 of 465 shots during that span for a 1.95 goals-against average and .942 save percentage.

So far in the final, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has a 5.52 GAA and .826 save percentage.

Lyon finished the game allowing three goals on 15 shots.

Maurice was non-committal when asked about the team’s goalie status for Game 3.

“We’ll sweat about that for the next two days,” he said. “We can be a little better in front of our goaltender. He’s been unbelievable for us, so I got him out to keep him rested.”

Then there’s MVP finalist and alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk, who has been the offensive leader for the Panthers with nine goals and 12 assists in the first three rounds. He now has more misconducts (3) than he does goals (1) in his first Stanley Cup Final appearance.

Florida was whistled for 14 penalties, including two misconducts by Tkachuk, who insisted the Panthers are simply playing their brand of physical hockey.

“I just think we’re a big, physical team,” Tkachuk said. “That’s how we have played the last second half of the year and been successful. I just don’t think there’s teams that play as physical as we do.”

Maybe not, but the Golden Knights have capitalized on Florida’s 130 penalty minutes, going 4 for 11 (36.4%) on the power play, a major jump from their 18.5% clip through the first three rounds.

What should have the Panthers concerned is they’ve been worse on the penalty kill at home than on the road, giving up six goals on 19 chances. That 68.4% rate ranks 14th of 16 playoff teams.

Tkachuk was confident, however, the Panthers would rediscover the magic that got them past three opponents they weren’t supposed to beat.

“I think that going home and playing in front of our amazing fans and the momentum we’ve had playing there like the last month and honestly since January, we’ve been a solid home team, and we’re going to need them and hope to come out in Game 3 playing our best hockey of the season,” Tkachuk said. “I think if we do that, that’ll be a recipe for success for us, and can make this a series.”

Whitecloud’s goal put Vegas ahead, a crucial penalty kill followed and captain Mark Stone scored an insurance goal that was reviewed for a high stick and confirmed. That combination, plus Hill’s 33 saves, gave Vegas the lead in the series after a feisty opener between Sun Belt teams who wasted little time getting acquainted with big hits during play and plenty of post-whistle pushing and shoving.

Original Knights players Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore also scored on Florida’s two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky.

Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas.

The Panthers ratcheted up the physical play late after falling behind by two. A handful of penalties resulting from a fracas with 4:24 remaining left the Florida bench well short.

But the outcome was determined long before that.

After falling behind on a short-handed goal by Eric Staal that sucked the life out of the crowd of 18,432, the Golden Knights rallied for their ninth comeback win this playoffs. Marchessault — known since arriving in Las Vegas when the franchise got its start for scoring big goals — answered before the end of the first period and Theodore scored his first since March 7 in the second.

In between, Hill made a desperation stick save to rob Nick Cousins of what would have been a sure goal. The save was reminiscent of the one Washington’s Braden Holtby made against Vegas — in the same crease — five years ago.

Giving up a tying goal to Anthony Duclair with 10.2 seconds left in the second did not slow the Golden Knights’ momentum much. Whitecloud’s goal, with Bobrovsky screened and unable to see, fired up fans once again.

The Golden Knights are in the final for the second time in six years of existence, five years after making it in their inaugural season. Vegas won the opener in 2018 and lost the series to Washington in five games. Six players are left from that original team.

The Panthers are back playing for the Cup for the first time since 1996. Florida got swept by Colorado in that final 27 years ago, 18 months before Tkachuk, the team’s leading scorer this playoffs, was born.

It’s the 66th different matchup of teams in the Cup final in NHL history and the 46th since the expansion era began in 1967-68. This is the first time since Washington-Vegas and just the third time since the turn of the century in which the final features two teams who have never won the league’s championship.

How confident? They’re willing to bet on it.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman took to Twitter on Friday to agree to a friendly wager.

It goes like this: if the Panthers win, Goodman will stroll through downtown Las Vegas wearing a Panthers jersey.

But if the Golden Knights emerge triumphant, Trantalis will have to wear their jersey as he walks around downtown Fort Lauderdale.

The wager aims to highlight Fort Lauderdale as a vibrant hotspot and tourist destination.

A release issued Saturday on behalf of the city reads in part, “Fort Lauderdale has been named home base and will be the heart of the Stanley Cup – housing both the media and NHL headquarters for the first time in the city’s history.”

This is the first time in 27 years that the Panthers have made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Game 1 is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip.

The Vegas Golden Knights expected to be playing for the Stanley Cup. It was ownership’s plan from Day One of the franchise, to win it within six years, and a trip to the final in its inaugural season only shifted the hockey team in the desert into perennial contender mode.

Taking opposite roads to this point, Florida and Vegas now collide in the Cup Final with one team set to win the title for the first time. The Panthers are the upstarts out of the Eastern Conference and the last team to make the playoffs, and the Golden Knights are the powerhouse champions of the West.

Only one can finish this story on a winning note.

“We were the underdogs every series we’ve played — it doesn’t really matter what anyone thinks,” Florida forward Carter Verhaeghe said Friday ahead of the start of the final Saturday. “We think we have a really good team. It doesn’t really matter what the outside distractions say. We’re probably not favorites again. We just come to the rink, play hockey and try to win hockey games.”

The Golden Knights have won a lot of hockey games in recent years. And Verhaeghe is right: Vegas is favored to win the series on FanDuel Sportsbook, probably because the top seed in the West has done everything to deserve that status.

It has not come by surprise, and it certainly is not an accident. It was unexpected in 2017-18 when the Golden Knights went from expansion darlings to the final before losing to Washington, but every step made by management since — two coaching changes, several bold trades and a few key free agent signings — was done with the express purpose of getting the Stanley Cup to Las Vegas.

“We did envision this,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “We have a pretty clear vision of what we think a championship team, a contending team, needs to look like. We’ve worked hard to acquire that, to build that.”

Building a championship team often revolves around acquiring a franchise goaltender who can stop the puck when it matters most. The Golden Knights got to the final five years ago with Marc-Andre Fleury, but their story in net since then has been anything but conventional.

Just within the past year, they’ve had five different goalies start and win. Injuries along the way have left the job to Adin Hill, who since taking over in the middle of the second round has stopped 312 of 333 shots to get Vegas to the final.

“It’s sort of been that next-man-up mentality, and whoever is in between the pipes that night I think the entire group feels very confident with,” said first-line center Jack Eichel, who is a playoff MVP favorite in his first career playoff appearance. “It just gives the group that much more confidence every night when your goalie’s playing that well.”

Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky sure is. And that’s actually an understatement.

The two-time Vezina Trophy winner as the league’s top goaltender, Bobrovsky has won 11 of his past 12 games and not allowed a goal in nearly 100 minutes of overtime this postseason.

“He’s always been doing his thing,” Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura said. “We see the work he puts in every day. We have the utmost confidence in him every time he steps in the net. He’s been unbelievable and obviously a big part of the reason why we’re here.”

Who wins the series will be determined from the net out, not just by Hill and Bobrovsky but the teammates in front of them who have tried to make their jobs easier. Vegas and Florida each has allowed under three goals a game so far in the playoffs, combining to block 605 shots along the way.

Shot-blocking is just one part of the defensive techniques and structure that helped Vegas get past Winnipeg, Edmonton and Dallas in the West and eighth-seeded Florida knock off Boston, Toronto and Carolina in the East.

The Panthers were overlooked along their path, and while the Golden Knights insist they’re not underestimating their opponent, they also don’t lack any confidence about being able to come away with the Cup.

“Florida, obviously they’re hot right now: They’ve knocked off three of the top four teams in the league to get there,” Hill said. “(But) I don’t think if we play our best any team in this league can beat us.”

This is the story of the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers.

And it could have an ending like none other.

There’s never been a season where one city — or one metro area, in this case — has gotten to celebrate both winning both the NBA title and the NHL’s Stanley Cup. There have been nine previous tries; in two cases there’s been an NHL title and no NBA crown, in three cases there’s been an NBA title and no NHL crown, and in the four other cases both teams have lost.

South Florida has a chance to change that. Larry, meet Stanley. Stanley, meet Larry.

“That would be insane. … If that would ever happen, that would truly be unbelievable,” said Florida star Matthew Tkachuk, who had three game-winning goals for the Panthers in their East finals win over Carolina. “It’s just great how both fan bases have been able to root together.”

It’ll continue to be that way. The NBA Finals start in Denver on Thursday night with the Heat taking on the Nuggets; the Stanley Cup Final starts in Las Vegas on Saturday night with the Vegas Golden Knights taking on the Panthers.

There could be as many as 14 championship-series games involving the Heat and Panthers in a span of 19 days. Starting Thursday, there will be eight games in a span of 10 days — no game for either sport on June 2, no game for either sport on June 6, and four games in a four-night span in South Florida starting June 7. And there’s never two games on the same night, either.

“I know it’s fun to watch,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I’m not sure what they’re doing, but it’s 5-on-5, right? I get that. There’s a connection now between the two teams through sports fans down here. So, there’s hockey fans that are probably like me, but now they’re dialed into that because it’s just a great story. And it’s fun to be a part of it.”

PANTHERS ROAD

Got into playoffs as second wild-card from Eastern Conference. Beat Boston 4-3 in Round 1 (winning a Game 7 in Boston), beat Toronto 4-1 in Round 2, beat Carolina 4-0 in East finals.

HEAT ROAD

Got into playoffs after winning second play-in game. Beat Milwaukee 4-1 in Round 1, beat New York 4-2 in Round 2, beat Boston 4-3 in East finals (winning a Game 7 in Boston).

PAST INSTANCES OF TWO FINALISTS

1957: Boston Celtics win NBA Finals, Boston Bruins lose Stanley Cup Final.

1958: Celtics and Bruins both lose.

1972: New York Knicks lose NBA Finals, New York Rangers lose Stanley Cup Final.

1974: Celtics win, Bruins lose.

1980: Philadelphia 76ers lose NBA Finals, Philadelphia Flyers lose Stanley Cup Final.

1992: Chicago Bulls win NBA Finals, Chicago Blackhawks lose Stanley Cup Final.

1994: Knicks lose, Rangers win.

2003: New Jersey Nets lose NBA Finals, New Jersey Devils win Stanley Cup Final.

2016: Golden State Warriors lose NBA Finals, San Jose Sharks lose Stanley Cup Final.

The playoff beard rub might have started last month by accident.

Go back to April 26, when the Florida Panthers staved off elimination by beating the Boston Bruins in overtime of Game 5 of the first-round series. Overjoyed in the moment, Panthers teammates Marc Staal and Aaron Ekblad gave each other a big hug on the bench. Completely normal stuff.

Here’s the unusual part: As they embraced, they realized their beards were rubbing up against the other. And since it worked that night, it’s become a celebratory routine for Staal and Ekblad.

“Yeah, it’s a unique one, for sure,” Staal said.

Whatever works. If the Panthers think that it’s helped them to get to the Stanley Cup Final, so be it. Although there’s a superstition that typically prevents talking about how superstitious hockey players are at this time of year, Staal and Ekblad are enjoying their new tradition.

“Just pure happiness, rubbing beards with Marc Staal,” Ekblad said in the din of the postgame celebration when Florida swept Carolina by winning Game 4 of the East final. “That’s what we’ve been doing.”

As one would expect, given hockey’s unwritten playoff rules, there’s a ton of beards in the Panthers locker room these days. Some are new since the postseason started, some are a bit scraggly, some of the younger players are struggling to keep pace — and then there’s the guy who has the locker between Staal and Ekblad, whose beard stands out among all others on the Florida roster.

Radko Gudas’ beard goes well past his chin; in fairness, having one is also part of his regular-season routine as well, and he simply stops trimming it as often for the postseason.

“I try to maintain it as much as possible,” Gudas said, “mainly so it doesn’t get in the way of me eating.”

On the other side of the locker room, Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg isn’t surprised that Gudas hasn’t joined in the Staal-Ekblad beard tradition. Put simply, for as nice as Staal and Ekblad’s beards are, they just aren’t in Gudas’ category.

“He’s probably the only one allowed to touch that thing,” Lomberg said. “I would stay away from that beard.”

Lomberg does admit this much: If his beard was as full as the ones Staal and Ekblad have, he might be tempted to get in on their fun.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can include myself in that conversation because mine is not even nearly as strong as theirs,” Lomberg said. “Not remotely close to the same conversation.”

There are countless other traditions, rituals, whatever you want to call them. Panthers coach Paul Maurice calls them routines — “we don’t let any of them slide toward superstition,” he said — although it should be noted that he also knows someone who has baked a cake for every game in the playoffs.

And now the beard rub is headed to the Stanley Cup Final, Florida’s first trip to the title series in 27 years.

“You get certain little things that you do along the way,” Staal said. “It’s funny. It’s fun.”