The Florida Panthers are heading back to Sunrise with a road trip result most teams would happily take: six points out of eight, earned over four straight away games to open the 2026-27 season.
That run started with a statement win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, a 1-0 overtime victory, and it ended Tuesday night in Los Angeles with a 2-1 win over the Kings. In between, the Panthers dropped overtime decisions in San Jose and Anaheim, but never left a game without a point.
For Paul Maurice, the biggest reason for that success was simple: the Panthers were excellent at even strength.
“It’s been a really good trip,” said Maurice. “I like our 5-on-5 game an awful lot.
I think we gave up 11 even strength shots tonight. They’re battling and they’re dialed in, they’re not cheating the game, so I’m very pleased with the road trip.”
Florida’s five-on-five play stood out across the entire trip. Through four games, the Panthers allowed just two goals at even strength. The trouble has come on special teams, where they’ve gone 1-for-23 on the power play and 4-for-19 on the penalty kill.
Still, the results have been there, and the biggest reason is the work Jacob Markstrom has done in net.
The veteran goaltender has been outstanding in his first three games back with the Panthers, posting a 2-0-1 record with a .927 save percentage and a 1.27 goals against average. Against the Kings, he helped keep the game tight long enough for Matthew Tkachuk to deliver the late winner.
“Marky was amazing to keep it 1-1 for so long,” Tkachuk said afterwards.
Seth Jones was just as complimentary.
“He’s been unbelievable,” said Panthers defenseman Seth Jones. “A great goaltender and great person off the ice, blended with us chemistry-wise away from the rink perfectly in the locker room.
We want to play in front of him. He’s been special to start this season, a lot of big saves and some breakaways as well.
He’s been a rock back there.”
The numbers back up the praise. Markstrom has stopped 13 of 15 high danger shots, owns a high danger goals saved above average of 0.98, and has allowed four goals on 55 shots. Natural Stat Trick lists his expected goals against at 6.51.
“Oh, has he been good,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “He’s made some huge saves.
A lot of those nights you play really hard and then your power play gets in one, and your goalie bails it out. So we all get to be in a good mood for three days instead of not, based off his play.”
Jones summed up the road trip as a whole by pointing to how often Florida was right there in the game.
“Six out of eight (points) is a great road trip,” said Jones. “All tight games, could have easily gone 4-0, and we played some pretty good teams.
I think we did a lot of good things, not a lot of 5-on-5 chances or goals that we gave up. If we clean up the special teams a bit moving forward, we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Tkachuk echoed that view after the Kings win.
“We had 2-1 filth tonight to finish off the road trip,” added Tkachuk. “If you would’ve told me at the beginning of the trip we’d take six of eight (points), I would’ve signed on the dotted line.”
Florida now gets a brief return home, but the schedule stays heavy. Only three of the Panthers’ next nine games will be played in Sunrise, starting with Saturday’s home opener against the Minnesota Wild.
After this opening stretch, the Panthers look like a team built to stay in every game, and Markstrom put it plainly.
“It’s fun, you’re in every game and there’s a chance to win,” said Markstrom. “We have a great team and play a great system.”
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