You could almost make a case that the injury-riddled Florida Panthers’ mission to qualify for the playoffs this season is starting to feel as challenging as one of their two Stanley Cup championship runs.

With 53.6% of their games already played, the two-time defending Stanley Cup Panthers find themselves in sixth place in the Eastern Conference wildcard race.

The Panthers, expecting injured Matthew Tkachuk’s return any day, are three points out of the last wildcard spot, with three teams to jump over to get there. 

The real problem for the Panthers is that multiple teams in the Eastern Conference are playing as if they believe they are the 60-win 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. 

The Buffalo Sabres have won 13 out of their last 14. The Detroit Red Wings are 14-4-2 since Dec. 2. The Tampa Bay Lightning have won nine in a row and not scored fewer than four goals in any win. The Toronto Maple Leafs are 7-1-2 in their last 10. The Montreal Canadiens are 6-2-2 in their last 10, while the Penguins are 7-3.

The Eastern Conference has become a murderer’s row this season. Of course, when the Panthers are on top of their game they can play with any team. But today it feels like they have plenty of work to do.

2. Single Trade Not Enough: Does anyone believe that trading Dougie Hamilton will solve all of New Jersey’s problems? This looks like a dysfunctional team that needs a significant renovation project. 

3.  Luck of the Draw?: We always hear how important faceoffs are in the NHL. But if you look aat this morning’s NHL statistics, there is no correlation between faceoff success and success in the standings. The top faceoff teams are the Toronto Maple Leafs (56.4%), Ottawa Senators (55.5%), New York Rangers (53.9%), Edmonton Oilers (52.6%), Boston Bruins (52.1%) and Nashville Predators (52%). Of that group, only Edmonton is in a playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild own the NHL’s third-best record and they rank 29th in faceoff efficiency (46.6%)

4. Rasmus Rumors: The Dallas Stars are reportedly interested in Rasmus Andersson, but with two of their next three first-round picks already moved, how do they make that happen? Here’s what we know for sure: GM Jim Nill is all-in when it comes to trying to win the Stanley Cup this season. But the team with enough assets to make an Andersson deal work is the Detroit Red Wings. We hear they are more than willing to move their 2026 first-round pick, plus one of their many prospects. Presumably, the Red Wings would like to talk to Andersson about re-signing him before any deal is made. 

5. Real Iron Man: Glenn Hall’s recent death gave us reason to talk about his NHL record 502 consecutive starts. Given that he started his career in an era when goalies believed masks were only for Halloween, his durability was otherworldly. In a book I wrote about the toughness of the NHL years ago, I interviewed the late Ken Dryden about Hall’s courageous playing style. Dryden said Hall’s playing style was revolutionary at the time because he played low in the crease, meaning he was placing his unmasked face in harm’s way.

“He was the first to really challenge the compromise of safety versus effectiveness,” Dryden said. “The way it was defined in hockey, as a goalie, you played a standup style. It seemed like it was for effectiveness. Unspoken was that it was a safety compromise. It was a way of putting your head as far away from the puck as you could. You put it above the bar. Glenn Hall put his head below the bar sometimes.”

Hall’s courage came from his Kevlar-plated gumption and a bravado that seemed to be forged in titanium.

6. Odds With Sabres, Really: After winning 13 out of 14 games, the Buffalo Sabres playoff probability has risen to 56.1% according to moneypuck.com and 63.1% according to Hockeyreference.com. After watching the Sabres miss the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons, Buffalo fans would like to view that as being as binding as a promissory note. The Sabres own the No. 1 wildcard position in the East.

7. Good Sports: It wasn’t all that surprising that Patrick Kane scored his 500th career goal against the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks have surrendered more 500th goals than any other NHL franchise. Others who have netted their 500th against the Canucks: Frank Mahovlich, Stan Mikita, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Sakic, Patrick Marleau and Steven Stamkos.

8.  On Nov. 28, Detroit goalie John Gibson surrendered five goals in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. That left him with a 4-7-1 record and a save percentage of .870. In his first 13 appearances for Detroit, he had 10 games in which his save percentage was below. 900. That included one loss to Chicago when his save percentage was .789.

Since then, Gibson is 12-2 with three shutouts and a save percentage of .931. Gibson is currently on a run of five consecutive starts with a save percentage above .919.  The NHL’s average save percentage is .897. After posting a shutout Saturday in Montreal, Gibson’s season save percentage is .902. He is the leading reason the Red Wings are leading the Atlantic Division today.