2020–21 Florida Panthers season

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

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

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

Standings

Central Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Carolina Hurricanes	56	36	12	8	27	179	136	+43	80
2	x – Florida Panthers	56	37	14	5	26	189	153	+36	79
3	x – Tampa Bay Lightning	56	36	17	3	29	181	147	+34	75
4	x – Nashville Predators	56	31	23	2	21	156	154	+2	64
5	e – Dallas Stars	56	23	19	14	17	158	154	+4	60
6	e – Chicago Blackhawks	56	24	25	7	15	161	186	−25	55
7	e – Detroit Red Wings	56	19	27	10	17	127	171	−44	48
8	e – Columbus Blue Jackets	56	18	26	12	12	137	187	−50	48

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

Schedule and results

Regular season

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

2020–21 game log
January: 5–0–1 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 3–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap — January 14 Dallas – Florida Postponed due to COVID protocol.[6] Rescheduled for February 22. — January 15 Dallas – Florida Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for May 10. 1 January 17 Chicago 2–5 Florida Driedger 4,147 1–0–0 2 [7] 2 January 19 Chicago 4–5 Florida OT Bobrovsky 3,667 2–0–0 4 [8] — January 21 Florida – Carolina Postponed due to COVID protocol.[9] Rescheduled for February 17. — January 23 Florida – Carolina Postponed due to COVID protocol. Rescheduled for March 7. 3 January 26 Florida 4–3 Columbus SO Bobrovsky 0 3–0–0 6 [10] 4 January 28 Florida 2–3 Columbus SO Driedger 0 3–0–1 7 [11] 5 January 30 Florida 3–2 Detroit OT Bobrovsky 0 4–0–1 9 [12] 6 January 31 Florida 3–2 Detroit Driedger 0 5–0–1 11 [13]
February: 8–4–2 (Home: 5–3–2; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 7 February 4 Nashville 6–5 Florida OT Bobrovsky 3,698 5–0–2 12 [14] 8 February 5 Nashville 1–2 Florida Driedger 3,977 6–0–2 14 [15] 9 February 7 Detroit 4–1 Florida Driedger 3,706 6–1–2 14 [16] 10 February 9 Detroit 1–2 Florida Bobrovsky 3,477 7–1–2 16 [17] 11 February 11 Tampa Bay 2–5 Florida Bobrovsky 3,808 8–1–2 18 [18] 12 February 13 Tampa Bay 6–1 Florida Bobrovsky 4,509 8–2–2 18 [19] 13 February 15 Florida 6–4 Tampa Bay Driedger 100 9–2–2 20 [20] 14 February 17 Florida 4–3 Carolina OT Driedger 0 10–2–2 22 [21] 15 February 19 Florida 7–2 Detroit Driedger 0 11–2–2 24 [22] 16 February 20 Florida 1–2 Detroit Bobrovsky 0 11–3–2 24 [23] 17 February 22 Dallas 1–3 Florida Driedger 3,510 12–3–2 26 [24] 18 February 24 Dallas 3–0 Florida Driedger 3,324 12–4–2 26 [25] 19 February 25 Dallas 2–3 Florida Bobrovsky 3,844 13–4–2 28 [26] 20 February 27 Carolina 4–3 Florida SO Bobrovsky 4,281 13–4–3 29 [27]
March: 10–5–1 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 6–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 21 March 1 Carolina 3–2 Florida OT Driedger 3,817 13–4–4 30 [28] 22 March 4 Florida 5–4 Nashville Bobrovsky —[a] 14–4–4 32 [29] 23 March 6 Florida 6–2 Nashville Bobrovsky —[a] 15–4–4 34 [30] 24 March 7 Florida 2–4 Carolina Driedger 2,924 15–5–4 34 [31] 25 March 9 Florida 4–2 Columbus Bobrovsky 3,448 16–5–4 36 [32] 26 March 11 Florida 5–4 Columbus OT Bobrovsky 3,739 17–5–4 38 [33] 27 March 13 Chicago 2–4 Florida Bobrovsky 4,721 18–5–4 40 [34] 28 March 15 Chicago 3–6 Florida Bobrovsky 4,512 19–5–4 42 [35] 29 March 18 Nashville 2–1 Florida Bobrovsky 4,559 19–6–4 42 [36] 30 March 20 Nashville 0–2 Florida Driedger 4,358 20–6–4 44 [37] 31 March 21 Florida 3–5 Tampa Bay Bobrovsky 3,800 20–7–4 44 [38] 32 March 23 Florida 2–3 Chicago Driedger 0 20–8–4 44 [39] 33 March 25 Florida 0–3 Chicago Bobrovsky 0 20–9–4 44 [40] 34 March 27 Florida 4–3 Dallas OT Bobrovsky 4,209 21–9–4 46 [41] 35 March 28 Florida 4–1 Dallas Driedger 4,026 22–9–4 48 [42] 36 March 30 Detroit 1–4 Florida Bobrovsky 4,321 23–9–4 50 [43]
April: 10–5–1 (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 4–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 37 April 1 Detroit 2–3 Florida OT Driedger 4,359 24–9–4 52 [44] 38 April 3 Columbus 2–5 Florida Bobrovsky 4,375 25–9–4 54 [45] 39 April 4 Columbus 0–3 Florida Driedger 4,069 26–9–4 56 [46] 40 April 6 Florida 2–5 Carolina Bobrovsky 4,987 26–10–4 56 [47] 41 April 8 Florida 0–3 Carolina Driedger 4,987 26–11–4 56 [48] 42 April 10 Florida 1–4 Dallas Bobrovsky 4,165 26–12–4 56 [49] 43 April 13 Florida 3–2 Dallas OT Driedger 4,199 27–12–4 58 [50] 44 April 15 Florida 2–3 Tampa Bay OT Driedger 3,800 27–12–5 59 [51] 45 April 17 Florida 5–3 Tampa Bay Bobrovsky 3,800 28–12–5 61 [52] 46 April 19 Columbus 2–4 Florida Bobrovsky 4,041 29–12–5 63 [53] 47 April 20 Columbus 1–5 Florida Knight 4,132 30–12–5 65 [54] 48 April 22 Carolina 4–2 Florida Bobrovsky 4,683 30–13–5 65 [55] 49 April 24 Carolina 3–4 Florida OT Driedger 4,838 31–13–5 67 [56] 50 April 26 Florida 1–4 Nashville Driedger —[a] 31–14–5 67 [57] 51 April 27 Florida 7–4 Nashville Knight —[a] 32–14–5 69 [58] 52 April 29 Florida 4–3 Chicago OT Knight 0 33–14–5 71 [59]
May: 4–0–0 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 1–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 53 May 1 Florida 5–4 Chicago Bobrovsky 0 34–14–5 73 [60] 54 May 3 Dallas 4–5 Florida OT Knight 4,702 35–14–5 75 [61] 55 May 8 Tampa Bay 1–5 Florida Bobrovsky 5,040 36–14–5 77 [62] 56 May 10 Tampa Bay 0–4 Florida Driedger 5,040 37–14–5 79 [63]
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Playoffs

Main article: 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs
Central Division First Round vs. (C3) Tampa Bay Lightning: Tampa Bay won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 16 Tampa Bay 5–4 Florida Bobrovsky 9,646 0–1 [64] 2 May 18 Tampa Bay 3–1 Florida Driedger 9,646 0–2 [65] 3 May 20 Florida 6–5 Tampa Bay OT Bobrovsky 9,508 1–2 [66] 4 May 22 Florida 2–6 Tampa Bay Bobrovsky 9,762 1–3 [67] 5 May 24 Tampa Bay 1–4 Florida Knight 11,551 2–3 [68] 6 May 26 Florida 0–4 Tampa Bay Knight 10,092 2–4 [69]
Legend:   Win   Loss

Draft picks

See also: List of Florida Panthers draft picks

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

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

Notes

1. Spectators were in attendance, but the exact number was not reported.