Cats & Coffee: The Panthers and Islanders Drop the Puck

Good morning and welcome to "Cats & Coffee," a weekly segment, presented by Koffee Kult, in which we serve up an exciting look at what's on deck for your Florida Panthers. Like our friends at Koffee Kult, this forecast serves up only the best -- so sit back, sip and enjoy our latest brew of news, notes and information.

No, you aren't dreaming.

Hockey is back this week.

More than four months since the NHL paused its season in early March due to concerns over the coronavirus, the Florida Panthers will finally return to action when they begin their quest to claim the club's first-ever Stanley Cup during the league's unprecedented 24-team tournament.

Sitting at 35-26-8 at the time of the pause, the Panthers will enter the tournament as the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. In a rematch from the opening round of the playoffs in 2016, they will battle the seventh-seeded New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Qualifying Round.

Game 1 of the best-of-five series will take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 4 p.m. ET.

"This postseason won't be like anybody else's," defenseman Anton Stralman said after the team's final day of training camp. "You do all the things you can. We're all competitive guys. There's not one hockey player that's going to go into this tournament and not do their best.

"It's game on. I think everyone wants to play hockey. That's the bottom line. We're allowed to do this thing. Whether there's fans or not, in a hub city in a bubble or not, we're there to compete."

In their lone tune-up before the tournament begins, the Panthers will face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in an exhibition game on Wednesday. No strangers to one another, the cross-state rivals have already battled seven times in 2019-20, including four regular-season contests.

The game will be broadcast on both FOX Sports Florida and 560 WQAM starting at noon.

"We're used to playing exhibition games against them," forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "It's just one more. It doesn't matter the team we're playing, we're going to focus on the Islanders. It's just to get back and play a real game. It's going to be good before we start the real thing."

Prior to hopping their flight to Toronto on Sunday, the Panthers talked about their expectations for the series against the Islanders - a tight matchup that will pit Florida's sixth-ranked offense (3.30 goals per game) against New York's ninth-ranked defense (2.79 goals allowed per game).

At first glance, one of the biggest things working in Florida's favor heading into the matchup is how effective and confident players looked the last time they shared the ice together as a team.

Shaking out of their post-all-star slump, the Panthers won two of three games heading into the pause, including a 2-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in March.

"I think that those last three games we played before going into the shutdown, I thought were the blueprint of our team, where we weren't scoring four or five goals, and I think when you're going into playoffs and playing like that, you don't see many games that are high scoring like that," defenseman Keith Yandle said. "So, I thought we did a good job. We actually adjusted a few things within our systems and stuff like that, and I thought it really helped out."

The Islanders, meanwhile, started hot and then got very, very cold.

After setting a new franchise record with a 16-game point streak - including a whopping 15 wins - earlier in the season, New York was in a downward spiral heading into the pause. Dropping 11 of their last 13 games, they ended the regular season on a tough seven-game losing streak.

Of course, the past likely doesn't matter too much for either team at this point.

The postseason is a fresh start for everyone, and the Panthers are ready to take advantage.

"We're looking at a team that right off the bat, it's not so much what they are going to do, it's what we have to do," head coach Joel Quenneville said of the series. "Let's be eager to be simpler in how we approach our team game, but it's going to be a great test. Look forward to it."

Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com for previews, features and more throughout the postseason.

PLAYOFF BRACKET CHALLENGE

It's time to put your predicting skills to the test.

Despite the unusual circumstances, the NHL's annual "Playoff Bracket Challenge" will remain a staple of the postseason. Immediately following the conclusion of all matches in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, fans will have a small window to fill out a bracket of the 16 teams that are remaining.

In filling out a bracket, fans will be asked to not only select what teams will win each series, but also how long the series will potentially last. For a potential tiebreaker, they will also be asked to guess how many total goals they believe will be scored during the eventual Stanley Cup Final.

Here's how the basic scoring works:

• Earn 10 points by picking the correct winner of each series in the 1st Round.

• Earn 25 points by picking the correct winner of each series in the 2nd Round.

• Earn 50 points by picking the correct winner of each series in the 3rd Round.

• Earn 100 points by picking the correct winner of the Stanley Cup Final.

To make things interesting, we've also created out own Panthers-centric group for the event.

So if you want to put your skills to the test against the rest of South Florida, click HERE to join.

EPISODE 4 OF "PANTHERS UNCAGED"

The action will continue to pick up on "Panthers Uncaged" this week.

On Wednesday, the fourth installment of the docuseries will be released on Florida's official Facebook, IGTV, PanthersVision and YouTube pages. Additionally, local fans can tune into FOX Sports Florida to watch it either before or after the team's exhibition game on July 29.

Episode 5 is currently set for Aug. 5.

"I think it's great, especially now," defenseman Mike Matheson said. "I imagine that fans are wishing they could be at the games, and obviously we with they could be too. This is a way they can get a little look inside at how things go every day."

A behind-the-scenes series focusing on the team's return to the ice following a three-month lockdown due to the coronavirus, Episode 4 of "Panthers Uncaged" will dive into Florida's training camp, including long-awaited return of head coach Joel Quenneville and his staff.

"You're getting a flavor from a different look in different ways," Quenneville said of the show. "From a fan's perspective, I'm sure it's interesting. From our point of view, we're just going about our business as we always do, albeit in a different fashion right now."

If you missed Episode 3 of the show, check out a GIF-filled recap HERE. If you missed any other episodes, click HERE to watch.

Have you been watching? Share your thoughts on social media using #PanthersUncaged!

CATS CLIP OF THE WEEK

Get pumped up for the postseason with the Panthers' top plays from 2019-20.

CATS IN THE COMMUNITY

Tweet from @StanleyCPanther: Happy 8th birthday Zachary! I visited him right in his front yard. I can visit you too! Visit https://t.co/04mBG8kfki #oneterritory #flapanthers pic.twitter.com/iU5xA26PG0

TERRITORY TALK

On this week's episode of the Territory Talk podcast, co-hosts Doug Plagens and Jameson Olive recap some of the biggest storylines from the Panthers' training camp. Also, hear from forward Frank Vatrano, defenseman Keith Yandle, head coach Joel Quenneville and more!

Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel · Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

COLD COFFEE (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

--Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel

-- Video: Florida Panthers Highlight Reel