Kicking things off on the road for the first time since 2019-20, the Panthers are coming off an outstanding 2021-22 season in which they set new franchise records for goals (337), wins (58) and points (122) en route to winning their first-ever Presidents' Trophy.
Taking another step forward during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Panthers defeated the Washington Capitals in six games to claim their first playoff series win since 1996.
Not resting on their laurels after being swept out of the playoffs by the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 2, the Panthers made several key changes during the offseason. In one of the biggest trades in recent memory, they acquired All-Star forward Matthew Tkachuk in a mega deal that saw forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar go to the Calgary Flames.
Adding depth as well as star power, Florida also signed forwards Colin White, Rudolfs Balcers and Nick Cousins and defenseman Marc Staal during free agency. Earlier this week, they also claimed defenseman Josh Mahura off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks.
After racking up a career-high 104 points (42 goals, 62 assists) in 2021-22, Tkachuk sould fit in more than nicely with a gifted group full of fellow dynamic talents such as forwards Aleksander Barkov (88 points), Sam Reinhart (82 points), Carter Verhaeghe (55 points), Sam Bennett (49 points) and Anton Lundell (44 points), as well as defensemen Aaron Ekblad (57 points) and Gustav Forsling (37 points)
Also making a change behind the bench, Paul Maurice is entering his first season with the Panthers after amassing 775 victories over his previous 24 seasons coaching in the NHL.
"It's got a little Christmas Day feeling, right?" said Maurice, whose 1,684 games coached are the fourth-most in NHL history. "In that last week [of training camp], you could feel that edge building and that excitement building. Everybody needs a game right now. You're watching games on TV, and you want to get it going. Everybody's excited."
After making deep playoff runs in 2019-20 and 2020-21, the Islanders are attempting get back on track after missing the playoffs and finishing fifth in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 37-35-10 last season. Essentially running it back with a very similar roster to the one they had last season -- including 14 forwards that played at least 30 games -- the only real notable addition that the Islanders made during the offseason was acquiring defenseman Alex Romanov from the Montreal Canadiens.
Like the Panthers, however, they also have someone new calling the shots.
Promoted from associate coach to head coach, Lane Lambert is preparing for his first season behind the bench in New York. Spending the previous four seasons with the Islanders under Barry Trotz, Lambert won the Stanley Cup as an assistant to Trotz with the Capitals in 2018.
Signing an eight-year contract extension on Oct. 4, forward Mathew Barzal led the Islanders in assists (44) and was tied for first in points (59) in 2021-22. Forward Brock Nelson, who matched Barzal's 49 points, paced the team with a career-high 37 goals. Ranking 23rd in the NHL in scoring with an average of 2.79 goals per game, only three Islanders managed to hit the 50-point plateau last season.
Making up for that lack of punch up front, the Islanders ranked eighth on defense, allowing an average of 2.82 goals per game. The backbone of that defense was goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who went 26-18-8 with a 2.40 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and seven shutouts.
"They're a big defensive team," Gudas said. "They're not afraid to play physical. They have great net-front and are going to try to box us out. We have to make sure we play with our speed and we're ready from the get-go. We can't make unnecessary mistakes and have to capitalize on theirs. If we can use our speed to our advantage, we're going to have success."
In Florida's net, Sergei Bobrosky will get the nod. Fresh off a resurgent season, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner went 39-7-3 with a 2.67 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and three shutouts in 2021-22. His 39 wins set a single-season franchise record and were tied for first in the NHL with Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy.
In his career against New York, Bobrovsky has gone 19-10-0 with a .930 save percentage.
"It's going to be a great challenge for both teams," Maurice said of the team's season-opening tilt with the Islanders. "They're trying to increase their offensive output, and we're trying to make sure we can keep ours while adding a little defensive grind to our game."