THE DAMAGE FROM THE OTHER CAR TO HIS WAS HUGE.

December 30-The Montreal Canadiens hold the record for the most Stanley Cup victories in NHL history with 24.

Conversely, the Florida Panthers have never taken home hockey’s most coveted trophy.

However, the hosts—the Panthers—are much closer to having a championship-caliber season than the rebuilding visitors when they play the Canadiens on Saturday night in Sunrise, Florida.

Given that they have victories over Vegas, Tampa Bay, and the New York Rangers, the Panthers’ current winning streak of three games is impressive. Two of the three teams tied for the NHL lead with 49 points are the Golden Knights, the defending Stanley Cup champions, and the Rangers. Tampa Bay has won two of the previous four Stanley Cup championships.

Aleksander Barkov at center and Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues on the wings are a major asset for Florida.

That line has contributed five goals and seven assists in the last two games. Six of the assists went to Barkov, while Reinhart scored four goals, two of which came on Friday in the Panthers’ 4-3 victory over the Rangers.

Regarding his line, Rodrigues remarked, “We’re having a lot of fun.” “We (started the season) hot, and our chemistry has continued to build.”

Barkov, according to Rodrigues, is a “freak” at everything.

“Barky won’t blow you away with his speed, but he does everything right,” Rodrigues stated. “He makes it so much easier for us to play because you can always count on him to win the puck in a wall battle.

“All we need to do to get the puck with Barky when we’re playing is locate the soft spot; he’ll pull two players over to it.” That, in my opinion, explains why Sam has had such success this year.”

Reinhart does, in fact, lead Florida in both points (44) and goals (23). He leads the NHL with 10 power-play goals as well.

The Panthers’ 16 straight missed power plays show how well Florida is playing defense, as the team is 14-0-2 when leading at the half.

Sergei Bobrovsky, the goalie for the Panthers, leads the Eastern Conference with 17 wins.

The Canadiens are currently on a seven-game trip and come to Florida with a 2-1-1 record. After falling to the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 on Thursday, Montreal has not played.