The Florida Panthers’ recent run of success is due in part to their strong play on special teams lately. The Panthers have been very successful in the past five games at taking advantage of power play situations and shutting down their opponents on the penalty kill.

With the exception of Saturday’s game against Atlanta, the Panthers had scored at least 1 power play goal per game during their current streak. Over their last 5 games (in which the team is 4-0-1) the Panthers are averaging 1 power play goal per game.

Not only are the Panthers effective in man advantage situations lately, they are playing strong, solid defense when they are down a man as well. During the past 5 games the Panthers have faced 17 penalty kill situations and allowed only 2 goals. The Florida penalty kill is ranked 9th in the NHL with an 83% success rate.

If the Panthers wish to continue playing solid hockey, they will need to continue their performance on both the power play and penalty kill. Both situations provide a team with great opportunities to win games and turn momentum. If Florida can keep clicking on the power play and shutting down opponents when they are at a disadvantage, watch for the Panthers to keep playing tough hockey and picking up wins.