1996–97 Florida Panthers season

1996–97 Florida Panthers
Division	3rd Atlantic
1996–97 record	35–28–19
Goals for	221
Goals against	201
Team information
Coach	Doug MacLean
Captain	Brian Skrudland

Regular season

Final standings

Atlantic Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
New Jersey Devils	82	45	23	14	231	182	104
Philadelphia Flyers	82	45	24	13	274	217	103
Florida Panthers	82	35	28	19	221	201	89
New York Rangers	82	38	34	10	258	231	86
Washington Capitals	82	33	40	9	214	231	75
Tampa Bay Lightning	82	32	40	10	217	247	74
New York Islanders	82	29	41	12	240	250	70

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 5, 1996	3–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	1–0–0
2	W	October 6, 1996	5–2	@ New York Rangers (1996–97)	2–0–0
3	T	October 8, 1996	1–1 OT	New York Rangers (1996–97)	2–0–1
4	W	October 12, 1996	6–0	Hartford Whalers (1996–97)	3–0–1
5	T	October 16, 1996	3–3 OT	@ San Jose Sharks (1996–97)	3–0–2
6	W	October 17, 1996	2–1	@ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	4–0–2
7	T	October 20, 1996	1–1 OT	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)	4–0–3
8	W	October 23, 1996	5–2	Ottawa Senators (1996–97)	5–0–3
9	W	October 25, 1996	6–4	New York Rangers (1996–97)	6–0–3
10	W	October 27, 1996	3–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	7–0–3
11	T	October 29, 1996	1–1 OT	@ New York Rangers (1996–97)	7–0–4
12	W	October 30, 1996	3–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	8–0–4
13	L	November 2, 1996	2–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	8–1–4
14	W	November 7, 1996	4–2	Washington Capitals (1996–97)	9–1–4
15	W	November 9, 1996	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)	10–1–4
16	L	November 11, 1996	2–3 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)	10–2–4
17	W	November 13, 1996	5–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)	11–2–4
18	T	November 15, 1996	3–3 OT	New York Islanders (1996–97)	11–2–5
19	L	November 18, 1996	2–4	Washington Capitals (1996–97)	11–3–5
20	W	November 20, 1996	4–1	Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	12–3–5
21	W	November 22, 1996	2–1 OT	@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)	13–3–5
22	W	November 23, 1996	3–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	14–3–5
23	W	November 26, 1996	4–3	Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)	15–3–5
24	T	November 29, 1996	1–1 OT	Hartford Whalers (1996–97)	15–3–6
25	W	December 1, 1996	4–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	16–3–6
26	L	December 3, 1996	0–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	16–4–6
27	W	December 5, 1996	4–2	New York Islanders (1996–97)	17–4–6
28	T	December 8, 1996	1–1 OT	Dallas Stars (1996–97)	17–4–7
29	L	December 10, 1996	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	17–5–7
30	L	December 11, 1996	2–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1996–97)	17–6–7
31	W	December 15, 1996	6–3	Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	18–6–7
32	L	December 19, 1996	2–5	@ Ottawa Senators (1996–97)	18–7–7
33	W	December 20, 1996	3–1	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	19–7–7
34	L	December 22, 1996	3–7	@ New York Rangers (1996–97)	19–8–7
35	W	December 23, 1996	4–3 OT	@ New York Islanders (1996–97)	20–8–7
36	T	December 26, 1996	3–3 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	20–8–8
37	T	December 28, 1996	1–1 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1996–97)	20–8–9
38	L	December 29, 1996	1–2	Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)	20–9–9
39	L	January 1, 1997	0–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	20–10–9
40	W	January 4, 1997	5–0	@ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	21–10–9
41	L	January 8, 1997	2–3	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	21–11–9
42	W	January 11, 1997	4–1	@ Calgary Flames (1996–97)	22–11–9
43	T	January 14, 1997	4–4 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	22–11–10
44	L	January 15, 1997	0–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	22–12–10
45	L	January 20, 1997	2–4	Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	22–13–10
46	L	January 22, 1997	1–2 OT	@ Hartford Whalers (1996–97)	22–14–10
47	W	January 23, 1997	4–1	@ Boston Bruins (1996–97)	23–14–10
48	W	January 25, 1997	3–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	24–14–10
49	W	January 28, 1997	5–1	Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)	25–14–10
50	W	January 30, 1997	3–1	Boston Bruins (1996–97)	26–14–10
51	L	February 1, 1997	1–3	Washington Capitals (1996–97)	26–15–10
52	T	February 3, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)	26–15–11
53	T	February 6, 1997	1–1 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)	26–15–12
54	T	February 7, 1997	2–2 OT	@ New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	26–15–13
55	W	February 9, 1997	4–3	New York Rangers (1996–97)	27–15–13
56	W	February 12, 1997	5–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	28–15–13
57	L	February 15, 1997	0–1 OT	@ New York Islanders (1996–97)	28–16–13
58	L	February 16, 1997	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	28–17–13
59	L	February 18, 1997	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)	28–18–13
60	T	February 20, 1997	2–2 OT	New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	28–18–14
61	L	February 22, 1997	3–4 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	28–19–14
62	T	February 25, 1997	2–2 OT	San Jose Sharks (1996–97)	28–19–15
63	W	February 27, 1997	3–2 OT	St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	29–19–15
64	L	March 1, 1997	0–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	29–20–15
65	L	March 5, 1997	0–3	Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)	29–21–15
66	L	March 7, 1997	1–3	Calgary Flames (1996–97)	29–22–15
67	L	March 9, 1997	1–3	Boston Bruins (1996–97)	29–23–15
68	W	March 11, 1997	3–2	New York Islanders (1996–97)	30–23–15
69	W	March 13, 1997	5–4	Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	31–23–15
70	T	March 15, 1997	3–3 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	31–23–16
71	W	March 17, 1997	4–1	@ New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	32–23–16
72	L	March 19, 1997	4–7	@ New York Islanders (1996–97)	32–24–16
73	T	March 20, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1996–97)	32–24–17
74	W	March 22, 1997	3–2	Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)	33–24–17
75	L	March 27, 1997	2–3	Ottawa Senators (1996–97)	33–25–17
76	T	March 29, 1997	1–1 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	33–25–18
77	L	March 31, 1997	3–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)	33–26–18
78	L	April 2, 1997	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	33–27–18
79	L	April 5, 1997	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1996–97)	33–28–18
80	T	April 6, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1996–97)	33–28–19
81	W	April 9, 1997	4–2	New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	34–28–19
82	W	April 11, 1997	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)	35–28–19

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Sheppard, RayRay Sheppard RW 68 29 31 60 4 4 13 0 7 Mellanby, ScottScott Mellanby RW 82 27 29 56 170 7 9 1 4 Svehla, RobertRobert Svehla D 82 13 32 45 86 2 5 0 3 Dvorak, RadekRadek Dvorak RW 78 18 21 39 30 -2 2 0 1 Niedermayer, RobRob Niedermayer C 60 14 24 38 54 4 3 0 2 Garpenlov, JohanJohan Garpenlov LW 53 11 25 36 47 10 1 0 1 Lindsay, BillBill Lindsay RW 81 11 23 34 120 1 0 1 3 Lowry, DaveDave Lowry LW 77 15 14 29 51 2 2 0 2 Gustafsson, PerPer Gustafsson D 58 7 22 29 22 11 2 0 1 Straka, MartinMartin Straka C 55 7 22 29 12 9 2 0 1 Fitzgerald, TomTom Fitzgerald RW 71 10 14 24 64 7 0 2 1 Murphy, GordGord Murphy D 80 8 15 23 51 3 2 0 0 Jovanovski, EdEd Jovanovski D 61 7 16 23 172 -1 3 0 1 Skrudland, BrianBrian Skrudland C 51 5 13 18 48 4 0 0 2 Hull, JodyJody Hull RW 67 10 6 16 4 1 0 1 2 Hough, MikeMike Hough LW 69 8 6 14 48 12 0 0 2 Nemirovsky, DavidDavid Nemirovsky RW 39 7 7 14 32 1 1 0 0 Carkner, TerryTerry Carkner D 70 0 14 14 96 -4 0 0 0 Warrener, RhettRhett Warrener D 62 4 9 13 88 20 1 0 1 Laus, PaulPaul Laus D 77 0 12 12 313 13 0 0 0 Barnes, StuStu Barnes C 19 2 8 10 10 -3 1 0 0 Washburn, SteveSteve Washburn C 18 3 6 9 4 2 1 0 0 Wells, ChrisChris Wells C 47 2 6 8 42 5 0 0 0 Muller, KirkKirk Muller LW 10 1 2 3 4 -2 1 0 1 Podollan, JasonJason Podollan RW 19 1 1 2 4 -3 1 0 0 Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck G 57 0 2 2 8 0 0 0 0 Smyth, BradBrad Smyth RW 8 1 0 1 2 -3 0 0 0 Fitzpatrick, MarkMark Fitzpatrick G 30 0 1 1 13 0 0 0 0 Ferguson, CraigCraig Ferguson C 3 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Fisher, CraigCraig Fisher C 4 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 Martin, CraigCraig Martin RW 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 Smith, GeoffGeoff Smith D 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 Woolley, JasonJason Woolley D 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck 3347 57 27 19 10 128 2.29 2 1582 1454 .919 Fitzpatrick, MarkMark Fitzpatrick 1680 30 8 9 9 66 2.36 0 771 705 .914 Team: 5027 82 35 28 19 194 2.32 2 2353 2159 .918

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Svehla, RobertRobert Svehla D 5 1 4 5 4 -4 1 0 0 Murphy, GordGord Murphy D 5 0 5 5 4 0 0 0 0 Niedermayer, RobRob Niedermayer C 5 2 1 3 6 -1 1 0 0 Muller, KirkKirk Muller LW 5 1 2 3 4 -3 1 0 0 Garpenlov, JohanJohan Garpenlov LW 4 2 0 2 4 0 2 0 1 Sheppard, RayRay Sheppard RW 5 2 0 2 0 -4 1 0 0 Mellanby, ScottScott Mellanby RW 5 0 2 2 4 -1 0 0 0 Hough, MikeMike Hough LW 5 1 0 1 2 -2 0 0 0 Nemirovsky, DavidDavid Nemirovsky RW 3 1 0 1 0 -2 0 0 0 Fitzgerald, TomTom Fitzgerald RW 5 0 1 1 0 -1 0 0 0 Laus, PaulPaul Laus D 5 0 1 1 4 -3 0 0 0 Lindsay, BillBill Lindsay RW 3 0 1 1 8 0 0 0 0 Carkner, TerryTerry Carkner D 5 0 0 0 6 -3 0 0 0 Dvorak, RadekRadek Dvorak RW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hull, JodyJody Hull RW 5 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Jovanovski, EdEd Jovanovski D 5 0 0 0 4 -4 0 0 0 Lowry, DaveDave Lowry LW 5 0 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 Straka, MartinMartin Straka C 4 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Warrener, RhettRhett Warrener D 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wells, ChrisChris Wells C 3 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck 328 5 1 4 13 2.38 1 184 171 .929 Team: 328 5 1 4 13 2.38 1 184 171 .929

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

See also

• 1996–97 NHL season

References

• 1996–97 Florida Panthers Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.