<p>On March 5, 2023, the Florida Panthers found themselves three points out of a playoff spot with a record of 31-27-6 with just 18 games remaining in the season. </p>



<p>Fast forward a year later, and the Panthers are at the top of the league standings with a 42-16-4 record with 20 games to go.</p>



<p>The hunters became the hunted.</p>



<p>The Panthers have quickly become the talk of the league, with their mix of talent, work ethic and physical play allowing them to become the NHL’s most feared squad.</p>



<p>“It’s been a complete 180 from where we were last year,” said forward Nick Cousins.</p>



<p>With that physicality comes the occasional consequences. Cousins has been involved in plenty of media conversations this season for how he plays on the edge.</p>



<p>“Some of them I probably deserved it,” Cousins said.&nbsp;</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="138"></div>



<p>Most notably, on <em>Hockey Night in Canada, </em><a href="https://youtu.be/aRxXPJMwku0?si=UTHU966UKHzFkB0X">former NHLer turned analyst Kevin Bieska slammed Cousins</a>, calling him a rat and claiming that the NHL Department of Player Safety needs to “hammer” Cousins for his questionable hits, like the one he <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/scrum-breaks-out-after-blue-jackets-gudbranson-takes-exception-to-cousins-hit/">delivered on the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Erik Gudbranson</a> in December.</p>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">“There’s no place in the game for this.” <a href="https://twitter.com/kbieksa3?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kbieksa3</a> discusses Nick Cousins play. <a href="https://t.co/zyXef0SEvc">pic.twitter.com/zyXef0SEvc</a></p>
<p>— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1743801790498218023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>



<p></p>



<p>The Panthers forward is in his second season with the club, and he’s hoping to get back to the Stanley Cup final like he did last season. He’s pretty active on social media as well, so he’s seen what fans have had to say about him this year. </p>



<p>“It’s been tough,” Cousins said. “I have people sending me stuff. It is what it is.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="138"></div>



<p>“The one thing I don’t love is that I’ve been labeled as a dirty player. I’ve never been suspended before, I think I’ve been fined once, maybe four or five years ago. The Gudbranson hit was a five [minute major] and then they reduced it to two. There was another one in Arizona, which wasn’t even a penalty. The Gudbranson hit – which I can look back on it and say that was a little bit reckless, I own that one.” </p>



<p>Despite that, he’s not willing to change his game.</p>



<p>“When you get called out on social media, it’s not fun to see, but as long as I’m playing&nbsp;my game – I’ve been in the league for 10 years and I’ve been playing the same way. For some reason, it’s taken off this year, maybe because we’re in first place or whatever. I guess [Kevin] Bieksa doesn’t like me, he doesn’t like my game I guess.”</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="157"></div>



<p>With the Panthers sitting atop the standings, opponents know what they’re getting into when they take on the team from Sunrise. No matter the style, no matter the matchup, the Panthers can hang with anyone.</p>



<p>“We aren’t so good that we’ll ever play a game and win purely on talent alone,” coach Paul Maurice said. “We got some talent, we got some skill, we play pretty hard, that’s the key to what we do.”&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Paul Maurice is an absolute joy to talk to. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TimeToHunt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TimeToHunt</a> HC on being the team to beat:<br><br>"It doesn't really matter where you finish, we proved that last year."<a href="https://twitter.com/FlaPanthers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FlaPanthers</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DailyFaceoff</a> <a href="https://t.co/jLuytlpfUG">pic.twitter.com/jLuytlpfUG</a></p>— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) <a href="https://twitter.com/JLazzy23/status/1764737682444271917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2024</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p>The Cats have won four straight games, going 10-1-0 over their last 11 contests. Many didn’t expect them to replicate their late season success from 2022-23, given the injuries issues to Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad to start the season. Was Sergei Bobrovsky going to replicate his success? Was Matthew Tkachuk going to challenge for the MVP title again?</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="164"></div>



<p>So far, this team has shown what resilience can do.</p>



<p>“I think the majority of us took two to three weeks off, but we had a sour taste in our mouth with what happened in Vegas,” Cousins said. “Obviously we were depleted. We faced some injuries and stuff, but they were the better team in the series.”</p>



<p>To the men wearing the red, white and yellow, it’s business as usual – especially for someone as effective as Cousins.</p>



<p>“Honestly,&nbsp;though, I’m not going to change the way I play,” Cousins said. “It’s what’s made me successful being in the league for 10 years. Some guys like it, some guys don’t. As long as I’m helping this team and the 23 guys like me – that’s all I really care about.”</p>



<p>Depending on who you are, they’re either an easy team to root for or an easy team to hate. But no matter who you are, you don’t want to get stuck in a catfight with these guys any time soon.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="4" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="169"></div>



<p>Especially against Nick Cousins.</p>



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<p>_____</p>



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