A massive challenge that could make or break the Florida Panthers season.

After Monday's skate at Baptist Health IcePlex, Florida packed up for a heavy January away run.

Ten of their final thirteen January games come on the road, starting Tuesday in Toronto, then Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, Carolina, and Washington. This is a critical stretch for Florida, it could give them real traction in the standings, or cost them ground quickly.

At 22-16-3, they sit one point off the second wild card, and their road story has flipped. The Panthers are 8-7-0 away overall, but they've gone 6-1-0 in their last seven road games.

Paul Maurice calls it a playoff rhythm, handle your day, recover, then play every other night like it's routine.

Brad Marchand has driven it with 17 road points in 15 games, and Sam Reinhart has 15. Sergei Bobrovsky is 7-3-0 with a .903 save percentage in ten road starts.

As a fan, I love star power, but the room lifts just as much when a depth guy returns. Those intangibles show up in the bench noise and the puck battles.

Matthew Tkachuk is nearing a return after offseason surgery and he's traveling with the club. Carter Verhaeghe even joked the winger might be a prank target with too much time on his hands.

Cole Schwindt has shed the no-contact jersey after his broken arm, and Maurice said he could play on the trip. Jonah Gadjovich is skating again too, but he's still projected to return after the Olympics.

This is where the hierarchy talk dies, fourth line minutes can save your top guys late in games. One clean shift after an icing, one extra faceoff win, it all keeps the engine running.

Sam Bennett is bringing spark, a nine-game point streak with ten points, four goals and six assists. Since Nov. 17, he has 26 points, 50 hits, and 167 faceoff wins, that screams road hockey.

Seth Jones is week to week, so Florida's blue line will need help by committee until he's back before the Olympic break. If the reinforcements arrive, the mood changes, and so does the margin.