Florida Panthers being tested to start the season. Some perspective to keep in mind

The start of a new season almost always leads to knee-jerk reactions, especially when things don’t go exactly as one plans.

That gets magnified for a team like the Florida Panthers, who are coming off winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history and return the majority of their roster from that title run.

So when the season got off to an unexpected start — Florida has a 2-2-0 record with losses to the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres, two teams expected to be in the bottom half of the Atlantic Division, sandwiched between wins over the Boston Bruins, a perennial playoff team — the instant thought of a “Stanley Cup hangover” has already begun swirling.

A lower-body injury to captain Aleksander Barkov in the Ottawa game that will sideline him for the rest of the month and star winger Matthew Tkachuk being out for at least a week with an illness doesn’t help much, either.

“We’ve won a bunch of hockey games in the past without them in our lineup,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We have to play a style of game that will allow that to happen.”

But let’s offer a bit of perspective.

Florida’s 2-2-0 record? Exactly the same as its record through four games last year.

Playing without key players early? The Panthers were without defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour for the first 16 games and things worked out just fine.

The Panthers are coming off the shortest offseason in franchise history, one year after coming off the previous shortest offseason in franchise history. This is a team that has been through the ringer, been battle-tested by consecutive runs to the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s an 82-game regular season. The Panthers’ focus in the short-term is to set themselves up for success in the long term. Getting tested early is giving Maurice a chance to figure out the resolve of his team.

“We have what we need in this room,” Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “It sucks not having two of your best players, but you know what’s already in here. Now it’s time for the guys to pick up the slack. Those are guys that are irreplaceable, but we have the guys that can go out and replicate.”

Columbus game an emotional one

The Panthers cap their four-game road trip on Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. from Nationwide Arena.

And the emotions will be heavy leading into the game.

Tuesday is Columbus’ home opener, and the tributes to the late Johnny Gaudreau will be plentiful.

Gaudreau, 31, and his brother Matthew, 29, were killed on Aug. 29 when they were run over by a drunk driver while riding bicycles in their native New Jersey.

Tkachuk, who was teammates with Gaudreau for six seasons when both played for the Calgary Flames, has spoken about the impact Gaudreau has had one his life, saying at the Panthers’ media day last month ahead of the start of training camp that Gaudreau was “one of my favorite teammates I ever played with.”

“But he was more than a teammate to me,” Tkachuk added. “He’s such a great friend. It doesn’t matter if you knew them or played against them or even if you just have a sibling, everyone can relate to this. It’s been terrible. You’ll always carry something around where he’ll always be with me. ... I think everyone has done an amazing job of telling stories and keeping him present because that is exactly what he would want — for us to smile about him and tell fun stories about what a great player and teammate he was. But he was a better guy. His memory will go on forever. My memories of him will go on forever. I feel like last year, I was telling a Johnny story to someone every week, so I am going to continue to do that.’’

A special gift for longtime season-ticket holders

One day before the season began, the Panthers closed out their Stanley Cup celebrations with the organization receiving its championship rings .

Fans who have been supporting the team since the franchise’s inception will soon be getting a similar treatment.

Panthers president and chief executive officer Matt Caldwell announced last week that the 158 Legacy Members who have been season-ticket holders since the Panthers’ inaugural season are receiving one replica ring per account.

It’s a nice touch for the segment of the fan base that has supported the team from the start and went through its share of rough patches along the way before Florida finally won it all last season.

Sam Bennett’s goals initiative

Panthers center Sam Bennett this season started the Benny’s Buddies Charity in partnership with the Broward Humane Society.

Each time Bennett scores a goal this season, he will sponsor an animal for adoption at the humane society.

Bennett has scored three goals so far this season, including finding the back of the net twice in Florida’s season-opening win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

Milestones

▪ Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky entered Tuesday two wins away from No. 400 for his career, which would make him the 14th player in NHL history to reach the mark.

▪ Forward Sam Reinhart on Monday played in his 700th career NHL game. Defenseman Gustav Forsling on Saturday played in his 400th career NHL game. Forward Eetu Luostarinen is slated to play in his 300th career NHL game on Thursday.