The 1995–96 Florida Panthers season was the 3rd season of the franchise that was established in 1993 and their most successful season ever. In only their third season in the National Hockey League, the Panthers qualified for the playoffs, and won three playoff series to become Eastern Conference champions. In the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals, Florida lost to the Colorado Avalanche in four games. The Panthers would not win another playoff series until 2022.
Offseason
Head coach Roger Neilson was fired on June 8. Player-development director Doug MacLean was named his replacement on July 24.
Regular season
Year of the Rat
A very unusual goal celebration developed in Miami. On the night of the Panthers' 1995–96 home opener, a rat scurried across the Florida locker room. Panthers winger Scott Mellanby reacted by "one-timing" the rat against the wall, killing it . That night he scored two goals, which goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck quipped was "a rat trick". Two nights later, as the story found its way into the world, a few fans threw rubber rats on the ice in celebration of a goal. The rubber rat count went from 16 for the third home game to over 2,000 during the playoffs. In an amusing coincidence, 1996 was also year of the Rat according to Chinese astrology.
In the 1996 playoffs, as the fourth seed, the Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins in five games, then upset the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in six and the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Their opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, eliminated the Panthers in four games.
Final standings
Playoffs
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
The fifth-seeded Boston Bruins had one of the best offenses in the Eastern Conference, scoring 282 goals lead by Cam Neely (26 goals) and Adam Oates (25 goals, 67 assists). The Panthers won their first-ever playoff game 6-3 before a sold out Miami Arena, and soon built a 3–0 lead despite being outshot by the Bruins on all games. The Bruins stepped up to win Game 4 with a 6-2 blowout before the Boston crowd. Game 5 was tied 3-3 when with 4:57 left, Bill Lindsay scored with a dive through the air goal while being tripped by star defenseman Ray Bourque, giving the Panthers their first-ever playoff series victory. This was the last year in a record 29 consecutive seasons in the playoffs for the Bruins, as they missed the 1997 post-season.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
The Philadelphia Flyers finished atop the Eastern Conference in the regular season with 103 points, led by the high-scoring "Legion of Doom" and the strong goaltending of Garth Snow and Ron Hextall. Philadelphia had just eliminated the other Florida team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in 5 games a 2–1 series deficit.
Vanbiesbrouck posted a 2–0 shutout in Game 1, and it took until midway through Game 2 for the Flyers to get rolling offensively in a narrow 3–2 win. Game 3 saw Flyers veterans Dan Quinn, Dale Hawerchuk, Eric Desjardins and Hextall set the tone in a 3–1 victory. With young defenseman Ed Jovanovski tightly covering Flyers superstar Eric Lindros, the Panthers reversed the tide, defeating the Flyers in overtime in Game 4 and double-overtime in Game 5, in what would turn out to be the last Flyers game at the Spectrum. Lindros promised to win game 6 to return the series to Philadelphia, but the Panthers won with a 4–1 score. Florida became the third team to reach the conference finals in their third season – following fellow expansion team New York Islanders in 1975 and the Quebec Nordiques in 1982.
Eastern Conference Finals
The 2-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins were energized by the return of Mario Lemieux, who missed the entire 1994–95 season due to injury, and had the league's best offense, scoring 362 goals, and the most wins in the Eastern conference with 49, finishing just one point behind the Flyers. The Penguins advanced to the third round for the first time since 1992, defeating the Washington Capitals in six games and the New York Rangers in five games.