Why the Florida Panthers are the hottest team in the NHL

The Florida Panthers' winning streak has reached double digits.

With a win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, the Panthers managed to stay out of the loss column for the 10th straight game, achieving the NHL's longest stretch of sustained success since 2013-14.

That season, the Boston Bruins and Anaheim Ducks boasted streaks of 12 and 10 games respectively, and went on to finish first and second in the overall standings.

While the Panthers have a ways to go before clinching a Presidents' Trophy - or rising close to the top team in the East for that matter - they do have a five-point lead in the Atlantic Division, and appear well on their way to clinching their fifth playoff spot in franchise history.

How exactly are they doing it?

Luongo at his best

Over the course of the winning streak, Roberto Luongo has made eight starts, posting two shutouts and allowing only 10 goals on 227 shots, good for a save percentage of .956.

For the season, Luongo's save percentage sits at .929, well above his career average of .919, and slightly short of his single-season high (.931) set during his first run with the Panthers back in 2003-04.

In short, Luongo is playing some of the best hockey of his career during this stretch, and at age 36 to boot.

It certainly helps that backup Al Montoya has held down the fort when Luongo has been afforded the opportunity to rest, allowing only two goals on 56 shots in two starts during the streak.

Combined, and since the start of the streak, the Panthers' goaltenders have posted a league-high 5-on-5 save percentage of .967, thereby contributing a major piece to the puzzle.

Hot sticks

At the other end of the ice, the Panthers haven't struggled to score, averaging 3.5 goals per game.

At 5-on-5, and since Dec. 15, Florida is shooting at a success rate of 10.6 percent, behind only the New York Rangers and slightly ahead of the high-powered Washington Capitals.

Interestingly, that number dips to 10.2 percent on the power play, with only five of the 35 goals scored during the streak coming with the man advantage. It's a fact that bodes well for future success, with numbers in both situations set to regress to the mean.

It should come as no surprise that Aleksander Barkov has proved to be a catalyst, with 11 of his 23 points on the season coming during the past 10 games. And while linemates Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Huberdeau continue to produce, the Panthers possess a healthy measure of depth that is helping to sustain the offense, with head coach Gerard Gallant able to roll out three legitimate scoring lines on any given night.

PD-uh oh?

Add it all up, and the Panthers PDO (save percentage + shooting percentage) in all situations sits at an inflated 107.5 over the past 10 games - meaning the streak has been built on exceptional goaltending and above-average scoring prowess.

Assuming that number will fall back closer to 100 as the season wears on, it's expected that the Panthers will fall back to earth sooner than later.

But for now, at least, the Panthers are doing it (goaltending) and doing it (scoring) and doing it well. And while they're likely to tail off, this run is going a long way towards ensuring Florida plays more than 82 games this season.