5 Takeaways: Panthers Eliminated, but Finish Strong at Home

SUNRISE, Fla. - Well, it was a heck of a run.
After being eliminated from playoff contention with Philadelphia's win over the New York Rangers earlier in the afternoon, the Florida Panthers were playing for pride and a little bit of history against on Thursday night.

With a great chance to win their franchise-record 27th game at home this season, the red-hot Panthers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres to finish with a 27-11-3 record at BB&T Center.
"I think everybody in here is disappointed," Panthers center Vincent Trocheck said. "The whole goal this year was to make the playoffs. We made a good push for it in the second half. It's just the first part of the season caught up to us."
Florida (43-30-8) will now head to Boston to wrap up its 2017-18 campaign on Sunday night. With a win, the Panthers would hit 96 points - the third-highest point total in franchise history. They are 24-8-2 over their last 34 games.
"I'm proud of these guys, of what they've done in the second half of the season and the resiliency they've shown," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "We set the franchise record for home wins. There's a lot of good things. It's tough to recognize that right now, but I want them to finish off hard."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in Sunrise…

1. WELCOME TO THE HUBER-SHOW

Jonathan Huberdeau once again added to his career-high goal total on Thursday night, scoring his 27th goal of the season to give the Panthers an early 1-0 lead at 3:04 of the first period.
With the Panthers poised to strike on a 5-on-3 power play, Huberdeau positioned himself perfectly in front of Buffalo's crease before redirecting a Vincent Trocheck shot from the high slot past Sabres goaltender Chad Johnson and into the net.
Huberdeau, 24, has notched four goals in his past seven games and now sits in a three-way tie with Evgenii Dadonov and Aleksander Barkov for second on the team in goals. He also ranks fourth in assists (42) and third in points (69).

2. PILING ON

Huberdeau's score was the first of several in the first period for the Panthers, as Colton Sceviour and Nick Bjugstad also each lit the lamp to send Florida into the first intermission with a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Sceviour struck first, matching his career-high with his 11th goal of the season at 10:59 of the period to put the Panthers up 2-0. With the goal, Sceviour extended his point streak to a season-high four games.

Then, just 2:40 after Sceviour's score, Bjugstad padded the lead even further, taking a nice backhand pass from Dadonov and beating Johnson with a wrist show from near the bottom of the right circle to make it 3-0 at 13:39.
The three goals were the most the Panthers have scored in a period since a four-goal outburst in the third period of a 4-2 win over Arizona on March 24. Florida also improved to 32-11-2 when scoring first this season - the 13th best winning percentage in the league after taking a 1-0 lead.

3. TROCHECK SAVES THE DAY

What first appeared to be the icing on the cake quickly transformed into a rather important goal for the Panthers on Thursday night, as the Sabres made a strong push late in the third period.
After the Sabres scored a pair of goals just 21 seconds a part to pull within one goal at 15:51 of the period, Trocheck answered back for the Panthers with an empty net goal that extend Florida's lead to 4-2 with just 1:23 left in regulation.
That goal proved to be a game-save for the Panthers, as Ryan O'Reilly scored with just 17 seconds left to make it a 4-3 game, with Trocheck's score going on to stand as the eventual game-winner.
Trocheck, 24, leads the Panthers in goals (21) and ranks second in points (75).
"We can definitely take positives away from the second half of the season," Trocheck said. "We've had one of the best records in the league after the All-Star break. There's a positive to take out of it. But at the end of the day, there's no real moral victories. The playoffs were the goal; we didn't make the playoffs."

4. BORGSTROM SAYS HELLO

Henrik Borgstrom made his home debut with the Panthers on Thursday, skating 14:18 in what the organization hopes will be the first of many games the Finnish center plays in front of the South Florida faithful.
"It felt really good," Borgstrom said. "I liked the crowd. I thought it was really cool to play in front of the home fans."
The 23rd overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Borgstrom inked a three-year, entry-level contract with the Panthers on March 26 after suiting up for two seasons at the University of Denver, where he tallied 45 goals and 50 assists in 77 games.
The 20-year-old debuted in Ottawa and played in Boston last week, but had been a healthy scratch in each of the last three games as the Panthers decided to ice a more experienced lineup down the stretch.
"He's going to be fine," Boughner said. "He's just got to get used to the league and get accustomed to the big strong guys. He's got a big offseason ahead to put some muscle on and come back in good shape."

5. VRBATA SAYS FAREWELL

After 16 seasons in the NHL, Radim Vrbata is calling it a career.
A successful journeyman throughout his career, the 36-year-old forward finishes with 284 goals, 339 assists and 623 points in 1,057 games split between Arizona, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Vancouver and Tampa.
After posting 20 goals and 55 points with Arizona in 2016-17, Vrbata joined the Panthers on a one-year contract this past summer. In 42 games, he tallied just five goals and 14 points, including a hat trick against Anaheim on Oct. 26.
To commemorate his career, the Panthers honored Vrbata in the first period.

"I think we decided before the season," Vrbata said of his retirement. "We have three sons. The oldest is nine. He's at the age where he needs to get back to Czech [Republic] for good to catch up on the language and school and everything. And on the other hand, I'll be 37 in the summer. You just know.
"When you play in the games, you realize how fast the game is going and that you need to let the young guys play. I remember when I was 20 and I saw guys who were over 30. I was kind of pushing them. I get what the coaching staff was doing. I was supporting them to play the young guys. There's lots of promise in this team. I wish them all the best."
In his final game, Vrbata skated 7:23 with three shots on goal.