NOTEBOOK: Panthers in Prime Time; Marchment Has Power

In today's Baptist Health Practice Notebook, the Panthers are ready for their close-up, Mason Marchment is rewarded with a new role, and Noel Acciari is getting very close to returning.
SUNRISE, Fla. -The Panthers are ready for prime time. After some COVID-related reshuffling of the broadcast schedule, the Panthers will play on national television for the first time this season when they visit the Hurricanes on Wednesday at PNC Arena.

The game, which was initially slated to be played on Dec. 27 and air on Bally Sports Florida before a spike in COVID cases around the NHL led to an extended pause, will be aired at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
"Guys will be getting ready for that one," defenseman Brandon Montour said of facing off against the Hurricanes. "It's a really good challenge against a tough team. It's going to be fun to get back to it."
With added eyeballs on the matchup, this is projected to be a battle of rest versus rhythm.
First in the Atlantic Division at 32-10-5, the Panthers, who won 14 of 18 games heading into the All-Star break, haven't played a competitive game since Feb. 1. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes, who occupy second place in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 32-11-3, have played in four games since the break.
In those four games, however, Carolina has picked up just three out of a possible eight points.
"We're really familiar with them and we know how they play," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "You're a little bit concerned when you haven't played for a while. It's going to be a different pace from what we saw when we played two weeks ago. If we think we're going to ease our way into the game, we've got another thing coming. They're waiting for us."
The third and final game of their season series, the Panthers have picked up wins in each of their first two tilts against the Hurricanes. After cruising to a 5-2 win on Nov. 6 behind a four-point performance from Anthony Duclair, Carter Verhaeghe scored twice in a 4-3 victory in overtime at Carolina on Jan. 8.
Last season, however, the Hurricanes were the only team to have a winning record against Florida.
"They've got a great team," center Sam Bennett said. "They pretty much do everything well. They have guys that can defend and have a lot of talent that can score. It's a great team over there. We're well aware of their team. We've just got to play our game and not worry about the matchup too much."
Hoping to kickstart their second-half push toward the playoffs, the Panthers know that opening up their three-game road trip with a big win over the Hurricanes will certainly go a long way in getting that done.
"Super excited," Bennett said with a smile. "It feels like it's been a while since we've played. We've had a couple great practices and we're excited to get going again. … All those top teams keep winning, and we're going to have to keep winning to stay at the top. It's going to be a battle until the end."

MARCHMENT HAS POWER

In their final practice before hopping a flight to North Carolina this afternoon, the Panthers spent the second half of their on-ice session at FLA Live Arena trying out some new looks on the man advantage.
While the first power-play unit remained fairly unchanged from what we saw heading into the break, the second unit featured a noticeable new face as surging forward Mason Marchment was spotted spending some time working alongside Montour, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell and Patric Hornqvist.
"He deserves this opportunity," Brunette said. "Hopefully he takes advantage."
Rewarded for his outstanding play as of late, Marchment, who was named the NHL's "Third Star of the Week" earlier this month after matching a franchise record with six points (two goals, four assists) in an 8-4 win against the Blue Jackets on Jan. 31, has posted a career-high 23 points in 22 games this season.
So what can the versatile winger bring to the man advantage?
"I think he's got a lot of length," Brunette said of Marchment, who has skated just 5:13 on the power play so far this season. "He's got good hands and he's a big body around the net. He's played so well at 5-on-5 that he deserves an opportunity to get some power play time."
No stranger to working on the power play, Marchment, a regular on special teams during his tenure in the AHL, lit the lamp four times with the extra attacker during his 2019-20 campaign with the Marlies.
"He's played it his whole life," Brunette said.
Since Dec. 29, the Panthers rank second in the NHL on the power play with a 28.9% success rate.
To hear more from Marchment,
check out tomorrow's episode of the Territory Talk podcast
.

ACCIARI GETTING CLOSE

Out of action since suffering an injury during the preseason, Noel Acciari is close to a return.
"We'll try to get him in here the next couple games and see how he's doing," Brunette said.
A selfless, hard-nosed forward and staple on the penalty kill, Acciari accumulated 11 points (four goals, seven assists) and paced all Panthers forwards in both hits (91) and blocks (63) in 41 games last season.
During practice, he was lining up on a fifth line with Joe Thornton and Frank Vatrano.
"Good to see him back with the group," Brunette said.
Already one of the deepest teams in the NHL, Acciari's return will only make the team that much deeper.
"It's pretty remarkable," Bennett said. "We've got five lines that would play on, I think, pretty much any team in this league. It's great to have that much depth in our lineup. It just pushes every player to be at the top of their game every night."

TUESDAY'S PRACTICE LINES & PAIRINGS

Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Anthony Duclair
Jonathan Huberdeau - Sam Bennett - Owen Tippett
Mason Marchment - Anton Lundell - Sam Reinhart
Ryan Lomberg - Eetu Luostarinen - Patric Hornqvist
Frank Vatrano - Joe Thornton - Noel Acciari
Maxim Mamin
Defensemen
MacKenzie Weegar - Aaron Ekblad
Gustav Forsling - Radko Gudas
Lucas Carlsson - Brandon Montour
Olli Juolevi
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Jonas Johansson