NOTEBOOK: Panthers stop in Florida before closing out road trip

FORT LAUDERDALE – Time to gas up for the road ahead.

After dealing with both tough opponents and frigid weather over their last four games, the Florida Panthers are currently enjoying a pitstop back in the warmth of the Sunshine State.

Squeezing in a practice, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions hit the ice on Wednesday at Baptist Health Ice Plex to prepare for two more games on the road.

“It's huge,” Aaron Ekblad said of being able to return home during the team’s six-game road trip through the Eastern Conference. “It's great to see our families. Obviously, we're away a lot of the year, so to put some time in at home, this is really nice for sure.”

Starting their trip with losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens, the Panthers have clawed back to 2-2-0 on the trip by taking down the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres in consecutive games before hitting the skies to fly back to South Florida.

At 24-18-3 on the season, Florida sits just two points behind Toronto for a wild-card spot.

An unusually tight race in the Eastern Conference at this point of the season, there are currently nine teams that are within a seven-point spread or less of a wild card spot.

“You've got a scratch and claw and stay on it and stay at it,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the playoff race. “We are comfortable, I think, in that.”

Closing out their road trip, the Panthers will now clash with the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals, two more Eastern Conference opponents, on Friday and Saturday.

BALINSKIS STEPPING UP

Next man up.

With Seth Jones going down with an upper-body injury during the Winter Classic on Jan. 2, Uvis Balinskis has stepped up on the second defensive pairing alongside Niko Mikkola.

Logging a career-high 22:19 time on ice in the 4-3 win over the Sabres on Monday, the Latvian defenseman assisted on Sam Reinhart’s first-period power play goal and ended with a +2 plus/minus rating.

“He's doing a fantastic job in Jonesy’s place,” Ekblad said of Balinskis. “Really proud of the way he's playing.”

In 36 games this season, Balinskis has tallied eight points (1G, 7A) and 47 hits.

VILMANIS LOOKING COMFORTABLE

Fitting right in.

Two games into his NHL career, Sandis Vilmanis has looked comfortable playing on a line with Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich.

In those games, the rookie has put up two shots and three hits, while averaging 11:56 of ice time per tilt.

Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers have a 67.57% offensive advantage with Vilmanis on the ice during 5-on-5 play.

“I think that he looks really comfortable and playing well,” forward Jesper Boqvist said of the 21-year-old. “It's been fun to watch.”

During Wednesday’s practice, Vilmanis remained in his spot on the third line.

Prior to being called up, he was tied for first on Florida’s AHL affiliate with 19 points.

“I would see Sandis in an environment where I could learn about his game a little bit more,” Maurice said of playing Vilmanis on the third line. “Sandis’ game has been good.”

MARCHAND & TKACHUK UPDATES

Out the last two games after exiting in the loss to the Canadiens at Bell Centre on Jan. 8, Brad Marchand skated in a yellow non-contact jersey during Wednesday’s practice.

While the team’s leading point scorer is improving, he still remains day-to-day.

Over a point-per-game this season, Marchand has registered 46 points (23G, 23A) in 41 games.

"He's improving,” said Maurice. “Still day to day. Out of contact, but jumped into some contact drills and we stayed off him. That's an upgrade from where he was a couple of days ago. I don't know if that puts him in the lineup for Carolina, but he's ahead of where he was."

Continuing to practice, the team will see how Matthew Tkachuk recovers following a game-like practice.

"It'll be a good test for him today to see how he recovers tomorrow," said Maurice.

Practicing with the team since Dec. 28, Tkachuk has yet to suit up this season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia in August.

PRACTICE LINES

FORWARDS

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – A.J. Greer

Sandis Vilmanis – Evan Rodrigues – Mackie Samoskevich

Jesper Boqvist – Luke Kunin – Jack Studnicka

DEFENSEMEN

Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Tobias Bjornfot – Uvis Balinskis

Donovan Sebrango – Jeff Petry

GOALTENDERS

Sergei Bobrovsky

Daniil Tarasov