SUNRISE, Fla. – The Winter Olympics now in their rear view, the Florida Panthers will resume their playoff push with a matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
With 25 games left to play, the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers (29-25-3) currently sit eight points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
From here on out, every game is massive.
“You’re in that playoff mindset,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “Every game is the only game that you’re going to play. When it’s done, you can’t hang on to it. Good or bad, you’ve got to move on to the next game and make the adjustments.”
Seven of the 10 skaters that competed at the Winter Olympics for the Panthers won medals, with Matthew Tkachuk helping the United States capture gold for the first time since 1980.
Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand won silver with runner-up Canada, while Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola took home bronze with Finland.
Escaping the tournament unscathed, all seven players will suit up against Toronto.
“It was a good reset,” Tkachuk said. “It was great for the guys that got to go over to the Olympics and play for their country and play for someone different, but at the end of the day we all play for the Florida Panthers, too. Just great to be back with the guys.”
Reinhart leads Florida in scoring with 55 points (27G, 28A), with Marchand sitting second with 50 points (25G, 25A). Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe are tied for third with 42 points.
Set to man the crease against Toronto, Sergei Bobrovsky owns a 21-17-1 record with a 3.13 goals-against average, a .871 save percentage and three shutouts. In his career against the Maple Leafs, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner is 16-11-1 with a .905 save percentage.
Getting closer and closer to full strength after enduring a storm of injuries this season, Tomas Nosek, Dmitry Kulikov and Jonah Gadjovich all participated in Florida’s morning skate in regular jerseys, while Seth Jones is getting close to ditching his no-contact.
Following their back-to-back against the Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres, the Panthers are hoping some returns could be on the horizon.
“Well bring everybody on our road trip with the exception of (Panthers captain Aleksander) Barkov,” Maurice said. “We’ll bring them with the chance they may play at some point on that road trip.”
The Maple Leafs (27-22-9) sit two points ahead of the Panthers in the Atlantic Division and returned from the Olympic break with a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.
John Tavares and Matthew Knies scored in the loss, while Anthony Stolarz made 32 saves.
Up front, William Nylander leads the Maple Leafs in scoring with 54 points (18G, 36A). Fresh off captaining the United States to a gold medal, Auston Matthew ranks second with 49 points (26G, 23A). Tied for third, Tavares and Knies have each racked up 48 points.
With Stolarz starting against the Lightning less than 24 hours ago, Joseph Woll will likely get the nod in net against the Panthers. In 25 appearances this season, Woll has posted a 13-7-4 record on top of a 2.92 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and two shutouts.
Looking for the first win of the season against the Maple Leafs, the Panthers have gone 0-2-0 while being outscored 8-2 through their first two meetings. Last facing each other on Jan. 6, Woll stopped 31 of 32 shots to lead Toronto to a 4-1 win over Florida at Scotiabank Arena.
“We have to flip the switch,” Tkachuk said. “Both of our teams are out of the playoffs right now and need points. There’s only 25 games left. It’s only like a month a little bit left in the regular season. It seems hard how we’re going to fit all these games, but we’ll find a way.”
THEY SAID IT
“The buzz from our team and the women’s team and all the Olympic athletes that had success, this buzz isn’t going to go away for a long, long time.” – Matthew Tkachuk
“All of those guys played at as a high level as you’re going to see outside of the playoffs. Very fast, very quick. That’s what we have to bank on. The guys that came back, they played. They didn’t get a lot of rest? Fine. Our guys are used to that.” – Paul Maurice
FIVE CATS STATS
- Sam Bennett is two assists away from his 200th NHL assist.
- The Panthers are 14-1-1 when Anton Lundell scores.
- Sam Reinhart has recorded a team-high 15 multi-point games.
- A.J. Greer leads the Panthers with 145 hits.
- Aaron Ekblad’s 88 blocks are 22 more than his next teammate.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Sandis Vilmanis – Cole Schwindt – A.J. Greer
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Uvis Balinskis
Donovan Sebrango – Jeff Petry
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Jan. 21: F Jack Studnicka loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Jan. 19: F Noah Gregor loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 560 WQAM-AM (Dade/Broward); 106.3 WESP-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers GameDay App; SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Channel 91/SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
