Fort Lauderdale – Take as much rest as you can.
Back in Florida, following a busy four-game road trip to the northeast that ended in a row with the Montreal Canadiens and New York islanders over the weekend, the Florida Panthers (41-24-3) were practicing at Baptist Health Iplex on Wednesday after two off-days.
“It was huge,” Anton Landell said of taking a few days off after a busy road trip. “We feel our schedule was pretty crazy. We want to get into the end of the season and save as much energy as possible and make sure we’re ready when the game starts.”
Rather than the results the Panthers were looking for on the road, the team fell in three of the four games.
As the home stretch approaches, the Panthers, still in a good spot, have won seven of their last 10 games. With 85 points, both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs are taking top spots in the Atlantic division.
“Structurally, I’m very pleased with our game,” coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re right in that part of the game. I think foot speed, some of the other teams now have an advantage for us. We can play a little faster.”
With schedules not being easy, the teams will return to the road to face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Washington Capitals on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Tackling yet another back-to-back, they head home to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
“You can learn a lot,” the rookie said he faced adversity at the end of the regular season. “A lot of teams are fighting for the playoff spot, so towards the end of this place it’s turning into playoff hockey. It’s huge for our group.”
Just outside the final wildcard spot of the Eastern Conference, the Blue Jacket pulls out the Canadians by three points. So they will certainly give the Panthers everything they can handle on Thursday as the playoffs get closer to inches.
On Saturday, Washington’s 98-point leads the Eastern Conference and is most tied with the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL in a presidential trophy race.
With less than a month left in the season, they compete in one of the toughest divisions in the league.
Bjornfot called
Dmitry Klikov was considered weekly after suffering an upper body injury in a loss on Long Island on Sunday, making the Panthers reminiscent of Charlotte Checkers’ Tobias Bjornfodt.
A familiar face in the locker room, Bjornfot has already played eight games with his team this season, and was part of the expanded playoff roster of last year’s Stanley Cup run.
“It’s nice to have a guy you raise, everyone knows when he jumps into a room and boards a plane,” Maurice said.
With 16 points (two goals and 14 assists) in 43 games for Charlotte this season, the 23-year-old Blue Liner has demonstrated his ability to play in the pro level and Florida system.
“His game for us was very good,” said former round pick Maurice. “He’s one of those people who fall into the category when you beat him. You feel bad. His play was solid for us.
Bjornfot confidently tallied four points in the final six games against the Checker.
Maintenance day
Sam Bennett was the only healthy Panther absent from practice Wednesday.
Thankfully, he’s fine.
“It’s just a maintenance day,” Maurice said.
A key cog in the middle of the Panthers’ second line, Bennett ranks second in the team with 45 points (22 goals, 23 assists) in 66 games.
On Tuesday this month, the Grizzle 28-year-old forward was tied with Alexander Barkov and Sam Reinhart at the team’s most points in March, scoring eight points (3 goals, five assists) in eight games.
Wednesday practice line
forward
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Tomas Nosek – Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
AJ Greer – Nico Sturm – Jonah Gajovic
Blood Merchand
Defender
Gustav Falling – Seth Jones
Nico Miccola – Tobias Bjornfot
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Goaltender
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
