After big homestand, Panthers hope to make final standings push ahead of All-Star break
The Florida Panthers can see the pieces coming together.
The Panthers have themselves in the thick of the playoff race as they approach the All-Star Break after winning 10 of their past 14 games, including closing out their most recent homestand with consecutive wins over the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings.
In this stretch, which started with a 6-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 16, Florida has outscored opponents 73-47.
Florida entered Friday with 55 points on the season. That pus them one behind the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot and two behind the Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand on all three teams.
“It seems like one day you’re in the playoffs and the next day, you’re not. It’s been a grind to stay in the pack,” forward Brett Connolly said. “We’ve done a good job of responding when we haven’t played our best. Every game is so important.”
The Panthers have a chance to make one more statement as they embark on a three-game road trip before the All-Star break. Florida final three opponents before a 10-day break:
The 12-32-3 Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
The 21-20-6 Minnesota Wild on Monday.
And the 22-20-6 Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday — a homecoming for Panthers coach Joel Quenneville, who will return to face the team he won three Stanley Cups with and coached for 10-plus years before being fired 15 games into the 2018-19 season.
Should the Panthers sweep the road trip, a plausible though not guaranteed task, they would head into the All-Star break on a six-game win streak and with 61 points. That puts them on pace for 101 points at season’s end.
“The value of those points is going to be huge for us in determining a lot at the end,” Quenneville said.
Here are three things to watch as the Panthers prepare for their next stretch of games.
Goaltender situation
The Panthers have quickly become thin in front of the net.
Sergei Bobrovsky was scratched the past two games with an upper-body injury, and backup Chris Driedger left Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Kings in the first period with a lower-body injury after stretching out to block a shot.
That left Sam Montembeault, recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate Springfield (Massachusetts) Thunderbirds on emergency conditions, to handle goaltending duties without a backup on Thursday.
He held his own, stopping 23 of 26 shots in the win, but how the club handles the position over the next few days needs to be monitored.
Quenneville said postgame Thursday that “right now,” he did not anticipate having to call up another goaltender but that Driedger “might need some time” to recover.
That points to Bobrovsky making a return to the lineup, even if it’s in a backup capacity, on Saturday against Detroit.
“We’re going to say that’s something we’ll have to gauge,” Quenneville said about Bobrovsky, “but he’s close.”
Fast starts
The Panthers have made some big comebacks this season, most notably their pair of four-goal, third-period rallies against the Boston Bruins and Anaheim Ducks.
But as of late, Florida has taken a more simplified, more proven approach to secure a win.
Score first. Take the lead early. Play from ahead as much as possible.
The Panthers scored five of their 17 goals over their three-game win streak in the opening 10 minutes of regulation. Ten of their goals have come in the first five minutes of a period.
“It just gives you momentum right away,” forward Frank Vatrano said. “Sometimes we’ve been chasing and we’ve had some good comebacks, but that’s not a recipe for success.”
Multiple contributions
Even more important than scoring in bunches — the Panthers do lead the league with an average of 3.63 goals per game — Florida is getting contributions from all over the lineup.
While the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov are going to ignite the offense most nights, Quenneville has been able to get production regardless of what line is on the ice.
Vatrano and Mike Hoffman have been heating up on a third line centered by Dominic Toninato. Vatrano has goals in four of his past seven games, while Hoffman is on a season-high seven-game point streak.
Noel Acciari, with 17 goals on just 70 shot attempts, has flourished since moving up to the second line and being paired with Vincent Trocheck and Connolly.
And the fourth line, centered by Brian Boyle and generally including wingers Colton Sceviour and Mark Pysyk, has produced gritty goals at times while limiting opponent’s chances on the other end of the ice.
“We all have our own roles,” Boyle said. “... If you can contribute on offense, every coach, every teammate is going to happy with that. We’ve got world-class guys up front that are sometimes carrying the load for us a lot of times, but if the third and fourth line can chip in, get some goals from the back end lately too, it’s huge.”
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