Could Knight get playoff starts for Panthers? What about Denisenko? Quenneville weighs in
Somewhere in the middle of the Florida Panthers’ 5-4 win against the Dallas Stars on Monday, MacKenzie Weegar and Radko Gudas set next to each other on the bench, and found themselves starting to rave about all the rookies the Panthers had on the ice for the overtime victory.
Spencer Knight was in goal and Philippe Desrosiers backing him up. Grigori Denisenko was playing on the first line, Owen Tippett was playing on the second, and Aleksi Heponiemi and Mason Marchment were playing together on the third.
“They look solid,” Weegar said Monday. “Me and Gudy were talking about them tonight. They’re playing the right way and they’re getting rewarded for it. They’re getting good chances, but when you’re playing well defensively and you’re playing hard, and playing over the puck — that’s what they’re doing and it’s good to see. The future’s bright here.”
With two games left in the regular season and a real chance for Florida (35-14-5) to make a run in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Panthers’ future is suddenly collinding with their present.
Knight, 20, won his fourth straight game, becoming the youngest goaltender in NHL history to win his first four decisions. Denisenko, 20, dished out two assists and now has four points in four games since he returned to the NHL last Tuesday. Tippett, 22, has been in Florida all year, but is playing his best hockey of the season right now with four points in his last four games after he handed out two assists Monday.
Heponiemi has also played in four straight games and Marchment has been a fixture in the Panthers’ lineup this season, even occasionally playing on the top line.
Coach Quenneville is hopeful goaltender Chris Driedger and forwards Carter Verhaeghe, Patric Hornqvist and Sam Bennett will all be able to return this weekend, and their impending returns will create a lineup crunch for Florida all over the ice.
The Panthers’ Spencer Knight dilemma
No question looms larger than what to do with Knight.
On two separate occasions Monday, Quenneville fielded similar questions about his goalie situation. The first was blunt: Is there a chance Knight is the starter in the Stanley Cup playoffs? The second was more philosophical: Will the final games of the regular season factor into a postseason goalie decision?
Quenneville set a tentative plan for the final two games of the regular season: Sergei Bobrovsky will start Saturday and Driedger will start the finale Monday.
Initially, Quenneville mostly brushed off the idea of starting Knight over Bobrovsky or Driedger in the Cup playoffs.
“We’re not going there. Right now, I think he’s done everything we’ve asked for him to do,” Quenneville said. “We’ll see. We’ve still got some time to sort everything out, but he’s certainly been appreciated, as far as what he’s contributed in a short amount of time.”
A few hours later, Knight made 25 saves on 29 shots and improved to 4-0. With Driedger banged up and Bobrovsky’s save percentage sitting at .863 in his last four games, even a pedestrian performance by Knight was enough to prompt another question about his potential playoff role. Quenneville gave a similar answer, while leaving room for flexibility, depending on how the regular season ends.
“We’ve got a good idea of what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’ll see, but we’ve got a pretty good idea.”
Denisenko, Tippett make playoff cases
Quenneville sounds more open to the idea of leaving more of his rookie skater in the lineup when the postseason begins.
Tippett will be in there somewhere — he has played in 43 games this season — and Marchment should have a good chance, too. Florida, however, will have to open three spaces in the lineup once Verhaeghe, Hornqvist and Bennett return, potentially taking top-six forward spots alongside forwards Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair.
Alex Wennberg and Frank Vatrano are also locks to make the roster, and fellow winger Noel Acciari probably is, too. Florida will probably have three open forward spots and a long list of options to pick from, including Tippett, Marchment, Denisenko, Heopniemi, rookie center Eetu Luostarinen, and wingers Nikita Gusev and Ryan Lomberg.
“We are discussing those options. They’re going to be healthy to make, knowing that depth is going to be very important if you want to win,” Quenneville said. “These guys really helped themselves as far as improved performance over the course of the season, team structures in their game, as well.
“Their additions have been pretty good and I think that’s healthy for the decisions we have to make.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 1:06 PM.
