Five Florida Panthers topics to watch as the regular season winds down
The Florida Panthers’ playoff positioning has been secured for a week now when they clinched the Atlantic Division and the No. 1 overall seed in the Eastern Conference.
But there are still topics of discussion to be had as the Panthers (57-17-6) close out their regular season with a back-to-back against the Ottawa Senators (32-41-7) on Thursday and Montreal Canadiens (20-49-11) on Friday.
Here are five of those topics.
Will they let the recent losses linger?
The Panthers have lost consecutive games for just the third time this season and the first since the last week of February when they dropped three games in a row. The latest losing streak started with an 8-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday and followed with Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins at the front end of this three-game road trip to close out the regular season.
While the Panthers have shown the potential to bounce back after the few short losing stretches they’ve had this year, they don’t want to slip up now, especially as the playoffs approach next week.
How the roster is managed these final two games and beyond
The Panthers’ ultimate goal is to be at full strength — or as close to full strength as possible — when they start the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
That’s why interim coach Andrew Brunette didn’t take any chances when rookie center Anton Lundell and defenseman Radko Gudas sustained what he called “little tweaks” against Boston on Tuesday. Lundell didn’t play the final 35 minutes with an upper-body injury. Gudas didn’t make an appearance in the third period.
Both are considered day to day and will not play Thursday or Friday with the hope they’ll be ready for the start of the playoffs.
“We’re obviously trying to be smart and ahead of the curve a little bit here,” Brunette said.
It’s been a theme as of late. Carter Verhaeghe sat all three games of Florida’s final homestand before returning Tuesday against Boston. Mason Marchment had a “maintenance day” Tuesday and was not in the lineup. Joe Thornton has rotated in and out of the lineup, as well. It’s a luxury Brunette has to work with, considering the team has 15 forwards he can slot in any given game for 12 spots.
The Panthers are also bringing up three prospects from AHL Charlotte — forwards Aleksi Heponiemi and Cole Schwindt as well as defenseman Matt Kiersted — for the final two games of the season to give them some extra depth and the opportunity to rest more players ahead of the playoffs.
And then there’s the looming eventual return of star defenseman Aaron Ekblad and how Brunette alters his defensive pairings during the playoffs.
“There hasn’t been any setback,” Brunette said of Ekblad. “Hopefully at some point in the first round we’ll be able to see him. It’d be nice.”
As for the goaltenders, Spencer Knight is starting Thursday against Ottawa while the Friday starter is still to be determined.
The race for the Presidents’ Trophy
The Panthers’ path to win their first ever Presidents’ Trophy and hold home-ice advantage for the entirety of the playoffs remains in their hands.
Florida has a two-point lead on the Colorado Avalanche with two games left for both teams in the regular season.
Should the Avalanche win both of their final games — Thursday at home against the Nashville Predators and Friday on the road against the Minnesota Wild — Florida would need at least three points in its final two games (either two wins or one win and an overtime or shootout loss) to finish with the league’s best regular-season record.
Scoreboard watching
The scouting for the Panthers’ first-round opponent is down to two teams.
Florida will host either Pittsburgh or Washington based on how both teams finish their regular-season schedules.
Pittsburgh has 101 points with one game left on its schedule — Friday at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Washington has 100 points with two games remaining — road contests against the New York Islanders on Thursday and New York Rangers on Friday. Whichever team finishes with the fewest points will be the Eastern Conference’s second wild card and face Florida in the first round.
The Panthers went 2-0-1 against the Penguins this season and 2-1-0 against the Capitals, with all six games being decided by one goal and three of six going to overtime or a shootout.
Can Jonathan Huberdeau rally for the Art Ross Trophy?
It’s a long shot at this point, especially with the way Tuesday unfolded.
Huberdeau was held off the scoresheet for just the 13th time this season, while Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists in the Edmonton Oilers’ 5-1 win over the Penguins.
The Panthers and Oilers have two games left apiece, and McDavid has a seven-point lead on Huberdeau in the scoring race (122 points for McDavid, 115 for Huberdeau), so the Panthers winger would have to have a dominant final two games and McDavid would need to be limited tremendously for Huberdeau to rally.
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