Panthers embraced chance to rest but also ‘a little antsy’ to finally start playoffs
The Florida Panthers have been playing the waiting game entering the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Their first-round series with in-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning was the last of eight matchups to start, with Florida and Tampa not beginning until Tuesday night, the fourth day of the playoffs. By the time the puck drops at Amalie Arena, four other series were already two games deep with a fifth starting its second game later that night.
“Watching the last couple nights or whatever,” forward Carter Verhaeghe said, “it kind of gets you a little antsy to start playing a little bit.”
But the delayed start to the series does have some benefits for the Panthers. Since their final game of the regular season was on April 15, the Panthers had a week to both rest and prepare for the Lightning series. They held three team practices in that stretch on Thursday, Saturday and Monday before flying to Tampa, where they held their morning skate.
“We’re going to take advantage of the rest days we get and do some rehab and recovery for your body,” defenseman Gustav Forsling said. “Everyone’s really good at it on this team, and we really take care of our bodies. We really focus on that when we can. In the playoffs, you want to be fresh for the games, and it’s going to be a tight schedule coming up, so it’s been great getting a couple days.”
The team is basically at full strength, although coach Paul Maurice did not publicly say if star winger Matthew Tkachuk, sidelined since mid-February due to an apparent groin injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off, would play in Game 1 even though he was a full participant in the final two practices and morning skate.
“With these long-term injuries, we just wait until the last [minute],” Maurice said. “He’ll get checked out one more time by the doctors before we get him cleared.”
Lightning down one forward
Tampa Bay will be without forward Oliver Bjorkstrand for Round 1 against Florida because of a lower-body injury that was sustained on April 11 against the Detroit Red Wings.
A 10-year NHL veteran, Bjorkstrand joined the Lightning in a trade deadline deal with the Seattle Kraken. He had nine points (five goals, four assists) in 18 games with Tampa Bay and 46 points (21 goals, 25 assists) overall this season.
Game time update
The NHL on Tuesday announced that Game 4 between the Panthers and Lightning on Monday at Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena will have a 7 p.m. start time and air nationally on ESPN. The game, as is the case for every game in the first round, will also air locally on Scripps Sports and can be streamed on Panthers+.
Game 2 in Tampa on Thursday is scheduled to start at 6:30, while Game 3 in Sunrise is a 1 p.m. start. Both Games 2 and 3 will be televised nationally on TBS and truTV.
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