Florida enters Game 82 one point back of the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division
Well, we've finally reached the finish line.
Of the regular season, at least.
The Florida Panthers will take the ice on Tuesday night for their final regular season contest when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said on Monday that if his team had anything to play for on Tuesday, they’d play their regular roster.
Well, the Boston Bruins were shutout on Monday against the Washington Capitals, meaning the Atlantic Division is still up for grabs.
Boston currently sits in first place with 109 points, one point ahead of Florida. They’ll host Ottawa at TD Garden to wrap up their season.
The Panthers hold the tiebreaker, should both teams finish with the same amount of points, due to Florida having 41 regulation wins to Boston’s 36.
Whichever team ends up winning the division will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in round one of the playoffs.
Waiting for the team that finishes second is...Toronto.
That means there is a decent chance Tuesday's matchup between the Cats and Leafs is just Game 0 of the first round.
We shall see.
While Maurice said the Panthers would play their best hand, the exact meaning of what their best hand could be is a little murky.
Sasha Barkov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson missed Monday’s practice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale dealing with minor ailments.
How each feels when they arrive at the rink on Tuesday will ultimately dictate if they suit up against Toronto.
While Maurice and the Panthers want to pick up two points on Tuesday night and do what they can to win the division, the priority remains being as ready as possible for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With that in mind, here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Tuesday’s tilt with Toronto:
Vladimir Tarasenko – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anthon Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
Kyle Okposp – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Gus Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Uvis Balinskis – Dmitry Kulikov
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