Florida sits one point behind Pittsburgh for final Wild Card spot
Some might call it the home stretch. Others may use a more dramatic term.
No matter how you shape it, the NHL regular season is nearing its end.
Soon, half the league’s teams will close up shop for the summer while the other 16 teams will press on to the main attraction: The Stanley Cup Playoffs.
For the Florida Panthers, the team that finished last year’s regular season with the best record of them all, their status for this year’s postseason remains TBD.
“Ten games out. One point out. Controlling our fate. This is what it comes down to, playing important games down the stretch,” said Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad.
Indeed, all ten of Florida’s games might as well be playoff games. They’re that important.
The Panthers sit one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and three back of the New York Islanders for the two Wild Card spots. All three teams have played 72 games.
“We were nine points out at one point, so to claw back to be within one, we've covered a tremendous amount of distance,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice.
Looking ahead at the final stretch of games and understanding their importance, Maurice is trying to be mindful of miles his players have put on as the season has progressed.
As such, several of Florida’s forwards took the day off from skating on Friday when the team held practice at FLA Live Arena.
“We rely on our sports scientists now to tell us who's better off not skating today,” Maurice said.
Missing from practice were Sasha Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Anthony Duclair and Eric Staal.
All except Bennett, who is nursing an injury, were held off for maintenance purposes.
“They do off ice workouts and then we'll skate those guys tomorrow,” Maurice said.
Tomorrow, as in Saturday, when the powerhouse New York Rangers come to South Florida.
Florida will need to be as close to in top form as they can manage in order to grab two critical points from the Rangers.
“We had a tough one last night,” Maurice said of Thursday’s 6-2 loss to Toronto. “We’ve got to get back up and we’ve got to play our very best hockey. We will approach all of them as they are must-win, and carry the good feelings when you can and we’ve got to cut off the tough ones.”
Of Florida’s final 10 games, four of them are against teams currently in a playoff position (the Rangers, Toronto twice, Carolina) and of those four, three are on home ice.
It doesn’t really matter who the opponent is though because every game will carry the same amount of weight.
A loss to the Maple Leafs isn’t easier to swallow than a loss to the Flyers.
At this time of the season, the pain from each sting is equally agonizing.
“Every team in this league is good, no games can be taken for granted at any time, no period, no shifts,” said Ekblad. “It's a fun situation to be in. It's stressful, and there's a lot of responsibility, but that's why we get paid what we do, and why we play the game. It’s so much fun.”