Bennett has not played since March 20 in Detroit
The Florida Panthers will be getting a big boost to their lineup ahead of Game 2 against the Boston Bruins.
Head Coach Paul Maurice said after the team's morning skate that center Sam Bennett would be suiting up for the Panthers Wednesday night at TD Garden.
Bennett has not played since March 20, a 5-2 Florida victory in Detroit.
He reaggravated a soft-tissue injury that night, seemingly one that kept him out of six games in mid-February.
It’s been a difficult road to recovery for Bennett since then, as he’s seen progress met with setbacks before ultimately having to allow time for the injury to heal.
On Wednesday, Bennett took part in Florida’s morning skate at in Boston, his first full workout with his teammates in weeks.
It was his fifth straight day on the ice.
Each day he ramped up the workload, and with no hiccups along the way, has reached a level where he, Florida’s coaches and the team’s medical staff are comfortable that he can jump back into the lineup.
During the morning skate, Bennett skated on Florida’s second line, flanked by Eetu Luostarinen and Matthew Tkachuk.
Prior to Bennett being forced from game action, the Panthers had been playing their best hockey of the season.
Florida was hot, enjoying a 6-0-1 stretch when Bennett went down, and immediately lost their next four without him, putting the team’s playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.
It’s not easy to replicate or replace what Bennett brings to the table.
He’s a skilled two-way center that combines high-end offensive prowess with the grit and sandpaper needed to succeed during the postseason.
Fortunately, Florida was able to turn things back around, riding a 6-1-1 stretch into the playoffs on the shoulders of balanced scoring, solid defending and excellent goaltending.
Now the hope is with Bennett returning, all the pieces will have fallen into place.
Bennett’s placement back into the lineup has a remarkable trickle-down effect on the forward ranks.
Anton Lundell can now slot in as the third line center and Eric Staal drops to the fourth line.
Suddenly all four lines have gotten that much better, as now Lundell goes back to playing his natural position and the team’s overall depth gets a major boost, simply by adding Bennett back in the middle of line two.
Stall between Nick Cousins and Colin White is certainly a fourth line you can roll with during a tough playoff series, and now Florida can boast bonafide scoring threats on each of their top three units.
The combination of Florida adding Bennett to the lineup and Boston being without Patrice Bergeron due to injury makes the prospects of the Panthers returning to Sunrise with a series split all the more reasonable to consider.
Game 2 kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET from the Boston rink built on top of a train station.