Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola speaks after Florida's practice on March 18. An important week of practice for the Florida Panthers kicked off on Monday morning at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale. Florida has not performed recently at the level the team has come to expect of itself, allowing an uncharacteristic 11 goals over a three-game span in which they lost the past two and had to climb out of a 3-0 to earn two points in the first one. Head Coach Paul Maurice ran a fast-paced, spirited practice, with the goal in mind to begin preparing his team for the rigors of a playoff-style schedule. "What we’re trying to do is get into a bit of a playoff format now, and just carry it," Maurice said. "So we go harder, a little longer and heavier on the ice today, and in the gym as well. Tomorrow we won’t skate, we'll do a full recovery day from today, and that lets the players push themselves a little harder. Then we'll go into a skate the next day, we've got the game, and then you probably won't see a practice till April 8." Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] The majority of the active roster was on the ice Monday, but a few players were missing. Forwards Sasha Barkov and Evan Rodrigues, along with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, did not participate in the on-ice portion of practice. Both forwards have been dealing with nagging ailments in recent weeks and Maurice said he wants to give those players a chance to get back to full strength since the team has the break in the schedule to allow it. "They were as good today as they were going into the game (against Tampa)," Maurice said of Barkov and Rodrigues. "We're just taking this block of time to try to get them to 100%. They could practice full without much of a concern, it just wouldn't heal. They're fine." As for Bobrovsky, he's just a little under the weather. "It's nothing serious," Maurice said of Bob. About midway through Monday's practice, forward Matthew Tkachuk appeared to get tangled up just inside one of the blue lines and stayed on the ice for a few seconds before slowly skating to the bench. After a brief chat with trainers, Tkachuk left the ice and gingerly walked back to the Panthers locker room. When asked after practice, Maurice did not indicate that whatever happened to Tkachuk was something he was overly concerned about. "He's fine," Maurice said of Tkachuk. "I just don't know if he's going to skate in a couple days. We'll see." The next chance for Tkachuk to skate will be Wednesday. As Maurice indicated, the Panthers are taking Tuesday off before returning for another hard day on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's home game against the Nashville Predators. Puck drops at Amerant Bank Arena at 7 p.m. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov suspended 2 games [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-defenseman-dmitry-kulikov-suspended-2-games] Spittin' Chiclets Co-Host and Ex-Panther Ryan Whitney Declares Florida The Best Team In The NHL [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/https-tempest-saymedia-com-content-items-cs02b94efce000261b-contentarticle-view-ci02d8b221000026fc] Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to have hearing with NHL Department of Player Safety [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-defenseman-dmitry-kulikov-to-have-hearing-with-nhl-department-of-player-safety] THN Archive: Mike Keenan, Roberto Luongo among key Panthers topics during summer of 2002 [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/thn-archive-mike-keenan-roberto-luongo-among-key-panthers-topics-during-summer-of-2002] Three takeaways: Rough week for Panthers ends with power play struggles, team ready to move on [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-rough-week-for-panthers-ends-with-power-play-struggles-team-ready-to-move-on] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
