4 Nations Is Over: Florida Panthers Get Back to Work

FORT LAUDERDALE — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice looked a little bit lost on Thursday morning.

With almost half of his team absent from their first practice in close to two weeks, Maurice stood stoic at center ice watching what was left of his bunch run some drills.

Forget about running lines.

The Panthers didn’t have enough players to do much of anything but skate.

“Today was to get all the muscles and the joints warmed up,” Maurice said.

The Panthers had a league-leading eight players take part in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off and none of those players were on the ice Thursday.

Obviously, three players were still in Boston playing in the final — with Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart bringing home gold after Canada beat Team USA 3-2 in overtime.

The other five were given the day off, and, since they all played in three games over the past week, may not practice Friday.

Most everyone, however, is expected to be back in the lineup Saturday when Florida plays host to Seattle, even the three who played on Thursday night.

Matthew Tkachuk, believed to be dealing with a groin injury, is likely out Saturday after not playing Monday for Team USA and then leaving Thursday’s game after the second period.

“The rooting interest is, just stay healthy. That’s it,’’ Maurice said when asked if he was rooting for either team Thursday.

“I just want everyone to end healthy. But the spectacle as a fan, I’m looking forward to watching this game. The tension of it, you just don’t get this kind of juice in the middle of a hockey season.’’

Friday, Maurice said Tkachuk was day-to-day and unlikely to play against the Kraken.

As eight of their teammates were off representing their countries, the rest of the Panthers took time off either traveling or chilling out locally.

Thursday, Maurice said, was just a skating session to try and get the bodies going.

The Kraken, meanwhile, started practice in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday.

“The first game back, I don’t know if it tells anyone where we’re at,” Maurice said. “It’s going to take the whole league weeks to get back to speed. Some teams will have full practices; we had 11 guys on the ice and we’re going to do that again [Friday]. So, that’s like an NHL season where you don’t always have everyone on the ice. I think the first game back, be as simple as you can and then go from there.”

Maurice said he was going to try and get his 4 Nations players some rest in the coming weeks.

He noted that while the Panthers travel to Nashville for a game Tuesday, they are home for six of the next seven games.

That allows for plenty of days off. It’s not a midseason vacation like some of their teammates got, but it’ll have to do.

“We’re going to build some rest for those players, all the national team players,” Maurice said. “We’re home, have the in-and-out to Nashville, but we have a 10-14 day block where we’re home. We paid for that with our December schedule. So, we’re going to try and capture as much rest for those guys there.’’

FLORIDA PANTHERS INJURY NEWS

Mackie Samoskevich was one of the dozen or so players on the ice Thursday after he missed Florida’s previous game on Nov. 8 against the Ottawa Senators with an upper-body injury.

Samoskevich will remain with Bennett and could be paired withEvan Rodrigues if Tkachuk can’t go on Saturday night.

“A playoff game, and he plays,’’ Maurice said of Samoskevich missing the Sens game.

“We just wanted to make sure we were 100 percent to where he was.’’

ON DECK: GAME No. 58

SEATTLE KRAKEN at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Seattle: Panthers 2, Kraken 1 SO (Dec. 11). At Florida: Feb. 22.
• Last Season: Tied 1-1
• All-Time Regular Season Series: Seattle leads 4-3-0
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at Nashville Predators, 8 p.m.