George Richards, FHN Publisher
With a few days between games, Joel Quenneville gave his Florida Panthers two days off before returning to practice Thursday morning. The Tampa Bay Lightning were on everyone’s mind.
As it should be.
Not only do the Panthers wrap up their 2021 regular season against the Lightning with two games, but it’s all but certain the two Florida teams will open the Stanley Cup playoffs against one another.
With Carolina getting a point in an overtime loss to Chicago on Thursday, the Panthers now cannot catch the Hurricanes for first place. Tampa Bay still can, but it’s doubtful.
It would be the first time in history that the two Florida teams will meet in the postseason.
If the Panthers and Lightning did not know each other by now, they most certainly will over the course of the next two weeks.
Florida will play host to the Lightning on Saturday and Monday nights with the playoffs expected to start by next weekend.
Whether Game 1 is in Sunrise or in Tampa will be determined based on what happens in these next two games.
Carolina’s five-point lead on the Panthers means winning the division is out of the question.
That doesn’t mean the Panthers don’t have anything to play for.
“The last year, we have played them five times and we played them in the bubble. This year we will play them eight times,” Joel Quenneville said Thursday morning.
“You get a familiarity with a team quickly. We will be playing to win. There is still a lot at stake; there is home ice … We’ll play it one game at a time with the purpose to win that game. We’ll go from there.”
The Panthers have been mixing and matching lineups the past few weeks with a few players in-and-out of the lineup.
Just about everyone was back Thursday.
The Panthers looked like they will moving forward.
Getting a lot of different players in over the past few weeks, even if they don’t get in right away when the playoffs start, could prove beneficial as the postseason rolls on.
“The nice thing is, for the past six weeks or so, we have been missing a lot of key pieces,” Quenneville said.
“It looks like (Thursday’s group) could be the playoff look. You need depth, you need a lot of things to go your way come playoff time and guys getting some turns and opportunity to play in big moments, showing they can handle it was a good thing for our organization and our team. Hopefully we get to apply that at the appropriate moment.”
Carter Verhaeghe, out since April 10, was back on the top line with Sasha Barkov and Anthony Duclair.
Sam Bennett, who missed Monday’s win against Dallas, centered the second line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Owen Tippett.
Patric Hornqvist, who has missed the past five games, is on the third line with Alex Wennberg and Frank Vatrano.
The fourth line consists of Noel Acciari, Mason Marchment and Ryan Lomberg.
“It looks promising,” Quenneville said about Verhaeghe, Bennett and Hornqvist being back. “Everyone looks like they’re ready to go. We’ll know more after (Saturday’s) morning skate, but I would think everyone is ready.”
The Panthers come into Saturday’s game holding a slight (3-2-1) advantage over the Lightning, but none of that matters heading into the weekend.
Although home ice will be determined in this final series, the real season series between the two starts next week in the playoffs.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re probably going to play Tampa,’’ Huberdeau said.
“We’re going to play these games as hard as we can. These aren’t exhibitions. You still want to win the games and feel good about your team going into the playoffs even if you’re playing Tampa. If we play them, we’re going to play them a lot. We have to be our best going into the playoffs.”
The Panthers have not won a playoff series since 1996, their 25-year drought the longest in NHL history.
Florida has been to the playoffs four times since going to the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals and has lost in the opening round each time.
Tampa Bay, obviously, will not be an easy opponent.
The Lightning are not only the defending Stanley Cup champions but have been to the conference finals four times in the past six years with two trips to the Cup Finals.
Tampa Bay, which is making its seventh postseason appearance in the past eight seasons, is an experienced playoff team that matches up pretty well with the Panthers.
“The way that we’ve played all year is our attention to detail and the coaches have done a great job all year of getting us ready for every game,” Keith Yandle said.
“We’re still doing our due diligence even though this is the seventh and eighth time playing them. For us, we want to keep playing hard and being a hard team to play against. We’re not going to change much.”
“The way the divisions are this year, it doesn’t matter who you play you’re going to be real familiar with them,” Keith Yandle said. “You play them a bunch. … It’s a team which is an in-state rival and that’s fun. We know them, they know us.”
The Panthers are expected to be back at practice Friday while the Lightning play host to the Dallas Stars and will fly to Fort Lauderdale following that game.
Florida, Quenneville said, will start Sergei Bobrovsky in the opening game against the Lightning with Chris Driedger getting the regular-season finale on Monday night.
YEARBOOK DAY
Before Thursday’s practice, the entire team gathered for their official 2021 team photo.
With an expanded roster, one that includes a taxi squad for the first time, it was a large gathering.
The Panthers currently have 36 players on the roster not to mention extra equipment managers and coaches.
Florida has five goalies on the team as well.
“We said it before that they’re going to need the wide lens camera,” Yandle joked. “It was probably the biggest (team picture) I have been a part of.”
MASKED UP
Driedger unveiled his new mask on Sunday and players got a kick out of seeing themselves painted on it.
On one side, Huberdeau is depicted driving Yandle; the other side features sketches of Vatrano, Radko Gudas, MacKenzie Weegar and Aaron Ekblad.
“I thought it was a cool idea,’’ Huberdeau said. “We kind of talked about it before and I mentioned he should put the guys on there. He came up with the idea of putting the Lambo on there and Yans drinking coffee. It’s fun, fun for a goalie to do something special on his helmet. … I’m sure there are some jealous guys but you can’t put everyone on there.”
Said Yandle: “That’s special. I am always amazed at goalie helmets and what they are able to do. I think Driedgs, putting teammates on there, shows the closeness of the team this year. It’s definitely a cool piece.”
ON DECK: LIGHTNING AT PANTHERS
When: Saturday, 7
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise
Tickets: AVAILABLE HERE
Season series: Florida leads 3-2-1
TV: BS-FLA, Fox Sports Go streaming
Radio: WQAM 560-AM