With first break in almost three weeks, Panthers get healthy and ready for playoff push
The Florida Panthers initially worried Sam Bennett’s lower-body injury could keep him out until after the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, but there he was on the ice at the Florida Panthers IceDen on Thursday for Florida’s first home practice since Jan. 5.
In fact, just about every Panther was out on the ice in Coral Springs to get ready for one more back-to-back set — mercifully in South Florida, at least — before the All-Star break next week.
After surviving the most grueling stretch of their season by finishing 11 games in 19 days with a winning record, the Panthers are as healthy as they’ve been in weeks and, in turn, as confident in their postseason chances as they have been since their season started to go off the rails with eight losses in 12 games to end last month.
“You feel it on the ice today,” coach Paul Maurice said, “a renewed energy.”
Bennett, who went down with an injury Monday and sat out Tuesday, is on track to return Friday when Florida hosts the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. at FLA Live Arena and center Eric Staal is in good shape to return from his three-game absence, too. The Panthers (23-21-6) even had three goaltenders on the ice Thursday, with Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight both back at practice after fellow goaltender Alex Lyon, who has spent most of this year with AHL Charlotte, had to start three games in a row due to their injuries.
The only active player absent from Florida’s final practice of the first half was Aleksander Barkov and it was just a day off for the star center. He’s “100 percent,” Maurice said, and will be ready to face the Kings (27-17-6) in Sunrise.
“We have a threshold of minutes played. He passed that in probably Game 5,” Maurice joked.
It all sets up nicely for the Panthers to make one last push this weekend before the season briefly pauses for the NHL All-Star Game.
Florida went into Thursday four points out of playoff position, with a 56 percent chance to make the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, according to The Athletic, and 16 points in its last 12 games for easily its best 12-game stretch of the season. If the Panthers play at their same 1 1/3-point per game pace for the rest of the season, they’d crack 94 points, which would be enough for them to best the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals for the No. 8 seed, at those team’s current paces.
“We feel good right now with our team. We’ve had a tough schedule this last month and our team’s done a great job of battling through everything, all the adversity,” Bennett said. “We’re trending in the right direction. We’re playing with confidence right now. We have the full belief in this locker room that we’re going to make that push and get into the playoffs.”
Panthers’ Duclair takes another step
Maurice on Jan. 14 said the next step Anthony Duclair’s return from offseason surgery on his left Achilles tendon would be getting back on the ice for a practice.
On Thursday, the right wing got it done.
Duclair, who took part in a handful of morning skates earlier this month, was close to a full participant in practice at the IceDen, with only a yellow non-contact jersey suggesting he wasn’t all the way back from his injury.
The 27-year-old Canadian, who set a new career high with 31 goals last year before injuring his Achilles in an offseason workout, is on track to return after the break and “a little bit of grind,” Maurice said.
“I’m hopeful,” he said, “it’s early after the break.”
