Can the Florida Panthers still make a run at the Stanley Cup playoffs?
On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live, hosts Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna discussed the dominant 7-1 drubbing that the Florida Panthers handed to their hated rivals the Tampa Bay Lightning. Seravalli and McKenna wondered if Monday night’s big win could represent a turning point in what has been an inconsistent first year under Paul Maurice.
Frank Seravalli: The Battle of Florida on Monday night was really a lopsided affair with the Florida Panthers coming away with a 7-1 win over the Lightning, who looked a little bit disjointed to say the least. From a Florida Panthers perspective, when you look at the standings, we knew a push was needed in this unofficial second half of the season. Is it too far to say that this was a statement win for the Cats?
Mike McKenna: It’s obviously a big win coming back and it looks good on paper, but this was a little bit closer of a game than it looked. Bobrovsky was really good, Vasilevskiy was flat-out bad; it’s only the second time in his career he’s been dinged for 7 goals against. That was surprising. When I think about the Panthers, they have one X-factor on their club named Matthew Tkachuk. Over the past two seasons, he’s third in the NHL in scoring. He’s fifth in the NHL this year. When the Panthers have their full lineup when Barkov is there- he left the game last night after blocking a shot with his hand, which is worrisome- I think they could contend. The problem that they’re going to run into, Frank, is that teams have games in hand on them. The Panthers and Islanders are both at 53 games, the teams that they’re contending with have much fewer. Washington and Pittsburgh are in the mix, Buffalo is as well.
The bottom line is that the Panthers are going to have to go on a heater to make the playoffs. They’re going to have to win like 8 out of 10 games at some point and really run the table. With Matthew Tkachuk maybe that could happen. Without Barkov, I still think it’s going to be difficult for this Panthers team. They’re definitely in the mix and you cannot write them off yet, I would just be surprised if they finally get over the hump to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Frank Seravalli: Such a tough blow for Barkov. You watch that play over and it was so close to hitting him in the shin pad instead of catching him on the hand. When you watch Barkov this season, what’s wrong with him? I know he’s still over a point-a-game with 47 points in 43 games, but he just doesn’t look like the same threat this year.
Mike McKenna: I just think across the board the Panthers have looked a little bit out of sync. I’m not sure if that comes just from having a new coach or a different voice. Obviously, Barkov was pretty good for Brunette, he was pretty good for Gerard Gallant before that, he’s been good under a lot of coaches. I haven’t seen him really have the same speed and take over games with his quickness like I have in the past, that’s where I’m curious whether he’s where he needs to be physically. He’s still an unbelievable player and I just wonder whether we’ll see Barkov and Tkachuk team up more. It’s been a lot of Bennett and Tkachuk, do we see more of Barkov and Tkachuk when Tkachuk has performed so well alongside Bennett? It’s a tough call.
Frank Seravalli: If they can get everyone healthy depending on the Barkov injury, Duclair’s rehab from the Achilles, and what’s going on with Patric Hornqvist’s concussion, they may have a decision to make about salary cap compliance as well. One-word answer: do the Florida Panthers get in?
Mike McKenna: No.
You can watch the entire episode here…