With chance to clinch playoff spot, Florida Panthers get reinforcements against Bruins
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The Florida Panthers could officially secure their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday.
And the Panthers will have a pair of needed reinforcements back in the lineup when they take the ice against the Boston Bruins, the team they are in a tight race with for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said both center Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Gustav Forsling will return to the lineup on Tuesday.
Barkov, Florida’s captain and top-line center, missed all three games last week with a lower-body injury and is an integral part in every aspect of the Panthers’ game. He is their top two-way forward, plays on the top power-play unit and kills penalties.
Forsling, who leads the NHL in plus-minus (plus-46), sat out both games of Florida’s back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday with an illness.
Forsling will return to his usual spot on Florida’s top defense pairing alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
As for Barkov, he is slated to center wingers Evan Rodrigues and Vladimir Tarasenko on Tuesday.
That allows Maurice to keep his other two primary forward lines — Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk on Line 2, Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart on Line 3 — intact. The fourth line will be Kevin Stenlund centering Nick Cousins and Steven Lorentz.
One other injury notable: Defenseman Aaron Ekblad, sidelined with a lower-body injury, was an activate participant at morning skate but is still not cleared for game action. Maurice listed him as “day to day” but said they are going to be “real careful” with him down the stretch of the regular season to make sure he’s ready for the playoffs.
“We’re gonna hold him longer than he wants us to hold him,” Maurice said. “He’s gonna have to get through two or three practices with some bumping and grinding.”
A look at the standings
The Panthers (46-20-5) and Bruins (41-16-15) both entered Tuesday’s matchup with 97 points, second behind the Metropolitan-leading New York Rangers’ 98 points (47-20-4) in the Eastern Conference. Florida, however, has played one fewer game than Boston.
Panthers scenarios to clinch a playoff spot Tuesday
According to the NHL, the Panthers have two routes to clinch a playoff spot on Tuesday...
1.) They defeat the Bruins in any fashion AND any of the following occurs:
▪ The Detroit Red Wings lose to the Washington Capitals in any fashion
▪ The Philadelphia Flyers lose to the New York Rangers in regulation
▪ The Flyers lose to the Rangers in overtime or shootout AND the Capitals lose to the Red Wings in regulation.
2.) If the Panthers get one point (overtime loss or shootout loss) against the Bruins AND the Red Wings lose to the Capitals in regulation.
