It’s time for the Florida Panthers to get back to work.
The NHL’s annual holiday break came at a great time for the Panthers, who currently hold the top spot in the Atlantic Division with a 22-12-2 record.
Lately, the Cats have had to endure a challenging stretch, thanks to a combination of a brutal travel schedule and having several players battling an illness that worked its way through Florida’s locker room.
While they have still managed to enjoy a 12-3-1 mark over the past 30 days, Florida knows they can still be better.
Now, when they take the ice on Friday at the Baptist Health IcePlex for their first practice after the break, the hope is that the time away from the rink will have served the Cats well.
Both Sasha Barkov and Sam Bennett missed time recently due to being sick, with several of their teammates also fighting through an illness.
A couple days of chicken soup and comfortable living will hopefully be enough to cure what has been keeping the ailing Panthers down.
Injury-wise, Niko Mikkola, Jesper Boqvist and Jonah Gadjovich are each dealing with respective upper-body injuries and Matthew Tkachuk took a knee-on-knee hit during Florida’s last game on Monday against Tampa.
Mikkola tried pushing through the Tampa game but left after two periods while Boqvist has missed Florida’s last three games and Gadjovich the past two, and those are just the ones the team has made public.
It’s also nice for the Panthers that they don’t play another road game for 10 days.
They’ll host the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins before heading out for a pair of games at Colorado and Utah.
In their three seasons under Head Coach Paul Maurice, the Panthers have always responded well when given extended time off.
Continuing that trend will bode well for Florida as they keep pushing for their second straight division championship and, as a result, home ice for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The Cats will be on the ice Friday in Fort Lauderdale at 11 a.m. and it’s the first of three practices this week that are open to the public.
For more info on open practices, including a schedule and code of conduct, click here.
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