Next up: a visit with the red hot Florida Panthers
Warmer than even the scantily clad teenagers celebrating their spring break on the beach here is what the Senators will see Monday night.
That would be the red-hot and desperate Florida Panthers, who are not only the best team in the NHL since Jan. 30, with a 15-3-1 record, but will also be coming off a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Rangers that was their eighth in a row on home ice — a new franchise record.
What could possibly go wrong, right?
How about the fact the Senators will be without their best player, Mark Stone, who has a leg injury that kept him home from this two-game road trip that includes a visit with the also sizzling Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday?
Stone, who went down when hit by Calgary’s Michael Ferland in the third period of Friday’s loss to the Flames, did hobble back from the dressing room to finish the game. But he was not on the ice for practice Sunday, and it might be awhile before he is again.
“We don’t know the extent of it,” coach Guy Boucher said of the injury prior to the team’s charter on Sunday. “He’s doing testing today. We’ll see what happens there.
“It could be short, it could be a little longer, it could be very long. We don’t know.”
In other words, Stone might be back in the lineup when the Senators return home to play the Dallas Stars on Friday or, with 15 games left, he could be shut down for the rest of the season.
Stepping up and back into a Top 6 role in Stone’s absence will be Marian Gaborik, who will play to the right side of Jean- Gabriel Pageau and Bobby Ryan on the second line.
For the 36-year old former third overall pick, it could represent the last chance to prove he’s still an NHLer.
In his first game with the Senators after being acquired in a mid-February trade for Dion Phaneuf, Gaborik had a goal and an assist. In the nine since, he has thrown up zeros.
Now, it’s assumed Ottawa will buy out the remaining three years of the Slovak’s contract, which carries a $4.875 million cap hit, this summer. But if Gaborik can somehow catch on fire down the stretch, there’s a least a snowball’s chance in hell the Senators will be able to peddle him off before camp next September.
Or, heaven forbid, even hang on to him.
“I think the start was pretty good, and then I obviously haven’t produced a whole lot,” Gaborik said of his first month with the Senators. “Just try to play in the situation they put me in. Obviously I want to see more production out of myself,
“The chances are there. Last couple of games I had some chances. I’ve just got to work for it. Obviously, goals are scored in dirty areas, in front. I’ve got to look for more goals there. Just try to get in front of the goalie, look for those ugly goals. Just got to contribute and bear down.”
Asked what role he sees himself playing next year, Gaborik nodded towards the offices of Boucher and GM Pierre Dorion.
“Go ask the guy next door,” he said.
Does he want to be part of the Senators plans?
“Yeah, I can see this team having some success,” said Gabroik. “There’s some good young players. Obviously the question mark down the road is with what they’re going to do in terms of management, and how they’re going to deal with (Erik Karlsson). That’s going to determine a lot what the future holds with this team.”
In the meantime, the Senators will slug their way to the finish line of this disappointing term, starting with a game against a team that has not surprised Boucher with its second half surge.
“Two years ago they were first,” Boucher said of the Panthers, who are two points back of the second wild card spot being held by the Columbus Blue Jackets -and have three games in hand. “Last year they had some injuries ... coaching change and everything, some disruption. This year they didn’t have any.
“Like I always say, you’re always about one or two players away from going up, and one or two players away from going down. That’s what the NHL is. You’ve got two 60-pointers on your second line. So I’m not surprised.”