Disappointment closes with win
WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the Miami Heat’s Jekyll-and-Hyde season remained alive Saturday night in the nation’s capital, the Florida Panthers’ disastrous campaign was laid to rest as the final horn sounded in the Verizon Center Sunday after a 2-0 victory over the powerhouse yet indifferent Washington Capitals.
In a meaningless scrimmage, the Capitals (55-19-8) already had clinched their second consecutive Presidents’ Trophy for having the best record in the NHL and home ice throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. They’re just waiting for their upcoming first-round series against Toronto on Thursday.
The Caps’ only motivation was to stay away from injuries, so they rested five starters and coach Barry Trotz put in backup goalie Philipp Grubauer for the third period to preserve starter Braden Holtby.
What began with so much promise on October 13 following a franchiserecord 103-point season (47-26-9) and Atlantic Division title, the Panthers finished 35-36-11 (81 points) in sixth place with so many lingering questions.
Instead of preparing for the playoffs, the Panthers missed for the fourth time in five seasons. They flew home to South Florida where they will undergo their season-ending physicals and exit meetings on Tuesday.
“Let’s get going; I’m warmed up now,’’ joked goalie James Reimer after notching his second shutout in two days and 17th of his career with 38 saves.
“It’s a nice way to end a real disappointing season. I wish we were on the other side of the ice and other room right now joining the playoffs. Not the case. We battled hard all year; just didn’t go our way. We’re looking forward to next year.’’
The most pressing issue for the Panthers is the identity of their next coach and general manager once the official announcement comes down this week regarding the changing role of interim coach/GM Tom Rowe.
After taking over for a fired Gerard Gallant (11-9-1) on Nov. 27, Rowe finished his first NHL head-coaching stint at 24-27-10, not good enough to merit a full-time tag, according to sources.
“It’s not a good feeling, especially with the expectations being as high as they were, a very disappointing season obviously,’’ Rowe said. “Sometimes you got to take a step backward. I know our fans are very unhappy and deservedly so, the treatment I got a little bit.
“That’s fine. We got great fans. We’re going to be back next year. That’s all I want to tell them, hang in there, like Derek [MacKenzie] said to the crowd last night, ‘We’ll be back.’ We got a lot of great pieces here.
“The [offseason] changes we made were good. Maybe the chemistry didn’t click as quickly as we thought. I thought some of the injuries had an impact on how the team got out of the gate.
“We got good pieces; we got to tweak it a little bit. I’ll talk to [president of hockey operations Dale Tallon today] and go over a couple of things. We’re not that far off.’’
The answers will unfold in the days and weeks ahead.