Pace picks up at practice as restart approaches
Sunday was about getting the Florida Panthers re-acclimated after being away from each other for nine days.
The priority Monday was getting them back into game mode.
The Panthers held an abbreviated scrimmage during second half of their practice at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs as they prepare to resume their season on Wednesday against the New York Rangers. Puck drop for the game is set for 7 p.m. at FLA Live Arena.
“Having just three days before a game, that’s always a little tricky,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said, “but I thought it was important to get a little bit of game-like speed, and pace. For me, it’s like when you have any kind of break, a lot of it is the little puck battles. Things happen faster than just a normal practice. We’re just trying to get a little bit of chaos in there for them so they get the timing back.”
And the results, at least in the moment, looked promising. Some highlights:
Aleksander Barkov, Mason Marchment and Maxim Mamin all were full participants in the scrimmage and should be cleared to play Wednesday barring setbacks between now and then.
Barkov, Florida’s top-line center and team captain, is the big news after appearing in just one of the Panthers’ last 13 games, first missing time with a left knee injury that caused him to sit out eight games and then sustaining an undisclosed upper-body injury in his return on Dec. 7 against the St. Louis Blues that resulted in him missing another four games.
But Mamin and Marchment also provide depth for Florida’s forward lines.
Marchment, in particular, is one Brunette is excited to see return. The interim coach said Marchment began “playing his best hockey” in the playoffs last season and continued that in the early portion of this season, a 10-game stretch in which he had a goal and six assists as a bottomsix forward. What has attributed to that success?
“Just maybe getting a little more comfortable in the league,” Marchment said. “I’ve kind of grinded my way up through East Coast, AHL, NHL. I wasn’t drafted. Just trying to get better every year.”
With Jonathan Huberdeau, Owen Tippett, Eetu Luostarinen and MacKenzie Weegar still in COVID-19 protocols, three of the Panthers’ lines looked a little different than when the team is at full strength.
The most effective line during the scrimmage: Anton Lundell centering Ryan Lomberg and Patric Hornqvist. The trio was on the ice for three goals, with Lomberg scoring twice and Lundell tallying another.
The other three forward lines: Barkov centered Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair; Sam Bennett centered Frank Vatrano and Sam Reinhard; and Joe Thornton centered Marchment and Mamin.
Gustav Forsling joined Aaron Ekblad as the team’s top defensive pairing with Weegar out while Lucas Carlsson was with Radko Gudas and Olli Juolevi was with Brandon Montour to round out the defensemen group.
Brunette said he is hoping to have reinforcements on the ice when they practice Tuesday.
“We’re getting our way back,” Brunette said. “It’s a little bit of a work in progress right now.”
Goaltender Spencer Knight officially re-joined the Panthers at practice Monday. All three goaltenders — Sergei Bobrovsky, Jonas Johansson and Knight — split time in net during practice.