Round 1 opponent likely Leafs or Lightning
The Panthers’ spot in the playoffs might be secured, but where they finish in the standings will go a long way in determining their potential path to returning to the Stanley Cup Final.
Depending on how the final two weeks of the regular season shake out, it looks as if the Panthers will open the postseason against Toronto or Tampa Bay.
Entering play Monday, the Panthers (47-22-5, 99 points, eight games left) were second in the Atlantic Division, two points behind Boston (43-17-15, 101 points, seven games left) with a game in hand. At the moment, Florida owns the first tiebreaker over Boston, which is regulation wins (Florida has 38, Boston 33), so the Panthers still have the inside track to win the division.
But the Metropolitanleading New York Rangers (50-20-4, 104 points, eight games left) have a distant lead on the rest of the conference.
So what does that mean for Florida?
If the Panthers finish second in the Atlantic, they will open the playoffs against the team that finishes third in the division, which right now is Toronto (42-22-9, 93 points, nine games left), although Tampa Bay (41-25-7, 89 points, nine games left) can make a push.
If Florida wins the division, it will open the playoffs against the Eastern Conference’s top wild-card team unless it overtakes the Rangers for the conference lead. Right now, the conference’s top wild-card team is Tampa Bay. However, if the Lightning overtakes the Maple Leafs for the third spot in the Atlantic, then Toronto becomes the top wild-card team.
So either way, barring something unforeseen, Florida’s first step for the playoffs appears to be getting clearer.
As for the rest of the playoff field...
The Rangers, Carolina (47-21-7, 101 points, seven games left) and Washington (36-27-10, 82 points, nine games left) are the top three teams in the Metro.
Philadelphia (36-2910, 82 points, seven games left) and Detroit (36-30-8, 80 points, eight games left) are the two teams vying for the final wildcard spot.
Three teams in the Western Conference have clinched playoff berths — Dallas (47-19-9, 103 points, seven games left), Colorado (47-21-6, 100 points, eight games left) and Vancouver (45-20-8, 98 points, nine games left) — but the rest of the field appears to be clear. Either Winnipeg (44-24-6, 94 points, eight games left) or Nashville (43-27-4, 90 points, eight games left) will be the third team in the Central Division along with Dallas and Colorado.
Edmonton (45-23-4, 94 points, 10 games left) and Vegas (41-25-8, 90 points, eight games left) or Los Angeles (38-24-11, 87 points, nine games left) should round out the Pacific, which Vancouver leads. Whichever teams from this group don’t finish in the top three of their division should be the wild-card teams in the West unless St. Louis (3931-4, 82 points, eight games left) makes a massive push.
The playoffs begin April 20.
700 FOR BARKOV
Panthers captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov hit yet another milestone last week.
With his two points in Florida’s loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday, Barkov became the sixth Finnish-born player to log 700 points in the NHL.
“It means a lot,” he told reporters. “As a little kid, I would’ve never even thought about being here right now, but it’s just one of those things that you don’t realize until after your career that you’ve been here for a long time and living the dream every day.”
Barkov, 28 and in his 11th season, followed up with two goals in Florida’s shootout win over the Red Wings on Saturday. On the season, Barkov had 71 points (21 goals, 50 assists) entering Monday night’s game at Toronto.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Panthers are on the road all week. Up next are Tuesday at Montreal (7 p.m., Bally Sports Florida), Thursday at Ottawa (7 p.m., Bally Sports Florida) and Saturday at Boston (3:30 p.m., ABC).
Jordan McPherson: 305-376-2129, @J_McPherson1126
For summaries, complete standings, scores go to the eEdition at MiamiHerald.com.
Atlantic
x-Boston x-Florida Toronto Tampa Bay Detroit Buffalo Ottawa Montreal Metropolitan
x-N.Y. Rangers x-Carolina Washington Philadelphia N.Y. Islanders New Jersey Pittsburgh Columbus
Central
x-Dallas Colorado Winnipeg Nashville St. Louis Minnesota Arizona Chicago Pacific
Vancouver Edmonton Vegas
Los Angeles Calgary Seattle Anaheim San Jose
GP W LOT Pts GF GA
75 43 17 15 101 249 208 74 47 22 5 99 239 182 73 42 22 9 93 269 227 73 41 25 7 89 257 237 74 36 30 8 80 247 247 75 35 35 5 75 223 227 73 33 36 4 70 236 253 73 28 33 12 68 200 249 GP W L OT Pts GF GA
74 50 20 4 104 257 206 75 47 21 7 101 255 199 73 36 27 10 82 201 232 75 36 29 10 82 219 235 73 31 27 15 77 216 245 74 36 34 4 76 243 252 73 32 30 11 75 215 220 74 24 38 12 60 213 272
75 47 19 9 103 276 220 74 47 21 6 100 279 221 74 44 24 6 94 224 184 74 43 27 4 90 244 225 74 39 31 4 82 213 224 73 35 28 10 80 224 233 74 31 38 5 67 226 248 74 22 47 5 49 165 260 GP W LOT Pts GF GA
74 46 20 8 101 255 197 72 45 23 4 94 262 206 74 41 25 8 90 238 216 73 38 24 11 87 226 193 73 34 34 5 73 224 238 73 30 30 13 73 193 211 75 24 47 4 52 182 272 73 17 48 8 42 163 294
x-clinched playoff spot.
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.
Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.
TUESDAY
Florida at Montreal, 7
Washington at Buffalo, 7
Pittsburgh at New Jersey, 7
Chicago at NY Islanders, 7:30
Ottawa at Minnesota, 8
Boston at Nashville, 8
Anaheim at Calgary, 9
Vancouver at Vegas, 10
MONDAY
Florida at Toronto
Colorado at Columbus
Detroit at Tampa Bay
N.Y. Islanders at Philadelphia
Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers
Edmonton at St. Louis
Los Angeles at Winnipeg
Seattle at San Jose
SUNDAY
Vancouver 3, Anaheim 2