Tarasenko quickly finds his niche as a reliable weapon for Cats’ offense
One of Vladimir Tarasenko’s primary goals when he joined the Panthers was simple: Fit in as quickly as possible. That applied on the ice and in the dressing room.
He didn’t have much time to do that after Florida acquired him March 6 from the Ottawa Senators ahead of the NHL trade deadline. He had to learn a new team and a new system and do it in a short amount of time. The Panthers, after all, were a little more than a month from the playoffs.
“It’s not always easy,” Tarasenko said, “but I feel comfortable.”
That’s reflected in his performance, with Tarasenko getting into a groove as the Panthers prepare for their final tune-up before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin this weekend.
Entering Tuesday’s regular-season finale against the Toronto Maple Leafs — who, barring a massive and unlikely shift in which Florida overtakes Boston to win the Atlantic Division, will be Florida’s first-round opponent — Tarasenko has produced 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his 18 games with the Panthers.
That’s the fourth-most points on the team since his debut March 7, trailing only Sam Reinhart (17), Aleksander Barkov (16) and Matthew Tkachuk
(15).
Ten of those 13 points have come in the past 11 games, and just about all of his production — four of six goals and 10 of 13 points overall — have been at even strength.
Tarasenko, a wing, has spent the majority of his time on Florida’s top forward line with Reinhart
For summaries, complete standings, scores go to the eEdition at MiamiHerald.com.
Atlantic
x-Boston x-Florida x-Toronto x-Tampa Bay Detroit Buffalo Ottawa Montreal Metropolitan
x-NY Rangers x-Carolina NY Islanders Washington Philadelphia Pittsburgh New Jersey Columbus
Central
y-Dallas x-Winnipeg x-Colorado x-Nashville St. Louis Minnesota Arizona Chicago Pacific
x-Vancouver x-Edmonton x-Los Angeles x-Vegas Calgary Seattle Anaheim
San Jose
GP W LOT Pts GF GA
80 47 18 15 109 266 219 81 51 24 6 108 263 198 80 46 24 10 102 297 252 80 44 28 8 96 283 260 80 39 32 9 87 268 266 81 38 37 6 82 242 242 80 36 40 4 76 252 276 80 30 36 14 74 228 279 GP W L OT Pts GF GA
81 54 23 4 112 278 229 81 52 22 7 111 276 210 80 37 27 16 90 237 258 80 38 31 11 87 216 256 81 38 32 11 87 234 259 80 37 31 12 86 247 244 81 38 38 5 81 263 279 81 26 43 12 64 231 297
GP W LOT Pts GF GA
81 51 21 9 111 296 233 80 50 24 6 106 251 194 81 49 25 7 105 299 253 81 47 29 5 99 267 244 81 43 33 5 91 238 248 80 38 32 10 86 245 258 81 35 41 5 75 251 272 80 23 52 5 51 174 282 GP W LOT Pts GF GA
80 49 22 9 107 273 218 79 48 25 6 102 282 225 80 43 26 11 97 250 208 80 44 28 8 96 263 240 80 37 38 5 79 247 266 80 33 34 13 79 210 229 81 26 50 5 57 200 294 80 19 52 9 47 178 317
x-clinched playoff spot; y-clinched division.
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
Toronto at Florida, 7:30
Ottawa at Boston, 7
Carolina at Columbus, 7
Detroit at Montreal, 7
Washington at Philadelphia, 7
Seattle at Winnipeg, 8
Chicago at Vegas, 10
Calgary at Vancouver, 10
MONDAY
Montreal at Detroit
N.Y. Islanders at New Jersey
Nashville at Pittsburgh
Buffalo at Tampa Bay
Boston at Washington
Ottawa at N.Y. Rangers
Minnesota at Los Angeles
San Jose at Edmonton
SUNDAY
St. Louis 4, Seattle 1
Vegas 4, Colorado 3 (OT)
Carolina 4, Chicago 2
Calgary 6, Arizona 5 and Barkov while also getting time on the power play.
And if the Panthers score a goal while Tarasenko is on the ice, chances are he will be helping create it in some way.
The Panthers have scored 16 goals while Tarasenko has been on the ice this season. He has factored into 13 of them — 81.25 percent. He also has not taken a penalty and has laid out 27 hits, the latter of which is tied for fifth among Florida forwards since he arrived.
PLAYOFF SCENARIOS
As mentioned above, Florida is all but locked into a first-round matchup with the Maple Leafs, which could begin as early as Saturday.
The Panthers entered Monday in second place in the Atlantic Division with 108 points (51-24-6) in 81 games.
The Boston Bruins entered Monday leading the division with 109 points (47-18-15) and two games left on their schedule — Monday night against the Washington Capitals and Tuesday night against the Senators.
The Panthers’ two slim paths to winning the Atlantic are as follows:
A win Tuesday against Toronto with Boston picking up no more than one point in its final two games.
An overtime or shootout loss Tuesday with Boston losing both of its final two games in regulation.
If Florida loses to Toronto in regulation or Boston gets two points in any fashion over its final two games, the Bruins take the division.
Toronto (46-24-10,
102 points, two games remaining) is locked into the No. 3 spot in the division.
PANTHERS PROSPECT WINS 2ND NCAA TITLE
Jack Devine, the Panthers’ seventh-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, won his second NCAA men’s ice hockey title in three college seasons when Denver University beat Boston College 2-0 in the championship game Saturday.
The Pioneers also won the title in 2022 when Devine was a freshman, but the forward had a much bigger impact on the team’s success this season as a junior.
Devine set singleseason career highs in goals (27), assists (29), points (56) and powerplay goals (nine). His 24 goals were the fourth most in the NCAA this year and his 56 points were seventh.
Through three years at Denver, Devine has recorded 106 points (44 goals, 62 assists) in 118 games.