Panthers prepare for playoffs vs. Lightning: ‘Either (team) can win the whole thing’

The Panthers wrapped up their regular season in Tampa on Tuesday, but they will be back on the Gulf Coast in short order to begin their Stanley Cup title defense.Florida concluded its regular season with a road loss to its cross-state rival, but the two teams will not be separated for long.

The Panthers and the Lightning will face off in the first round of the playoffs, which will start this weekend.

The NHL has not yet released the schedule for the series.I think its great for hockey in Florida because theres two elite teams, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after Tuesdays game.

Either one of them can win the whole thing.

Certainly, the eyes in Florida and the fans in both cities will be wired right in.Not much weight should be given to the Panthers loss to the Lightning on Tuesday.

Florida was resting several key players, including Aleksander Barkov, Gustav Forsling, Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart.Forward Carter Verhaeghe said its not always easy for players to be energized for late-season contests that do not make much difference in the standings.Its tough playing in games like this when it doesnt mean too much to us, Verhaeghe said.

But I think once the playoffs come, theres going to be that juice again that kind of gets us up and gets us ready to go.

Sometimes its tough when you play all those games, and some games are not meaningless but in the standings, kind of meaningless.

Its tough, and I think now theres going to be that juice.The Panthers are hoping to get two key players back for the Lightning series.Star Matthew Tkachuk has been sidelined with an apparent groin injury suffered in the 4 Nations Face Off in February.Well have a pretty good answer to that in a few days, Maurice said.Florida will also get defenseman Aaron Ekblad back from his suspension for violating the leagues policy on performance-enhancing drugs for Game 3 of the series, which is slated to be the first in Sunrise.Maurice said the Panthers are fortunate that the players who are injured are only dealing with minor issues.

But the nicks and bumps have tested the teams full roster as the season reached its conclusion.I think we have a lot of depth, forward Eetu Luostarinen said.

Weve got players that can score.

I think were all-around pretty good.That grind of a regular season can take a toll on teams, but Maurice said the team learned a lot from this year after their run to the Stanley Cup last year.I think theyre excited about the start (of the postseason), Maurice said.

I think we had a real learning experience this year, going through the grind of a regular season after last year and lost some guys for big chunks of time.

It was a grinder for us, but there was lots to learn.

They stuck together and (cheered) for each other, and now were at the part of the year that everybodys really excited about.Florida and Tampa Bay are used to seeing each other in the playoffs.

They have faced off in the postseason three times in the last four years, with the Lightning winning two series.

In 2021, Tampa Bay edged Florida and won the Stanley Cup; in 2022; the Lightning reached the Final after beating the Panthers in 2022.

Last year, the Panthers returned the favor, beating their rivals en route to the franchises first Stanley Cup.Its always a battle, and its going to be a good matchup, Verhaeghe said.

Obviously, theyre a really good team.

Its going to take a lot from us..

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