Panthers playing playoff-style hockey to get back into mix

DETROIT --When Aleksander Barkov walked into the dressing room Monday night, his teammates ignored him, as if what had happened were no big deal.

The center had become the Florida Panthers' all-time leading scorer, earning his 614th point with an assist in a
5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings
at Little Caesars Arena.
Quiet and unassuming, Barkov said he wasn't expecting a celebration.
But after a moment, his teammates roared. You could hear them in the hall outside.
"I'm really happy," Barkov said. "I love everyone in this room. It was great. I'll remember that for sure for the rest of my life."
Center Carter Verhaeghe smiled as he talked about his bashful captain.
"We gave him the silent treatment at the start," Verhaeghe said, "and then I think he would actually prefer the silent treatment over us cheering."
Moments later, as the Panthers blared "Miami" by Will Smith as a victory song, came more good news: The
Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1
at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
That meant the Panthers were in a Stanley Cup Playoff spot, one point ahead of the Penguins for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference. Party in the city where the heat is on …
"Oh, yeah? Really? Nice," Barkov said. "That's our goal. We want to be in a playoff spot. Right now we're there, but we're not stopping. We still have a lot of games left, and the way we've been playing, we just want to keep going."

It was quite a night in what is turning out to be quite a season for Florida.
Last season, the Panthers won the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular-season team, setting Florida records for wins (58) and points (122). They defeated the Washington Capitals in six games in the Eastern Conference First Round, winning a playoff series for the first time since 1996.
But halfway through this season, they were in trouble. They were 18-19-4 at the midpoint Jan. 8, fifth in the Atlantic Division and six points behind the Penguins and New York Islanders, who were tied for the second wild card from the East.
The reasons were obvious and numerous: injuries, a road-weary schedule, poor goaltending and adjustments to major offseason changes.
The Panthers had acquired forward Matthew Tkachuk in a trade that sent forward Jonathan Huberdeau -- then their all-time leading scorer -- and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to the Calgary Flames. They also had hired veteran coach Paul Maurice to replace rookie coach Andrew Brunette.
Well, since the midpoint, they have gone 18-8-3, including 6-0-1 in their past seven games. They've gotten relatively healthy, had a home-heavy schedule and had better goaltending. Sergei Bobrovsky has gone 16-5-2 with a 2.65 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in this span.
"The other piece -- the far more important piece -- is that we now compete much harder in the five feet of ice that the puck is in," Maurice said. "We play a completely different style of game, and we generate offense differently now. We believe that we generate offense the way that you could at this time of year.
"In the playoffs, it's a harder offensive game. There's not as much stretch in our game. There's not as much looping in our game. It's built more for hard hockey."

Remember, the Panthers made changes in large part to become a team more suited for the playoffs. That's why they wanted Tkachuk, who has grit to go along with his team-leading 95 points (33 goals, 62 assists). That's why they wanted Maurice.
Maybe it's working and they're developing an identity, and maybe it will suit them down the stretch and into the playoffs, if they make it.
"I think we have a game that we understand that we can replicate," Maurice said. "In the playoffs, the rush game disappears, the pucks go to the walls, and it's a grind. We're good at that now."
Another thing should suit them the rest of the way: momentum. The Panthers have been playing playoff hockey -- in terms of the style and the stakes -- for months now. They've gotten rolling, and they've gained confidence, and it could keep snowballing.
Contrast that to last season, when they were atop the NHL standings and didn't have much for which to play down the stretch. Though they defeated the Capitals in the first round of the playoffs, they got swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning -- then the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions -- in the second.
"It's fun playing these meaningful games," Verhaeghe said. "Last year, we were on the other side of it. It didn't really matter what happened, and we got shocked a little bit, I think. So, yeah, playing meaningful hockey coming down to the wire, it's always really good."
Twelve games to go.