NOTEBOOK: Panthers Getting Healthy; Tippett Hitting His Stride

In today's Baptist Health Practice Notebook, the Panthers have some key players return to the ice, Owen Tippett is starting to hit his stride, and Chris Driedger's new mask earns rave reviews.
SUNRISE, Fla. - The ice was packed during this morning's practice at BB&T Center.
After being bitten time and time again by the injury bug in the past several weeks, the Panthers appear to finally be back operating at close to full capacity as Carter Verhaeghe, Chris Driedger, Patric Hornqvist and Sam Bennett were all full participants during the team's up-tempo session.

Preparing to close out their regular season with a crucial two-game set against the intrastate rival Lightning, Verhaeghe, Bennett and Hornqvist all look to be on track to return for the first game on Saturday, while Driedger is likely to be in net during the second matchup on Monday.
"Looks promising," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "Everyone looks like they're ready to go. We'll know at morning skate [on Saturday], but I would think that everybody's ready."
During practice, Verhaeghe, who sat out the last 12 games with an upper-body injury, was back on the top line alongside Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair. Having a career year prior to his injury, the 25-year-old has notched 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 42 games this season.
Held out of the last five games with an upper-body injury, Hornqvist, who sits fifth on the team in goals (14) and points (32), was skating on the third line with Alex Wennberg and Frank Vatrano.
As for Bennett, who was only sidelined for one game with an upper-body injury, he was right back centering the second line, flanked by Jonathan Huberdeau and Owen Tippett. In only nine games since being acquired by Florida, the 24-year-old has tallied five goals and eight assists.
Despite these injuries, Quenneville was impressed with how the Panthers dealt with adversity.
"Throughout the last six weeks or something, we were missing a lot of key pieces," Quenneville said. "We had our team picture [this morning], and then everyone was around, and everyone was practicing together. It looks like that could be the playoff look.
"The nice thing is that you need depth, you need this, you need a lot of things to go your way come playoff time. We had some guys getting some turns, getting some opportunities to play in critical situations at big moments, and they handled it."
With the postseason on the horizon, and coming off a well-deserved two days off in the midst of an incredibly jampacked schedule, Huberdeau said it was nice to have everyone back together.
"Today was fun," said Huberdeau, who leads the team in scoring with 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists). "We haven't practiced in a while. Getting a couple days off was a good refresh for our bodies. We've been a better team this year. It was fun to get out there and practice."
Although they're no longer in the hunt for first place, the Panthers (35-14-5) can still potentially lock down home-ice advantage in the first round if they are able to take care of business against the Lightning (36-14-3), who play one game in Dallas on Friday before heading to South Florida.
However, regardless of how the seeding in the Central Division shakes out, it appears the two Sunshine State squads are on a collision course to meet in the playoffs for the first time.
"It's tight," Huberdeau said of the battle for positioning within the division. "We're probably going to play Tampa [in the postseason], but who knows? We're going to play these games as hard as we can. They're not exhibitions. You still want to win the game, feel good about your team."

TIPPETT TAKING FLIGHT

Finding success alongside Huberdeau in recent games, Tippett has started to take off.
Still getting his feet wet during his first full tour of the NHL, the 22-year-old rookie sniper, who was selected by Florida with the 10th overall pick in 2017, has produced a pair of multi-point performances over his last four games, racking up two goals and three assists in that span.
In Saturday's 5-4 overtime win against the Stars, Tippett dished out a pair of impressive primary assists, including setting up Huberdeau for a goal by saucing a pass straight over a defender's stick on a 2-on-1 rush up the ice to open the scoring less than two minutes into the first period.

"Tipp is a good player," Huberdeau said. "I think last game was probably his best game of the year. He was flying. When he skates, he's explosive. He has a really good shot, obviously. He's a good fit on our line."
In addition to his offensive output, Tippett's possession numbers have also spiked. Using his 6-foot-1, 207-pound frame to win board battles, throw big hits and help keep the puck in the zone, he boasts a 66.83 CF% at 5-on-5 over his last eight games, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
When he was on the ice in that span, Florida also led 71-31 in scoring chances.
"I'm just kind of trying to hold onto the puck a little bit longer instead of rushing plays," said Tippett, who's posted 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 43 games. "I think when you do that, the game slows down. I think it's just a matter of me holding it on a little longer than I used to."

DRIEDGER'S NEW MASK

If Driedger does return to the crease on Monday, he'll likely be sporting a snazzy new look.
Shared on his social media channels last week, the goaltender's latest mask, which features drawings of six of his teammates, Rafiki from The Lion King, Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) and much more, garnered more than 5,000 likes on Twitter in just a couple of hours after it was unveiled.
While it's hard to pick just one thing to love about such a unique mask, the highlight has to be the drawing of Huberdeau, who is shown in his Lamborghini with Keith Yandle riding shotgun.

"I thought it was a cool idea," Huberdeau said. "We kind of talked about it before, and I was like, 'Yeah, you should put the guys on there.' He kind of came up with the idea of the Lambo and, obviously, Yands drinking a coffee in there and the other guys on the other side. I think it's fun."
While there obviously wasn't room to fit all of his teammates, Driedger's mask also includes Frank Vatrano, Radko Gudas (hat included, of course), Aaron Ekblad and MacKenzie Weegar.
"I'm always amazed by the goalie helmets and what they're able to do," Yandle said. "Putting teammates on [his mask], I think that just shows the closeness of our entire team this year."

THURSDAY'S PRACTICE LINES

Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Anthony Duclair
Jonathan Huberdeau - Sam Bennett - Owen Tippett
Frank Vatrano - Alex Wennberg - Patric Hornqvist
Ryan Lomberg - Noel Acciari - Mason Marchment
Grigori Denisenko - Aleksi Heponiemi - Nikita Gusev
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling - MacKenzie Weegar
Keith Yandle - Radko Gudas
Markus Nutivaara - Brandon Montour
Kevin Connauton - Anton Stralman
Goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
Spencer Knight