VAIL, CO – Talk about a pitstop.
In the midst of a season-long, seven-game win streak, the Florida Panthers took a trip to Vail for a little rest and relaxation in between their games at Colorado and St. Louis.
“It’s great for your hockey team,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the unique experience. “The idea would be to change the context of them getting together. They get a whole lot more out of it. We’re really fortunate we had a break in our schedule and we’re fortunate we have an owner and a GM that allow us to do something special like this.”
After enjoying an 8-4 win over the Avalanche on Saturday, the Panthers hopped on a bus and headed straight to the picturesque mountain village. Following an off day on Sunday, they practiced at the John A. Dobson Ice Arena on Monday before flying to St. Louis.
With the rink located right near the foot of the mountains, many local hockey fans came to check out the practice and score some autographs after the session had wrapped up.
“It’s an awesome mental break,” forward Sam Bennett said. “Just coming here, it’s great for our team and team bonding. We had an absolute blast here. We had tons of laughs. I think it just brings our team closer together. It’s really special that we get to do this.”
For players, the off day featured everything from outdoor activities to some spa time.
“I did some walking around, hit up the spa, got a massage, the steam room, all that stuff,” forward Jonah Gadjovich said with a big smile. “We’re all feeling good for today.”
At 25-12-2 and on a seven-game run, it’s certainly easy to feel good right now.
But even when things are going great, a quick breather is much appreciated.
“It makes it easier to come to the rink when you’re winning and having a good time,” Gadjovich said. “For us, it’s just about putting in the work every day, preparing the right way and showing up every game. If we do that, we know that we’ll have success.”
For the Panthers, these sorts of getaways have become somewhat of a new tradition.
Shaking things up in an attempt to alleviate the grind of the regular season, the team previously visited Banff, Alberta in 2021-22 and Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2022-23.
Just another perk of being a Panther these days.
“Being in Florida now, you don’t get to see too much cold weather,” Bennett said. “To get to do things like this, I think we’re already looking forward to where we’ll go next year.”
Leaving the mountains behind, the Panthers will try and stretch their winning streak to eight games when they close the book on their four-game road trip with a battle against the Blues at Enterprise Center on Tuesday.
BENNETT’S BACK
The news on Bennett is good.
After not returning for the third period of Saturday’s win at Colorado due to an upper-body injury, the gritty second-line center was back on the ice for practice on Monday.
“I feel good now,” Bennett said. “No issues.”
While Bennett is feeling fine, the Panthers will still check on him again tomorrow.
That being said, it looks like he’s trending toward suiting up in St. Louis.
“We’ll check on him tomorrow and then go from there,” Maurice said.
Missing time earlier this season due to a separate injury, Bennett has looked very solid since returning, racking up 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 27 games. Despite missing that time, the 27-year-old still ranks fifth among the team’s forwards in hits (39).
Over his last four games, Bennett has tallied four points (two goals, two assists).
TKACHUK HEATING UP
To surprise of no one, Sam Reinhart has earned another honor.
After leading the league with five goals in three games last week, the all-star forward was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week on Monday for the week ending Jan. 7.
But he’s not the only Panther that had a big week.
Starting to really catch fire as the midway point of the season approaches, Matthew Tkachuk led the NHL in scoring with eight points (three goals, five assists) last week.
After lighting the lamp in a 4-1 win at Arizona on Tuesday, Tkachuk recorded three points (one goal, two assists) in a 4-1 win at Vegas on Thursday. Not done there, he closed out his strong week with four points (one goal, three assists) in an 8-4 win at Colorado on Saturday.
Still, it’s Tkachuk’s defense that continues to impress Maurice the most.
“To his credit, leadership is very important to him,” Maurice said. “He came in this year and he was really responsible defensively. That’s a good thing. We want him to keep that. When you look at it, it’s not just Matthew. There’s a whole bunch of our guys that if you look at where they were last year to now in terms of the quality of their defense, it’s night and day. We’re a much better defensive team. He made those adjustments and now you can see [the offense] start to come for him. It’s been good to watch.”
As of Monday, the Panthers have allowed the third-fewest goals in the NHL.
