Panthers’ Bennett Out As Team Hits The Road With Playoff Aspirations Hanging In The Balance

Three points out of the final Wild Card spot, the Florida Panthers have officially entered the point of their season where every point matters.

This isn’t the place many thought the Panthers would be entering the season, but here we are. With just nine games left to play, the Panthers are playing for their playoff lives.

As recently as a week ago the Panthers were in control of their playoff fate. But their current three-game slide has the reigning President’s Trophy Champs on the outside looking in.

With time running out on the season, the Panthers need to buck this funk and get back in the win column now. 

The Cats currently sit three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins and four of the New York Islanders but do have a game in hand on the Boatmen.

Panthers Kick Off Road Trip Against Fellow Playoff Hopefuls, Ottawa Senators 

Tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators marks the start of the Panthers’ final multi-game road trip of the season. It’s a four-game trip that’ll take the Cats through eastern Canada before a quick stop in Ohio to face the Blue Jackets on the way back home.

On paper, the four-game trip looks favorable. Three of their four matchups will be against non-playoff teams (Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Ottawa Senators) and the Cats have fared well against such teams this season (21-10-2)

But as the theme of this season has been, nothing is coming easy for the Panthers.

And that trend continues tonight. 

Sam Bennett To Sit Out Fourth Straight Game

It was reported during the team’s morning skate that Panthers forward Sam Bennett will miss his fourth straight game due to an undisclosed, lower-body injury.

The team has struggled mightily in his absence and has exposed perhaps a more glaring issue about the team’s lack of depth at his position.

Bennett has anchored the second-line center role for the majority of the season. That line of Carter Verhaeghe, Matthew Tkachuk, and Bennett has been arguably the most consistent and reliable line for head coach Paul Maurice’s club all season.

But since he’s been out of the lineup, the Cats have gone 0-3 and are surrendering a horrific 5.33 goals against per game.

Maurice has experimented with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen in the second-line centre spot recently but neither has been able to provide the same level of effectiveness in the position that Bennett does.

But without other options, Maurice is forced to go back to Lundell as the team’s second-line centre tonight.

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Lundell Struggling Down the Stretch

After making the decision to go Lundell at the 2C spot, Paul Maurice had this to say,

“We need him (Lundell) to take that. Sam Bennett does some unusual things on that line. He adds speed to Verhaeghe, which Tkachuk needs, and he’s got the grit and the bite in the game that Verhaeghe needs. We need Anton to come in and fill that role.” 

It is a lot to ask of the second-year pivot but the team desperately needs him to be that guy right now.

After a rookie campaign that earned Lundell some Calder attention, the former first-round pick is a shell of his former self.

Lundell’s 28 points in 64 games are well off last year’s pace when he put up 44 points in 65 games.

The native of Espoo, Finland is in the midst of a brutal sophomore slump and is currently pointless and a -4 in his last 11 games.

Panthers players have been called on all season to elevate their game and take on expanded roles because of injuries, but the young Finn is finding it difficult to rise to the occasion.

Panthers Remain Optimistic

However, despite the challenges facing the club, Panthers forward Anthony Duclair remains optimistic ahead of tonight’s game.

“We’re going to make sure we come out motivated and excited,” Duclair started off by saying.

“I’m sure they (Senators) will, too. It’s going to be a heavy matchup, and we’re ready for it.”

Tonight certainly will have a playoff atmosphere to it as the Sens are also desperately hanging on to their playoff chances.

This will be the second of three meetings between the two playoff-hopeful clubs. The Panthers and Sens last played each other on October 29. A game the Cats won 5-3.

The two teams will face off again, 10 days from now, in what the Panthers and their fans hope will still hold some meaningful playoff implications.