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The Florida Panthers looked quite a bit different when they took the ice on Sunday in Detroit.
As the Stanley Cup Playoffs draw closer, the Panthers are looking ahead.
With five games left in the regular season, the defending Stanley Cup champions are focusing on being the best version of themselves once the playoffs begin in a couple weeks.
That's why Sunday's roster did not include Sasha Barkov, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Dmitry Kulikov, Gus Forsling, Nico Sturm or Matthew Takchuk, who has been out since February.
Instead, Florida called up a trio of players from the AHL's Charlotte Checkers to fill in.
Forwards Jesse Puljujarvi and Rasmus Asplud and defenseman Matt Kiersted slid into the Cats' lineup pretty seamlessly, which Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said was a credit to the job of the coaching staff in Charlotte having the players prepared to play Maurice's systems whether they are in Charlotte or Sunrise.
"I think (Charlotte Head Coach) Geordie (Kinnear) does a great job there," said Maurice. "There's no system questions from the kids who come up. They know, they weren't making mistakes in their positioning. It's allowed us to come in…we've got eight guys out, but we weren't under siege in that game (in Detroit), and that's because we were fairly structurally strong, Credit to the American League guys who did a good job."
With such precious time between now and the playoffs, don't be surprised to see Maurice lean on those Charlotte call-ups in Florida's few remaining games.
That's why it's crucial that they are able to seamlessly slide into the Panthers lineup and the team can continue playing their usual systems regardless of who they might be lining up next to on any given night.
In terms of Florida's injured players, it's a list that could vary depending on the night.
Aside from Tkachuk, who isn't expected back until the postseason, the rest of Florida's injured guys are all being given time to heal themselves as best they can before the real fight begins.
"Matthew (Tkachuk) is the only guy that we know that needs more healing time, so that one will be the start (of the playoffs)," said Maurice. "(Bennett) probably won't play the next game, (Barkov) might, (Reinhart) might, and probably if Sam (Reinhart) goes in, (Barkov) goes in so we'll have some coverage there. Sturm is a possibility (for Tuesday), Kulikov is later in the week. Forsling could (play Tuesday), that might be something that we'd look at."
Over the past couple seasons, Florida has gone on some deep playoff runs, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 and in 2024.
Maurice, his staff and players all know what it takes to succeed at this time of year, which is why they are prioritizing things like health and rest over fighting for seeding in the standings.
"You always want every advantage that you can possibly get, home ice and all that, but we've got to heal some of these guys, and we've got to give ourselves a chance to be physically right when (the playoffs) start, and our schedule won't allow it," Maurice said. "We've just had five sets of back-to-back here in the last month of the season, so we were going to get stacked up on, and we knew it. So we're not really resting guys, we're just healing them. If we think we can make major improvements on anything that they're dealing with, we'll pull them. We'll keep them out."
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