Brad Marchand has only one assist in four matches with Florida since he was acquired from the Boston Bruins, but Panthers insists that they are not worried about Saturday afternoon’s game with the host Ottawa Senators.
Florida (44-27-4, 92 points) is more worried about making sure that Marchand is ready to give the type of production in the playoffs he did during his 16 seasons with Bruins, where he helped Boston win a Stanley Cup. Panthers is trying to win their second Stanley Cup in a row.
“We will be a little patience with it,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice.
An important factor is to figure out Marchand’s best fit, when it comes to Linemater.
“I will try to play him with so many people,” Maurice said of the 36-year-old veteran.
Marchand also plays less than he did with Boston, where on average he 18:26 of the ice age. He plays 16:43 per competition so far with Panthers.
Florida is 0-2-1 in its last three matches after a 3-2 road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
“It’s playoff hockey at this time of year,” Panthers said forward Evan Rodrigues. “It’s always a goal game that it seems. We continue to fight and continue to build. We did very good things. It’s not something we will hang on our heads if I don’t believe.”
Captain Aleksander Barkov did not play in that game and is daily with an upper body injury.
“I don’t think it’s a long -term thing,” Maurice said.
The Senators (40-29-6, 86 points) snapped a two-game losing line with a 2-1 home victory Thursday over Tampa Bay Lightning.
Linus Ullmark made 31 rescues.
“It’s a lot of fun. It’s the kind of mentality I’ve always had, and I hope everyone else has it,” Ullmark said. “It’s fun to play the best in the world. You have the little extra motivation, especially when you come here at home, and you play such a dangerous team offensively. You know it will be a good challenge.”
He denied Brandon Hagel on a short-handed interruption 5:58 into the third period and then made a right shoulder to save Anthony Cirelli on a 2-against-1 just 16 seconds later with Ottawa still on Power Play.
“” Ully ‘made some huge rescues for us,” said the senators forward Shane Pinto. “If we don’t have him there, we won’t win that game. It’s the kind of goalkeeper he is, and I’m just glad we have him on our side.”
Pinto and Jake Sanderson scored Ottawa’s goals and Ridly Greig helped on both markers.
“Of course, at this time of year, there will be some close games, and you have to be comfortable playing in them,” said Senator’s coach Travis Green. “I thought we looked comfortable tonight.”
Ottawa played her second game in a row without Captain Brady Tkachuk due to an upper body injury. He was injured last Sunday against Pittsburgh Penguins in a collision with defender Ryan Graves.
Tkachuk is considered daily.
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