{"id":474193,"date":"2026-02-27T02:19:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T02:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/474193\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T02:19:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T02:19:36","slug":"panthers-look-to-dial-in-for-post-olympics-playoff-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/474193\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers look to ‘dial in’ for post-Olympics playoff push"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT LAUDERDALE \u2014 All of the Panthers\u2019 Olympians<\/a> were back on the ice for their morning skate before Thursday night\u2019s matchup with Toronto, making for crowded ice at the team\u2019s Fort Lauderdale training facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had about 27 guys out there,\u201d Florida coach Paul Maurice joked. \u201cDon\u2019t know what to do with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the intensity is not going to drop as the Panthers transition from the high stakes of Olympic play. Florida is out of the current playoff picture. The Panthers are eight points behind the second wild card, Boston, entering Thursday night\u2019s game against the Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very quick turnaround,\u201d Panthers winger and Canadian Olympian Brad Marchand said. \u201cYou finish the game at eight, we\u2019re on a plane at six and coming back to reality, trying to get the kids back in the swing of things and trying to get a little downtime. And then now, obviously, with where we\u2019re at, realizing we\u2019ve got to turn it around and get dialed in again and make a huge push. So a lot of downtime the last couple days; the team is good enough to give us a couple days off to relax and recover. But now it\u2019s exciting to get back with the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida had 10 players go to the Olympics, and seven came back with medals. Matthew Tkachuk won gold with Team USA<\/a> in an overtime game against Canada. Marchand, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart won silver with the Canadian team. Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola won bronze with Team Finland.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re playing hockey where every detail matters, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re at now in the position we\u2019re in,\u201d Reinhart said. \u201cSo it\u2019s certainly playoff do-or-die hockey that we\u2019re in. Maybe from a mental standpoint, it might be a little bit more difficult, but sometimes it\u2019s easier when there\u2019s kind of a finish line and end in sight to play that way. But that\u2019s just the position we\u2019re in. We\u2019re going to have to do what we can to bat ourselves out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tkachuk and Bennett said there were no hard feelings between the Canadians and Tkachuk, who had six assists in the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust congratulated him on winning gold and that\u2019s pretty much it,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

Said Tkachuk: \u201cNo bad blood, absolutely not. We\u2019re all competitors. We\u2019re all, first and foremost, players for the Florida Panthers, especially (with) what we\u2019ve built over the last few years. The relationships we have in that room are as good as you\u2019re ever going to find. But at the same time, guys from Finland or Sweden or Canada \u2014 obviously, being American, I know the pride that I feel wearing that jersey and I would do whatever it takes, even if it\u2019s against some of my best friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s why hockey players are the best. One day you\u2019re playing for your country, battling, willing to do whatever it takes, and a few days later you\u2019re back to best friends, playing against the Leafs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Tkachuk \u2014 who was sporting his gold medal during his Thursday press conference after the team\u2019s morning skate \u2014 said he was not flashing his new accessory around the locker room.<\/p>\n

Matthew Tkachuk arrives at his first post-Olympics press conference with his gold medal around his neck. pic.twitter.com\/npZ5Gg2LRF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Adam Lichtenstein (@ABLichtenstein) February 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI got here early to take pictures with some of the staff and whoever wanted to but kept it away from the players,\u201d Tkachuk said. \u201cI don\u2019t think any players have seen it. Actually, a couple of the Americans, I showed. So they were really proud and they thought it was really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Olympics in the rearview mirror, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions have a tough road to the playoffs. The Panthers have 24 games left on the schedule following Thursday\u2019s game against Toronto. Of those 24 remaining games, 15 are on the road and seven are part of back-to-backs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re in that playoff mindset,\u201d Maurice said. \u201cEvery game is the only game that you\u2019re going to play. And when it\u2019s done, you can\u2019t hang on to it, good or bad. You\u2019ve got to move on to the next game and make the adjustments.\u201d<\/p>\n

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