The Florida Panthers’ two-year run as Stanley Cup champions officially is about to end.
The Panthers (39-38-4, 82 points) will play host to the Detroit Red Wings (41-30-10, 92 points) in the season finale for both non-playoff teams on Wednesday night in Sunrise, Fla.
Despite having most of their top players on the injured list, the Panthers are still going hard and enter the contest on a two-game win streak.
Backup goalie Daniil Tarasov has been in the nets for this modest win streak and now has 12 victories this season, a career high.
“We cannot give up,” said Tarasov, 27. “We need to finish strong at home. We cannot be soft in our building.”
Tarasov, in his fifth year in the league and his first with the Panthers, is 12-15-3 with 3.12 goals-against average and .893 save percentage.
Panthers starter Sergei Bobrovsky is 27-23-1 with a 3.07 GAA. His career GAA is 2.61, and he averaged 34.5 wins per season over the previous two seasons.
Indeed, this year has been tough for not only Bobrovsky but the entire Florida organization. There are 14 Panthers currently on the injured list, a major reason why the two-time defending champions are not in the playoffs.
Still, the guys who are playing are taking advantage of the opportunity, and that’s especially true of Cole Reinhardt, 27, who has scored four goals in his past three games.
On Monday, Reinhardt posted the first two-goal game of his NHL career to help Florida beat the visiting New York Rangers, 3-2.
Placed on waivers by Vegas on March 5, Reinhardt has found new life in 14 games with Florida.
“It’s a new chapter in my career,” Reinhardt said. “There’s a little success happening, and I’m trying to run with it.”
Meanwhile, the Red Wings have missed the playoffs for the 10th straight season. It’s the longest drought in the history of a Detroit franchise that dates back 100 years.
The Red Wings are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at Tampa Bay on Wednesday, and Detroit coach Todd McLellan indicated he is satisfied with his team’s effort.
“It is what it is right now,” McLellan said of his team’s disappointing season. “You have to play out the schedule. There’s always concern if guys are going to play it safe. But (our guys) were really competitive (against Tampa Bay), and I give them credit for that.”
Alex DeBrincat leads Detroit in goals (career-high-tying 41) and points (career-high 84). Lucas Raymond leads Detroit in assists with 51, which is two short of his career high.
In addition, Detroit’s Patrick Kane, 37, earned an assist on Monday, giving him 1,400 career points. He is the 24th NHL player to reach that milestone, and he is one of four active members of the 1,400 club, joining Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Kane, who indicated he will play again next season, said he was proud of his team’s effort on Monday as the Red Wings battled back from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime.
“We showed up,” said Kane, who has 16 goals and 41 assists this season. “We could’ve packed it in. But to come back and force overtime, I’m proud of this group for sure.”
