The Florida Panthers faint playoff chances dimmed even further over the weekend as the Boston Bruins picked up three out of a possible four points by beating the Washington Capitals 3-1 on home ice on Saturday and getting to overtime in yesterday’s 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
That leaves the Panthers, who host Detroit and Columbus before opening a four-game road trip in Seattle on Sunday, 11 points behind the Bruins with each team having played 63 games.
If Boston continues to play at its current .603 pace, they will finish the season with 99 points, meaning the two-time defending champions would need to capture 34 out of the 38 points left on the table to match.
In prospect news, defenseman Vladislav Lukashevich played his final game of the NCAA season as the Miami RedHawks were eliminated from the NCHC Frozen Faceoff by the Denver Pioneers on Sunday. Lukashevich drew an assist and was credited with a blocked shot in the 6-2 loss. He finished his sophomore season, his first at Miami, with two goals and 21 points in 33 games played.
Stepan Gorbunov was credited with one shot on goal, two hits and a block in Traktor Chelyabinsk’s 3-2 shootout loss to Metallurg Magnitogorsk in Sunday action from the KHL. It was the 19-year-old Gorbunov’s 25th KHL appearance of the season.
Monday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- OTTAWA (31-22-9 71P) at Vancouver (19-36-8 46P) 9 p.m.
Idle: BUF (84P), TBL (82P), DET (79P), MON (78P), BOS (76P), FLA (65P), TOR (65P)