After clinching the Presidents’ Trophy, the Florida Panthers have already guaranteed they’ll finish the year with one of the NHL’s marquee pieces of hardware.
Now the quest officially begins for the one they really care about. The chase for the Stanley Cup will get started Monday. “When your career’s over and to be able to say you won one is obviously a big accomplishment. It’s something you can always say,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said, “but, at the end of the day, we’ve got eyes on the bigger prize.”
For the second straight day, the Panthers rested the vast majority of their best players Friday for their regular-season finale. After clinching the Presidents’ Trophy a night earlier, Florida had nothing at stake when it faced the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec.
