NHL: Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs - Source: Imagn — The Florida Panthers are ready to face the Ottawa Senators for a playoff spot (Credits: IMAGN)

Can Florida Panthers clinch a playoff berth tonight against Senators? All possible scenarios explored

Modified Apr 05, 2025 18:56 GMT

The Florida Panthers - the reigning Stanley Cup champions - aim to secure a playoff berth this Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. The Panthers strive to hold onto the title they captured for the first time in franchise history by defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7.

Florida (44-27-4) - who are third in the Atlantic Division - can clinch a playoff spot by defeating Ottawa, thus making them the fourth team to qualify in the Eastern Conference. Other scenarios involve earning one point and getting help from other teams, like the NY Rangers and Montreal Canadiens, losing to their opponents.

The Panthers lost 3-2 to Toronto on Wednesday but played well. They led in shots on goal with 31-26 and controlled the face-offs with 52.1 percent. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves but failed to help the team get a crucial win. He’ll start today and has a .917 save percentage since January.

Florida won the last meeting with Ottawa 5-1 on Feb. 8. Now, Barkov and Nico Sturm are injured for this game. So, the team will use different line combinations in Ottawa.

NHL.com's projected Florida Panthers lineup against Ottawa on Saturday:

Forwards

Jesper Boqvist – Sam Bennett – Sam Reinhart
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich

Defensemen

Gustav Forsling – Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola – Nate Schmidt
Jaycob Megna – Uvis Balinskis

Goaltenders

Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek

The Senators sit in a wild-card spot after defeating Tampa Bay 2-1. Captain Brady Tkachuk - out of the lineup - will miss a chance to face his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, who scored 22 goals and 57 points this season.

Florida Panthers lost their third straight game in loss to Leafs

On Wednesday night, a tough 3-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs condemned the Florida Panthers to their third consecutive loss. However, Panthers forward Anton Lundell praised the team's performance.

"That’s hockey sometimes. You just need to keep battling," Lundell said, via NHL.com. "I feel like we played pretty well today. Sometimes you’ve just got to push and keep battling."

Gustav Forsling scored first for the Panthers, but John Tavares equalized at 1-1 with a tip-in later in the same period.

In the third period, Mitch Marner regained the lead for Toronto with a one-timer and Matthew Knies doubled it to 3-1 on a breakaway shot that bounced off Sergei Bobrovsky and into the net. Sam Reinhart's power play goal cut the lead to 3-2, but the Florida Panthers could not tie the game.

About the author

Ankit is an NHL journalist at Sportskeeda with over 3 years of experience in the writing industry. He has expertise in sports, product, and travel content writing. His interest in ice hockey was piqued after watching Sidney Crosby play and he has been passionately following the game since then. Ankit admires Crosby’s personality and hockey IQ, and when he crossed the 1,500 points tally, Ankit was among the biggest fans to celebrate the occasion.

An Edmonton Oilers fan because of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Ankit also admires the Pittsburgh Penguins due to Crosby and the Colorado Avalanche for Nathan MacKinnon. He is also a fan of Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr.

Holding a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Language, Ankit believes his education has helped him develop a knack for presenting information in a precise and compelling manner. He only sources information from credible avenues and trusted people from his network for his articles.

When he is not watching or writing about the NHL, Ankit loves listening to music and reading books.

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