Paul Maurice hasn’t minced his words talking about the Sam Reinhart injury. “It’s a significant player out of our lineup, for sure.” But not out of the locker room. The 29-year-old center is quite involved with the team, and the way Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk is putting it, even an injured Sam Reinhart has his role to play in the locker room. So, what is the Florida Panthers alternate captain saying?

Hours to go before Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference Championship round, and the Florida Panthers players were doing the press conference on May 25. One reporter mentioned that Sam Reinhart was seen in the locker room hyping up his teammates before Game 3, the game Reinhart didn’t play because he was injured. And the question? “Just what did it mean to be able to have him still in the room and still having his presence in some way, even though he wasn’t able to be on the ice …?”

Matthew Tkachuk first cleared up that Reinhart was actually doing quite well injury-wise. “He (Reinhart) was around the whole day and did his normal routine. Like I mean, if I wouldn’t have known, you know it looked like he was going, just the way he was doing everything, um, he normally does on a game day.” That will be good news for the Panthers base.

But as for Reinhart’s presence in the locker-room, Tkachuk continued, “Even with him not playing in the actual game, just having him around is huge … we know he’s going to be back, so just having him around and keeping that, keeping that going”. Strategically, it makes sense. The Panthers are in the deep end of the playoffs. They are one game away from yet another Stanley Cup final. So, you want to keep your key players in the loop and close to the winning vibe, so that he doesn’t lose the mojo.

And when Sam Reinhart becomes fit, he slots right in the lineup. But for now, he’s keeping up with his locker room duties, as Tkachuk mentioned. “He’s been reading it the last few wins, so he kept the lineup read going, and it was an awesome read … and got us fired up for the start”. It has been seen that the clinical Panthers performance has its roots in the locker room.

Multiple times, we are hearing from the coach and the players that the locker room culture is so united. “Yeah, I think it’s a tight-knit group,” Evan Rodrigues said in the postgame interview on May 24. Coach Paul Maurice even said how it works, “The culture is good on the players that are in and out of our lineup. They feel a part of it.”

This ‘all hands on deck’ philosophy has worked out perfectly for them. They have dealt with anything that has been thrown at them, injuries and suspensions. And they are getting closer and closer to their goal.

Florida Panthers keep moving forward, with 2nd Stanley Cup in sight for Matthew Tkachuk

The Game 4 win for the Panthers would mean a clean sweep of the series. And the way the series has gone, it looks like the only outcome. 5 goals in each of the first 2 games, 6 in Game 3, in which the Cats scored 5 in the 3rd period only. It’s like just when you think you have closed the gap with them, the Panthers find another level. The 2025 Stanley Cup Final will be their 3rd straight Final appearance.

And being the defending Champions hasn’t quenched their appetite for more glory. As Brad Marchand said after Game 3, “We haven’t achieved anything yet. You know, until you win everything, you accomplish nothing. So, you know, it’s day-to-day, and we just keep moving forward, trying to deal with the things that come at us.”

The Panthers fans are probably taking it easy. But the Stanley Cup will be on their minds. Because not winning it from here will only be an upset. And truthfully speaking, do the Edmonton Oilers or the Dallas Stars have what it takes to stop the Florida Panthers? Can they stop Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, and Aleksander Barkov? Can they get past Sergei Bobrovsky? Even the Panthers defensemen are popping in goals like regulation forwards.

The whole Florida Panthers unit is looking superior to anybody in the NHL right now. More superior than they were last year.