How Panthers are using 10-day break before Cup Final. And details on watch party at arena

The Florida Panthers are one of the last three teams standing in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs and yet they spent a day away from the ice Sunday, less than a week before they’re set to play in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

With a 10-day break between the end of the Eastern Conference finals and the start of the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers are taking a measured approach to their preparation for the championship series.

“I think almost being on the ice too much at this time will flatten you out more than keep you sharp,” coach Paul Maurice said. “The time, it is our challenge as well. It’s a big block of time off and how do you stay sharp, but I would take the rest over worrying about how sharp we’re going to be in Game 1.”

The long lay-off before the Cup Final is a good problem for Florida to have.

The Panthers finished off their sweep of the Hurricanes on Wednesday in Sunrise and now have to wait until Saturday to begin the Final because the Western Conference finals are now going to Game 6.

Florida still doesn’t know where it will begin the series — the Golden Knights currently lead the West finals 3-2, but the Stars have won two in a row and the winner will have home-ice advantage for the Final, based on regular-season records — and right now the opponent doesn’t matter too much.

“Opponent doesn’t really matter at this point. We don’t play until Saturday,” defenseman Marc Staal said. “In the game of hockey, you can only prepare so much anyway. It’s a lot less about X’s and O’s once you get in it.”

With its their time off, the Panthers are trying to get the most out of the rest advantage they’ll have — at least five days — on Vegas or Dallas.

Florida has held just one normal practice since winning the East finals 4-0, taking days off Thursday and Friday — and Friday was a rare, full day away from the rink and team in the middle of the Stanley Cup playoffs — before practice Saturday, then skipping another practice Sunday.

On Saturday, forwards Matthew Tkachuk, Nick Cousins and Eetu Luostarinen all missed practice, taking a chance to recover without any real rush to get back to full speed. All are expected to be ready for Game 1 later this week.

It’s hard to quantify exactly how much recovery can take place this deep in the playoffs, but Maurice is certain his team will be able to do more than its opponent.

“It’s all relative, more than if you’re not. Recovery is the key, is a better word than rest because we want to be actively involved in that recovery,” Maurice said. “The positive for us is we do have players that are healing. That quadruple-overtime game, there was a cost to it for both teams and I don’t think that you get to recover from that until the series is over.”

Altogether, the Panthers have only spent three days away from the rink in the playoffs — once May 14 after they finished off their second-round win against the Maple Leafs, once May 19 after their four-overtime game in Raleigh, North Carolina, and once more Saturday.

They’ve won when they’ve faced a whirlwind schedule and won when they’ve been able to take it easy.

“None of the things that you would normally have wanted to have happen has happened to us and they’ve all turned out good, so be careful what you wish for,” Maurice said. “We’ve just decided not to wish for anything, just take what it is.”

Panthers arena hosts watch party

FLA Live Arena won’t host a Final game until next week, but it will host a crowd to watch Game 1 next weekend.

Florida is holding an official watch party for Game 1 at its arena Saturday. Tickets are $10, with proceeds benefiting the Florida Panthers Foundation, and include parking. Seating is general admission, and concessions and merchandise stores will be open.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. ahead of an 8 p.m. start.