The Florida Panthers were one of the best teams in the NHL after the All-Star break
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Despite winning five games over the final seven days and tying for first in the NHL with 25 victories over their final 35 games, the Panthers failed to make the playoffs for the fifth time in six years and the 15th time in 17 seasons.
”It’s disappointing,” said center Vincent Trocheck, who finished the season with a team-high 31 goals. ”Everybody here had one goal, and that was to make the playoffs and then go on a push. We were really hoping we’d get a little help from some other teams and maybe get in. I think there’s a lot of teams that didn’t want to play us if we got in.”
The Panthers finished with a 44-30-8 record for 96 points, matching the 2014-15 Boston Bruins for most points for a team missing the playoffs. The Panthers were 25-8-2 after the All-Star break, tying the Winnipeg Jets for most victories over the final 35 games.
But Florida couldn’t overcome a slow start. The Panthers was 4-8-2 in its first 14 games and played catch-up the whole season. They held a playoff position for one day (after the games of Oct. 12) the entire season.
”We’re extremely proud of this group,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. ”The effort they put forth, especially in the second half of the season … 96 points is not easy to do in this league. It’s a shame that we’re not in with that kind of a total. Maybe that’s something that’s going to even drive us harder next year.”
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Some things to know about the Panthers’ disappointing 2017-18 season, and a look to `18-19:
OFFSEASON PRIORITY: The Panthers don’t seem to need much after their post-All-Star break performance, particularly since every key member of the team is signed through next season or beyond. The top seven scorers, as well as goalies Roberto Luongo and James Reimer
Taylor Moton Jersey , are signed through the 2019-20 season. If anything, the Panthers could use another scorer and maybe a defenseman, but the team has a solid foundation in place.
YOUTH IS SERVED: Perhaps the biggest reason for optimism for the Panthers looking ahead has to do with a core that’s been around for a few years but is still very young. The team’s top three scorers – Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Huberdeau – and top-four defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Mike Matheson all are 24 or younger.
HOME COOKING: The Panthers’ season-ending five-game winning streak including a sweep of a four-game homestand that featured games against two of the top four teams in the NHL, the Nashville Predators and the Boston Bruins. A 4-3 victory against the Buffalo Sabres in the home finale helped the Panthers set a franchise record with 27 home victories, breaking the mark of 26 set in 1999-2000.
STILL GOING: Defenseman Keith Yandle completed a ninth consecutive season without missing a game, extending the longest active streak in the NHL to 715 consecutive games. Yandle ended the season with 56 points, one shy of the franchise record for defensemen set by Robert Svehla in 1995-96. His blueline partner Aaron Ekblad tied the franchise mark for defensemen with 16 goals, first set by Jason Garrison in 2011-12.
HOW LONG CAN LUONGO GO? Goalie Roberto Luongo started three games in four nights last week as the Panthers made their final push to the playoffs, and he joined Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy as the only goalies to play 1,000 games when he defeated Boston on Thursday. But he did turn 39 on April 4 and missed 32 games this season because of injuries. The Panthers will have to decide whether they want to come back next season with Luongo and James Reimer as their goaltending duo.
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More NHL hockey: Lars Eller scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:37 to play, and the Washington Capitals raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5.
Devante Smith-Pelly tied it with a full-stretch goal midway through the final period of the Capitals’ fourth consecutive victory over the Golden Knights
Andre Johnson Jersey , whose incredible expansion season finally ended in the desert.
So did the Capitals’ agonizing wait for their first championship since the franchise’s debut in 1974. After so many years of postseason flops and crushing disappointment, these Capitals won their fourth consecutive closeout game with a tenacious third-period comeback.
Captain Alex Ovechkin, who scored an early power-play goal, and his teammates are Washington’s first championship hockey team – and the city’s first champion in a major pro sport since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in early 1992.
Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after scoring his franchise-record 15th goal of the postseason.
PRO FOOTBALL
Terrell Owens will not attend the induction ceremony for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, an unprecedented decision by an enshrinee.
Owens was voted into the hall in February. In a statement released by his publicist, Owens says: ”While I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity, I have made the decision to publicly decline my invitation to attend the induction ceremony in Canton.”
The hall confirmed that the former All-Pro receiver informed them he would not be on hand Aug. 4 for the enshrinements. Owens added, ”After visiting Canton earlier this year, I came to the realization that I wish to celebrate what will be one of the most memorable days of my life, elsewhere. At a later date, I will announce where and when I will celebrate my induction.”
Owens heavily criticized the voting process when he failed to be elected to the hall in his first two years of eligibility.
PRO BASKETBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Bryan Colangelo resigned as president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers in the wake of what an investigation found was ”careless and in some instances reckless” sharing of sensitive team information.
The independent review by a law firm did not determine that Colangelo operated or was even aware of Twitter accounts that anonymously trashed some of his own players and fellow executives, and defended him against criticism from fans and the sports media.
Paul
Ziggy Ansah Jersey , Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP said evidence supported the conclusion that Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini, operated the four accounts it investigated, and she admitted to doing so – though also said she deleted contents of her iPhone with a factory reset of the device prior to surrendering it for forensic review, limiting the investigation.
As for Colangelo, there was no evidence he knew of the accounts before a May 22 inquiry from the sports website The Ringer for a story it reported linking him to five Twitter accounts that took aim at Philadelphia players Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz, former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri and former Sixers players Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry has agreed to a two-year extension running through the 2020-21 season.
The Pelicans already had informed Gentry going into the playoffs that the club would exercise his option through next season. Now he’s under contract two additional seasons under the extension announced by the club on Thursday afternoon.
Gentry has gone 117-138 in three seasons, including this season’s playoffs, when the Pelicans swept Portland before losing a second-round season 4-1 to defending champion Golden State.
New Orleans missed the playoffs in Gentry’s first two seasons
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GOLF
Tiger Woods will play the opening two rounds of the U.S. Open with Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson, which feels like a grouping of Nos. 1-2-3 in the world ranking. Except that Woods is No. 80.
The USGA released its tee times for the U.S. Open next week at Shinnecock Hills, and it offered two stacked groups for the morning and afternoon.
Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy tee off together in the morning of the first round. Woods, Johnson and Thomas are together in the afternoon.
This is the 10-year anniversary of the USGA first putting together the Nos. 1-2-3 players in the world at Torrey Pines – Woods, Mickelson and Adam Scott.
HORSE RACING
NEW YORK (AP) – Triple Crown contender Justify glided over the track in his first trip over the Belmont Park strip.
The strapping chestnut colt is the odds-on favorite to complete the series sweep on Saturday in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes following victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
Justify arrived here Wednesday afternoon after a flight from Kentucky. Bob Baffert, his Hall of Fame trainer, was delighted with how well the horse handled the shipping and the unfamiliar surroundings on an overcast morning. Justify went 1 3/8 miles, keen and eager as he flashed by the grandstand.
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