He is back, Florida’s key man returns.

Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) and his teammates celebrate his goal during the second period of a game on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.

Aaron Ekblad tried to look at the situation in a positive light. In the moment Thursday, the Florida Panthers were sulking after another close loss, the latest close defeat in a stretch full of them. But in that moment Thursday, the Panthers also clinched their fifth consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with two-and-a-half weeks left in the schedule.

“Any time you see that,” Ekblad said, “you have to look back on the accomplishment of the year. Making the playoffs is no easy task.” But in that same vein, there not really much time to look back right now. Especially since the Panthers’ ultimate goal is still in front of them. And especially considering the way the Panthers won’t achieve it if they continue to play they way they have as of late.

After a stretch of 18 wins in 21 games, Florida had lost six of its past seven and picked up just three total points in that span before beating the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday. It is, in a sense, the polar opposite of how the Panthers got into the playoffs last season.

In fact, it was at this point last year that the Panthers basically found themselves in a do-or-die situation every single night if they wanted to get to the playoffs. They ultimately rattled off six consecutive wins and got a point in a seventh to sneak into the playoffs.

They ultimately went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. That team last season peaked at the right time as it secured it’s playoff spot. This year’s Panthers are not in that spot but are embracing the chance to figure things out down the stretch of the regular season.

“It’s always nice,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who scored twice in the third period Saturday, said of clinching a playoff berth. “Last year it came before the last game of the season. Now we have a little breathing room here. We know we have a lot of work to do. We need to be a little better than the last few games, for sure.

” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said the Panthers are in a “completely different place” this year than last — “night and day,” he said — when it comes to how and when they secured their spot in the playoffs and how it impacts their preparation.

The Panthers spent most of last season playing catch up. It was Maurice’s first season in Florida and it took time for the team to adjust from their old run-and-gun, high-scoring approach to Maurice’s defense-first style. With 14 players returning from that team and a slew of reinforcements brought in during the offseason (forwards Evan Rodrigues, Kevin Stenlund and Steven Lorentz; defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dmitry Kulikov and Niko Mikkola; goaltender Anthony Stolarz) and at the trade deadline (forward Vladimir Tarasenko), Maurice’s Panthers got off to a strong start and gave themselves the cushion needed to endure this rough patch. Now, it’s about getting back to the winning ways.

And if that means Maurice needing to push them a little harder down the stretch, that’s what he’ll do. “They can handle it,” Maurice said. “Last year, you spent a lot of time trying to build the confidence that you can get it done. Now, it’s generally about the level [of play] when things aren’t easy. Yeah, I know it’s easier to be hard on your team when things are going well. You can squeeze them a little harder. I don’t feel a lack of confidence in them.” After all, they’ve shown they can do it before.

Prior to this skid, the Panthers did not lose more than two consecutive games in regulation this season and had only had four consecutive losses once (albeit getting two points via an overtime loss and a shootout loss). Over the past eight games, they’ve had a four-game losing streak (three consecutive in regulation plus an overtime loss) and then, following a road win against the Philadelphia Flyers, lost another set of back-to-back games in regulation before the shootout win over Detroit on Saturday.

“I like our team. It’s a good team,” Maurice said. “I don’t love parts of the way we’re playing. There’s some good signs in there. I think it’s good that we go through this and we don’t spend a month before the season ends with everything coming easy and you feel good.

I don’t think that we’ve had that. We’ve had some long stretches where we’ve won four or five and then lose one and then win five in a row, but every one of those games are tight. We’ve been on the other side of that recently.” That, in essence, is why the Panthers know they can’t rest on their laurels. Getting to this point is nice, but they have get back to that form soon if they want to make another deep playoff run. They have eight games to get it done. “I don’t know if now is looking back time,” Maurice said.

“Just in the choice of words, I don’t think we’re sitting here looking back and going ‘Eh, relax. Everything’s great.’ It’s more of ‘Let’s get it all thrashed out here in the next two weeks.” Added Barkov: “Every game is building toward the playoffs; even Game 1 of the regular season is like that.

Now we’re getting close to that time. We’re just excited about that, but we have to remember that we have to be at our best every game before that.