What a difference a week and some rest makes. The Panthers faced off against the LA Kings for the second time in as many weeks, this time on home ice. The Cats had two days off before taking on the Kings, and it made all the difference as the team looked like the playoff team that had just raised Lord Stanley’s Cup over the summer. New-look lines juiced up the big-name players, Bobrovsky had one of his best games of the season, and the defense looked the best it’s been in weeks. Kulikov celebrated his 1000th NHL game, and Tkachuk said in his post-game that it’s important for the team to have games like this where they have something else to play for. All in all, it was a strong start to the three-game homestand. News came Thursday morning of Barkov being named Team Finland’s Captain and Tkachuk was named a Team USA Assistant Captain for the Four Nations Faceoff in a couple of weeks. It will be the first time Barkov dons the C for Finland on an international stage.
Big Names Big Goals:
It’s an open secret that Florida’s top players have had some goal-scoring struggles as of late, the one exception being Reinhart. The Panthers rolled some slightly new lines, the biggest change coming on the second line where the trio is now Samoskevich-Bennett-Tkachuk. The top line boasts the familiar Verhaeghe–Barkov–Reinhart, with the third line sporting Luostarinen-Lundell-Rodrigues; both are combinations fans have seen in the past. The adjustments served the Cats well, with the second line scoring two goals, and a Barkov power-play goal capped off the 3-0 shutout win. Bennett opened the scoring with a shot that he lifted over Kuemper and went in right under the crossbar. The feed from Tkachuk in the slot earned him the primary assist with Kulikov getting the secondary assist. Things stayed 1-0 going into the final period, and two more goals were scored in the final twenty minutes, just like last week’s game. Unlike the game in LA, the two goals were scored by the Panthers as they didn’t let up off the gas. Barkov scored a big power-play goal early in the period to extend the lead to 2-0. The Panthers had nine seconds of 5v3 PP time, and they made the most of it with Tkachuk sending the puck to endboards. Barkov picked up the rebounding puck at the side of the net and tapped it in past Kuemper, ending his goalless drought. An unselfish pass from Luostarinen cross-ice to Tkachuk gave him all the opportunity necessary to score the empty net from center ice while he was falling and sealed the 3-0 win.
Brick Wall Bobrovsky:
Playoff Bobrovsky was in the building as he posted his first career shutout against the Kings and Florida’s first shutout against them since 1997. The Panthers controlled much of the game but Bob made a crucial save in the first period that kept the 1-0 lead and felt like a big momentum swing play. He was locked in the whole night and stopped all 30 shots, with five coming from the slot. Bob tracked the puck well and fought around the traffic to get good looks at the chances coming his way. When the Kings got more sustained pressure, Bob was cool as could be in the playoff-esque atmosphere, which seems to bring out the best in the team as a whole. With great support from his defense in front, Bob had one of his best games of the season and a great performance to build on in the coming months.
Outstanding Defense:
For as great offensively as the Cats can be, their bread-and-butter identity is defense. Against LA, Florida put together one of its best, if not their best defensive game of the season. The Cats ended the night with 21 blocked shots to LA’s 10 and 23 hits to LA’s 18. Sam Bennett led all skaters with six hits, and his linemate Samoskevich had four. Greer also posted four hits, with Rodrigues, Reinhart, Nosek, Mikkola, Lundell, Barkov, and Balinskis all registering at least one hit each. The forecheck and backcheck pressure kept the majority of the Kings’ SOG to the outside or near the blue line. The team also showed great discipline and only took two penalties that resulted in power plays, J. Boqvist (tripping) & Schmidt (interference); Tkachuk’s penalty was offset with Edmundson as both got two minutes for roughing. The two PK stints were excellent with Florida being able to keep the pressure on and once again have a short-handed attempt with Barkov and Reinhart. This is the type of defensive effort that will lead the team to postseason success.
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