The Panthers returned home from their long west coast road trip for their first match with the Blues. After a dominant win over the Wild, this game was a low-scoring affair that needed overtime to be decided. Florida’s defensemen once again stepped up to the offensive side of things as they generated a decent amount of chances. Barkov was the standout in overtime, and it doesn’t matter how good you think he is; he’s better than that. A match that had to be ground out to get the two points, Florida continues to keep pace with the Leafs for the lead in the Atlantic Division.
Offensive Defensemen:
The Panther defensemen have done a good job all season stepping up and adding to the offensive side of things. Mikkola’s had a career-high in goals, Ekblad has two goals on the season, Schmidt has scored when he gets a good chance, and the Cats are one of the top 5 teams in the NHL in defensemen goals. Friday night, it was Uvis Balinskis with his first goal of the season that tied the game 1-1 in the second period. A cross-ice feed from Barkov found a wide-open Balinskis, who sent the puck high over Hofer and into the back of the net. Balinskis led the Panthers with six SOG, the next closest was Ekblad at four, and Mikkola had three. Having multiple defensemen that can score adds nice depth scoring for the Panthers, and with no Montour this year, it’s good to see the defense as a whole step up to fill in the scoring role he played. Balinskis’ goal was also special for him as his family was in the building and got to witness his first goal of the season.
Barkov:
It doesn’t matter how good you think Barkov is. He’s better than that. Florida fans are no strangers to Barkov making some ridiculous plays, but Friday night might be one of his best-ever performances. Sasha was fantastic all night, strong in the faceoff dot, generated great chances for his teammates, and, as always, played a complete 200ft game. Among all the great plays, he made the obvious standout in overtime. Barkov, Reinhart, and Balinskis ended up spending 2 minutes and 10 seconds on ice during OT before Barkov eventually scored the game-winner. Within that extremely long shift came an unbelievable one-man effort from Sasha where it was 3 on 1 but Barkov fought them all off to hold possession of the puck and draw a penalty in the process. During the ensuing power play, he eventually found some space in the faceoff circle and clearly wanted to pass the puck to one of his teammates, but both were covered well, and there was no clear passing lane for Sasha to thread the puck through. Instead, he used patience and turned one of the Blues’ players into a screen before he finally took the shot himself, and the puck went in on Hofer’s blocker side. It was nothing short of a magnificent display by the Florida Captain as he continues to set the standard for the rest of the team.
Grinding Game:
The Cats are plenty comfortable in low-scoring affairs, in fact, they thrive in those games where they have to grind out a win. Florida found a way to earn the extra point and work around St. Louis blocking 21 shots. Stats wise outside of the blocked shots things were even, they were tied in SOG (27-27), the Blues had the edge in hits (20-21) and faceoffs (28-29). Special teams were a rarity as each side got two power plays, but it was the Panthers that converted their OT opportunity into the game-winner and avoided the shootout. Bobrovsky had another fantastic performance, stopping 26 of 27 shots with a .963 SV%. When the Panthers were hemmed into their zone during the long Barkov shift, Bobrovsky came up with several big saves to give Florida a chance to win the game. He didn’t see much action in the second period but he was sharp then and in the third when the team needed saves. Despite having a bit of a rough start to the season, Bobrovsky is showing his flashes of playoff brilliance that helped lead the Panthers to the Stanley Cup last season. If Florida’s goaltending continues to improve along with the defense, they’ll be in great position for the post-season and hopefully another run to the Cup.
The Cats have a Sunday/Monday back-to-back against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a home and home set of games.
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