It was a mixed first week for the Panthers. They started their title defense season at home against rival Boston and then played the first half of their four-game road trip. Just like last season, Florida started the season 1-2-0 in the first week, although the order of how they got there looked a bit different. In the game against Boston, the Cats looked every bit the defending Stanley Cup Champions; however, against Ottawa and Buffalo, the team was plagued by sloppy play, turnovers, and giving up odd-man rushes. A scary ending to the Ottawa game where Barkov got injured has been the biggest story this week. Thankfully, there was good news by the end of the week, with it being announced that Barkov was week to week and there was no fracture. The team is hopeful he’ll be able to play in the Global Series next month when they travel to his homeland of Finland. With Nosek still out injured, the Panthers have yet to play a game with their fully healthy lineup; things are going to be a work in progress for the first couple of months, so there’s no need to panic over a couple of bad games, one of which the team just got goalied by a goalie they didn’t beat once during the regular season last year.
Boston Bruins:
The Panthers’ first game of the season brought in the Boston Bruins as the opponent, a team they’ve had two nasty playoff series against in back-to-back years. Florida celebrated the start of the new year by raising their Stanley Cup banner. As the in-arena announcer said, “It will forever serve as a symbol of redemption and honor the 2024 Florida Panthers as the team that conquered the hunt”, commemorating a magical season of determination and perseverance to claim the ultimate prize in the franchise’s 30th season. Following the festivities, the Panthers got down to business. Bobrovsky got the first start of the season with the third line of Luostarinen-Lundell-Samoskevich and Mikkola-Kulikov on defense; Korpisalo started in net for the Bruins. Like most teams this season, Florida held a moment of silence for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.
Florida got a couple of shots early from Tkachuk and Verhaeghe before things went back and forth in the opening minutes. Boston took control in the offensive zone, forcing Bob to make several saves before Florida got shots from Verhaeghe and Reinhart. The first fight of the night kicked off at 14:05, set off by a hit thrown by Kastelic. AJ Greer took exception to the hit, and the two of them went at it, earning them both a five-minute fighting penalty. Kulikov sent a puck around the back of the net that Rodrigues picked up and shot, and then Bennett tipped home the rebound behind Kropisalo for the 1-0 lead with 13:33 left to play. A Jesper Boqvist one-timer went just wide. Lundell then cycled the puck low and threw it on the net, which Loustarinen cleaned up and sent in for a 2-0 lead and 12:29 on the clock. A Verhaeghe shot got saved, and then at 10:42, the second fight of the night kicked off with Bennett and Frederic. Frederic went after Tkachuk, which Bennett didn’t like, and he was quick to defend his teammate; it wasn’t a long fight as the refs were quick to break things up. Frederic was assessed a 2-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, which gave the Panthers the first powerplay of the night.
Adam Boqvist had his shot saved, Boston cleared the zone, Ekblad’s shot got blocked, and a one-timer shot got blocked. The Bruins kill off the penalty, but the Panthers got some pressure. Florida got more pressure from shots from Lundell and Luostarinen, both of which got saved, followed by Bobrovsky making a save on Pastrnak’s one-timer shot. The Cats take control of the O-zone again, with Forsling, Gadjovich, and Kulikov all getting chances, but none go in. The third fight of the period had more Bruins players going after Tkachuk. I can only speculate that the Boston players were upset with what Tkachuk said during the Amazon Docuseries that would have them targeting him over Bennett, given how the playoff series went. Zadoraov was the one who went after Tkachuk, this time getting a cross-checking penalty while Matthew and Pastrnak exchanged words.
Tkachuk got a shot toward that net that Reinhart tipped wide. Nothing much else happened for the Panthers during the powerplay, but then Adam Boqvist ended up down on the ice after he took a puck to the face and tried to hold it in the zone; he did not return to the game and was out against Ottawa. A win on the faceoff and an unlucky bounce gets the puck to an open Zacha, who scores his first short-handed goal with Boston off a shot that goes in right under the bar over Bob’s blocker. Florida leads 2-1 with just over 4:30 left in the period. 2:38 to go, and Greer gets called for hooking, giving Boston their first powerplay of the night. The Bruins pressure forced Bob to make several saves, including a big shoulder shave and a cover save on a puck that was hanging in the air. Florida cleared the zone, and then Reinhart utilized his speed to get past the Bruins and placed his stick over McAvoy’s to take a shot that went in over the shoulder of Kropisalo for the 3-1 lead and his first short-handed goal of the season; 1:26 left on the clock. Bob made two more saves before the penalty died off. Bennett scored his second goal of the period off a shot that hit the post and went in for a 4-1 lead before the period ended. The Panthers held the advantage in SOG, hits, and faceoffs, Boston held the advantage in blocked shots.
The Panthers established the forecheck early in the period, with both sides getting shots off. Lundell and Tkachuk for the Cats and Morgan Geekie for the Bruins. Reinhart got cross-checked in an unprotected area on the body and went to the bench in some pain. Two Florida shots got saved before Koepke got called for hooking giving the Cats their third powerplay of the game. Florida doesn’t get much going and had to break up another short-handed attempt before the penalty was killed. Rodrigues made an impressive play to keep the puck out of the net and then at 10:48 Gadjovich tapped in a no-look pass from AJ Greer to put the Panthers up 5-1. The play looked extremely similar to the one from Lundell to Tarasenko during the Rangers series from the playoffs. A little bit of instant karma as the Florida crowd started chanting, “We Want Swayman,” and then McAvoy immediately scored on a rebound to make it 5-2. There were more extracurriculars behind the Florida net after Bob made a save on Pastrnak, but no penalties were called, and things were broken up quickly. With five minutes to go, things were going back and forth, but then a second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called on Jones, who accidentally slashed a ref. Rodrigues got him a bit riled up and the retaliation hit the ref instead of Rodrigues’ stick. The fourth powerplay for the Cats got killed off with shots coming from Reinhart and Bennett that got saved. Lundell got called for high, sticking with 1:20 to go. The Cats’ penalty kill kept Boston from setting up, and it got killed for the period. After two periods the Panthers held the advantage in SOG and faceoffs, Boston had the advantage in blocked shots, and hits were tied at 18 apiece.
Florida started the third period on the PK and killed off the rest of the penalty. An incredible stat is that the Panthers are 69-0-4 in their last 75 games when leading. Things went back and forth, with Luostarinen, Rodrigues, and Barkov all getting shots off that got saved. At 13:34, Rodrigues took a shot from near the top of the faceoff circle that got past Kropisalo for a 6-2 lead. However, the goal gets discussed as Bennett either trips or is somewhat shoved into Korpisalo which leads to a big fight by the Boston net. Frederic took his second shot at Tkachuk but nothing came from it. Ultimately the goal stands as it went in the net before any type of contact from Bennett. Tkachuk, Bennett, and Frederic all get sent to the penalty box for roughing and a Bruins powerplay. Stout defense and good saves from Bobrovsky kill the penalty off.
Jones takes another roughing penalty, and while Florida got some shots off, they were all saved. The Panthers were forechecking hard and hounding after loose pucks. A Zadorov slashing penalty gives the Cats their sixth powerplay of the night, which they don’t convert. Barkov, Verhaeghe, and Bennett all got shots to the net that were blocked or saved. Too much time and space for Frederic allows him to fire a shot that goes past Bob’s glove for a 6-3 Florida lead and 3:09 to play. A few seconds later, Balinskis gets called for tripping, and Pastrnak would finally score one off a pass that hit Kulikov’s skate and went in. With 1:45 left to play, the Panthers held a 6-4 lead, and Boston had an empty net. Florida’s defense made timely plays to disrupt the Bruins, and Bobrvosky made the necessary saves. Time ran out and the Cats took the 6-4 win in their opening game. While the score indicated a much closer game, Florida controlled the pace of play and dictated things for the majority of the sixty minutes. A celebratory night to open up the new season for the Cats.
Ottawa Senators:
Spirits were high following the opening night win as the Panthers started on their four-game road trip. With Adam Boqvist out, Nate Schmidt made his Florida debut, playing on the third pair with Balinskis. The Cats’ top line got the start with Forsling-Ekblad on defense and Bobrovsky in the net; newly acquired goaltender Linus Ullmark started for the Senators. Ottawa held a nice moment of silence for the Floridians affected by Hurricane Milton at the start of the game. The Sens came out with a lot of speed at the start of the game, leading to the Panthers giving up an odd-man rush early and Bob making a save on Norris. Samoskevich had his shot blocked and Balinskis’ shot bounced off Luostarinen’s skate. Things settled down the rest of the opening five minutes and went back and forth. A high-sticking penalty on Mikkola gave Ottawa the first powerplay of the night. Bob made saves early and a good defensive play by Forsling killed off some of the penalty. However, A screen from Batherson would help Stützle’s shot go in for a goal on the glove side of Bob for a 0-1 lead just under six minutes into the period.
Tkachuk laid a big hit on Norris to establish some physicality. Kulikov and Ekblad both got shots off followed by the Cats’ first powerplay; Gaudette got called for tripping. With Adam Boqvist out, Balinskis was running the first powerplay unit, and Nate Schmidt was on the second unit with Ekblad. Verhaeghe had a couple of shots get to the net and Tkachuk’s went high. A shot from Bennett and two from Lundell all got saved and the Senators killed the penalty. Another odd-man rush started by a turnover from Kulikov led to a wrister shot from Pinto going in and a 0-2 lead with just under half a period to play. The fourth line put in a good shift in the O-zone following the goal, and the Panthers got some pressure on Ullmark. Bob made a couple of saves with Cats players clearing the rebound and clearing the zone to keep it a two-goal game. Forsling, Ekblad, and Tkachuk all got shots off, but none were converted. Yet another rush chance forced Bobrovsky to make a huge save on Perron. The bottom six put more pressure on Ullmark with Gadjovich, Greer, and Samoskevich taking shots. The Sens responded with pressure of their own, and Bob made some great saves, including one on a last-second shot by Brady Tkachuk. The first period was dominated by Ottawa and the Panthers looked like they were amid an emotional hangover from Tuesday’s opener.
Pressure from both sides early had the goalies looking sharp. The Panthers’ fourth line put in another great shift in the offensive zone with a shot from Gadjovich getting blocked. Bob made two saves, and the Florida defense did a much better job of boxing out the Ottawa forwards. Batherson got called for tripping giving the Cats their second powerplay. Balinskis got two shots off, as did Verhaeghe, but they all got saved or tipped wide. Nate Schmidt also got a shot off during the powerplay that got saved and the Sens killed the penalty. Jesper Boqvist’s shot hit the post and the Panthers had only allowed three SOG with just under 12 minutes left in the period. More pressure from Florida in the offensive zone showed a pick-up in intensity. Reinhart made a good defensive play, Bennet’s shot got glove saved, and Mikkola made a big hit. Shots from Bennett, Rodrigues, and Forsling all went wide. Gadjovich threw a big hit and Barkov’s hit forced a turnover. Balinskis had his shot blocker saved before the Senators finally got some pressure on Bobrovsky, and he made a couple of good saves. A questionable interference call on Mikkola sent Ottawa back on the powerplay. The Panthers clear the zone quickly and break up a zone entry with good stick work. Barkov broke up an entry attempt, Lundell cleared a loose puck in the slot, and Bob made a save on Pinto from a broken play. A much better showing from the Cats’ PK killed off the penalty. Bennett sent the puck behind the net toward Forsling and a Matthew Tkachuk screen allowed the slapshot to go in to cut the lead 1-2. The Panthers held the o-zone in the final minutes of the period, where Forsling, Bennett, Verhaeghe, and other Cats got shots off, but they either got blocked or saved. HC Paul Maurice also opted to swap Rodrigues and Verhaeghe putting Rodrigues back with Barkov-Reinhart and Verhaeghe with Bennett-Tkachuk. Ottawa still held the advantage in all the stats categories but the Panthers made it closer in that period.
Florida and Ottawa traded shots and saves early in the final period. Samoskevich, Schmidt, Rodrigues, Lundell, and Bennett all got chances but no goals. Bob made saves on Gregor and Perron to keep it a one-goal deficit. The Panthers were pressuring in the offensive zone but the Senators were constantly in lanes and blocking shots or disrupting shot chances. Forsling had several shot chances that got blocked or saved, Verhaeghe’s got tipped high, Ekblad and Bennett’s got saved, and Mikkola hit the post. Verhaeghe, Tkachuk, and Samoskevich all had chances that didn’t convert, and then Bob made two good saves. Lundell and Kulikov both had looks, but Samoskevich’s wraparound attempt was the closest to tying the game. It felt like a matter of time before the Panthers would tie the game and they were dominating the o-zone time, but an Ekblad holding penalty killed some of the momentum with just under five minutes to go. Reinhart broke up a pass, Forsling made a good stick play to knock a puck free, and then Barkov cleared the zone. Florida cleared the zone again and Bob made a save just as the powerplay ended. A forced turnover allowed Bennett a shot that went just above the crossbar. With 1:52 left the Panthers pulled Bob for the extra attacker. Barkov’s stick broke on a shot attempt and then he got into a footrace with an Ottawa player. As Barkov went to make a play to deny the empty net goal, they got tangled up and he went hard into the end boards. Ultimately, Barkov needed to be helped off the ice by Rodrigues and Balinskis after he had been down on the ice for an extended period of time and was looked at by med staff. It was a scary moment as a Cats fan and it ended the game on a dour note after what had been a good final period of play. The Senators got the empty net goal anyway with 1:10 left on the clock and took the win for their home opener. The biggest difference in this game was the blocked shots where Ottawa held a 9-30 advantage.
Buffalo Sabres:
In the days following Barkov’s injury, there was plenty of speculation online. It was reported on Friday by at least two different sources that Sasha’s injury wasn’t as bad as was feared and that he was seen leaving the rink walking under his own power following the Ottawa game. The Panthers gave an official update on Saturday after their morning skate that Barkov is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks and imaging didn’t show a fracture. They’re optimistic that he’ll be able to play in the Global Series next month when the team travels to his home of Finland. Along with Barkov being out, Matthew Tkachuk was also out with an illness against Buffalo. This would be the first game the Cats would play this season with 2/3rds of their leadership out of the lineup, and they’d never played a game with both Barkov and Tkachuk out. Being down two players and Nosek still injured meant that Patrick Giles got the callup and would make his NHL debut. It also meant that Florida would run an 11-7.
Luostarinen-Lundell-Reinhart was reunited. Verhaeghe-Bennett-Rodrigues and Greer-J.Boqvist-Samoskevich were new look lines, and Gadjovich-Giles were the final two paired together. The defensive pairings didn’t change with Adam Boqvist back in the lineup and paired with Balinskis, Schmidt ran as the extra defenseman. Spencer Knight got his first start of the season with Devon Levi in net for the Sabers. Lundell’s line got the start with Forsling-Ekblad on defense. A. Boqvist had his shot deflected high, Lundell’s got blocked, and Schmidt’s got saved. Knight made a nice save of Quinn and a kick save after the Cats failed to clear the zone. Rodrigues did get the clear to allow a line change and Forsling’s shot got saved, Gadjovich on the rebound also got saved. Bennett’s shot got kick saved but then a great setup from AJ Greer to Nate Schmidt put the Panthers up 1-0 off a nice wrister shot from the slot; 10:59 left in the period. With 8:34 on the clock, Greer got tackled to the ice by Greenway and both were given minor penalties. Greenway for roughing and Greer for slashing; Greenway went after Greer for being net front and trying to put in a rebound. During the 4v4 Forsling and Ekblad both got shots off but got saved. Forsling then got back to make a great play to deny a Buffalo chance. Mikkola had great pressure to force the puck back into the Sabers’ zone and the penalties were killed off. A questionable holding call sent Forsling to the box with 5:41 on the clock and the first powerplay going to Buffalo. Greer blocked a shot, a Florida short-handed chance got broken up, and Lundell had good pressure to kill off the penalty and they allowed zero SOG. Knight made a glove save but a loose, bouncing puck in the blue paint got tapped in by Greenway for the 1-1 tie and 3:14 left in the period. A crisp cross-ice pass and too much space for Thompson allowed him to shoot 5-hole and give the Sabers a 1-2 lead with 2:33 to go. Reinhart’s shot went wide and the Panthers fought off another dangerous chance in the blue paint at the end of the period.
Florida pressured early, with Reinhart getting two shots to the net, and Bennett had a wraparound attempt but no tying goal. An unfortunate misplay by Knight started a multiple-scoring chance opportunity for the Sabers and led to Jokiharju scoring short side which extended the lead to 1-3. At 17:37, Zucker got called for interference, and the Panthers got their first chance on the man advantage. With both Barkov and Tkachuk out the top unit had A. Boqvist, Rodrigues, Reinhart, Bennett, and Verhaeghe. Rodrigues and Verhaeghe both had shots saved, Knight saved a short-handed attempt, Samoskevich’s shot was saved and the Sabers killed the penalty. Gadjovich and Bennett both threw big hits, then Knight made a save on a breakaway. Kulikov was sent to the box for hooking at 14:18 on the clock. Florida cleared the zone early, Luostarinen got a short-handed chance that was saved, Greer cleared the zone, Ekblad got a short-handed attempt that was saved, and the Panthers killed off the penalty. More pressure from Buffalo had Knight making several saves. Lundell got punched in the face at center ice in front of the ref but it wasn’t called. Lundell and Tuch had gotten tangled up, and Tuch punched him. Florida allowed more pressure from the Sabers, with Knight making several more saves, including another one on a breakaway attempt. The Panthers were struggling with the speed of Buffalo with little to no forecheck. Samuelsson made the lead 1-4 after Knight was down and out on save from a different shot, he slid back over to cover as much of the net as possible but didn’t get enough on the shot to stop it. Greenway was sent off for slashing where the Panthers finally capitalized on the man advantage. With 1:18 on the clock, Reinhart took the shot, and Bennett tipped it in, and the Cats cut the lead to two. Florida pressured Levi to end the period but was still in a two-goal deficit.
Early period pressure from Ekblad, Mikkola, and Rodrigues started the final twenty minutes. Then things settled down and went back and forth for the first half of the period. Florida struggled to have sustained time in the Sabers’ zone. Forsling’s shot got blocked, Lundell’s went high, and then another breakaway shot from Buffalo hit the post. Knight then made a save on a backhanded shot and a Greenway shot. Forsling left the ice for a delay of game penalty and 6:58 on the clock. The Panthers hadn’t allowed a SOG during the powerplay. Lundell sent it in deep, Ekblad cleared the zone, Knight made a save, and the Cats killed the penalty. After a rough two games of allowing powerplay goals, the PK seems to have settled down. Florida was dumping the puck in deep but not chasing and allowed Levi to be active in playing the puck. Florida pulled the goalie with 3:03 left to play. They got pressure from the extra attacker but didn’t convert, and then Tuch scored the empty net goal to give the Sabers a 2-5 win.
A good start to the week led to a sloppy performance in the last game of the week. It could be because Florida’s not used to running an 11-7 or that there was missing leadership; either way, the Panthers will have to figure out how to play without Tkachuk and Barkov for a bit. It was reported by the team Monday morning that Tkachuk is expected to miss at least a week with illness. It’s still way too early in the season to panic over anything, this team is still feeling things out with the new players and no fully healthy lineup till at least sometime next month. The Boston game showed a good chunk of what they’re capable of when they focus for a full sixty minutes.
