Florida started it’s four-game road stretch this week and opened up against Arizona. The games this week were plagued by penalties both for & against the Panthers and player injuries. Reinhart continues to be one of the hottest players in the league, especially on the power play. Matthew Tkachuk is starting to heat up, making that second line even more dangerous, and Bobrovsky has been very solid in the net, coming up with big saves when the Cats needed it most. There was no shortage of action in any game this week, giving me plenty to break down for the deep dive recap, so here’s how things shook out.
Arizona:
Florida made the trip out west to Mullet Arena to face down the Arizona Coyotes. The Panthers are currently in second place in the Atlantic Division, and Arizona was sitting in the second wild card spot in the west. Florida’s top line of Rodrigues-Barkov-Reinhart kicked things off, Forsling-Ekblad on defense, and Bobrovsky between the pipes. On the Coyotes’ side, Karel Vejmelka was in the net. The Cats took control early and spent the opening minutes in the offensive zone. However, the penalties would start early, with a goalie interference call negating an Arizona goal from Cooley to keep the game scoreless. The Coyotes would get their own extended time in the Panthers’ defensive zone, but Bobrovsky was locked in early and made some big saves. Florida would get some good shot chances from Verhaeghe, Forsling, and Montour midway through the period. It would be Verhaeghe to break the ice and score off of a breakout chance to give the Cats a 1-0 lead. A fight between Cousins and Kirkland broke out with 8:06 left to play in the first, and then Loustarinen would leave the ice hurt after getting tripped by Cooley, giving Florida their first power play of the night. There were plenty of shots from the Panthers, and they spent nearly the entire two minutes in the offensive zone. Arizona killed the penalty and got some of their own offensive pressure late in the first. A crosscheck from Stenlund sent the Coyotes to the power play to end the period and begin the second, 1-0 Cats lead out of the first.
Florida killed the rest of the penalty to open the second period. O’Brien tripped Tkachuk just 3 minutes into the period, sending the Cats back on the power play. Once again there was plenty of offensive pressure on the PP from Florida but no goal reward, another one killed by the Coyotes. The Cats were great at disrupting zone entries for Arizona, who have a lot of speed and quick transition. This period saw a lot of back and forth, with shots on both sides getting blocked by players. Florida had an aggressive forecheck and were winning the board battles, plenty of shot chances, but none found the back of the net. As the period wound down, tempers flared between Zucker and Forslight when Zucker took exception to a hit Cousins had made. Zucker boarded Cousins, which led to Forsling fighting him in what was his first fight ever. There was a lengthy review by the officials who initially called a five-minute major; when all was said and done, Zucker got five minutes for boarding, five minutes for fighting, and a game misconduct; Forsling was given five minutes for fighting, two minutes for instigating and a 10-minute game misconduct. The game was still 1-0 Florida after 40 minutes of play.
Cousins wasn’t on the bench to start the 3rd period, and some adjustments from Arizona on the PK gave them a good 2-on-1 chance, but Bob was like a brick wall and made the stop. A puck getting misplayed by Ekblad would end up leading to a Coyote shorty tying the game up at one apiece. The power play from the Panthers didn’t look nearly as aggressive in the 3rd as it was in the 2nd. Penalties would continue to be the name of the game as Lundell got tripped by Stecher to give the Cats their 4th power play of the night. They’d finally get rewarded as who else but Barkov would shoot the puck for Reinhart to tip in for the goal, 2-1 lead with 12:04 left in the period. This seemed to spark the offense for Florida as Tkachuk would score under a minute later for the 3-1 lead. Lundell absorbed a double hit from two Coyotes and then got cross-checked by O’Brien halfway through the period. Another lengthy review from the refs led to O’Brien getting a 10 minute misconduct and tossed from the rest of the game. A fifth power play chance for the Cats would come away with some nice shots but no goals. Ekman-Larsson went to the box for holding and a strong showing from the PK, which allowed 0 shots. Forsling finished serving his 10-minute misconduct, and on his first shift back on the ice, he scored an empty netter with 2:21 left on the clock, a 4-1 lead Florida. Time ran out, and the Panthers began the road trip with a win over Arizona.
Vegas:
The second meeting this season and a rematch of the Stanley Cup final, Florida clashed with the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. Playing in Vegas, the Cats haven’t had good luck playing on the VGK home ice, as they’ve never won there. Vegas was coming out of a big loss in the Winter Classic to Seattle while the Panthers were coming off a win over Arizona and looked to extend their win streak. Sam Reinhart was named the Panthers representative to the All-Star game in Toronto. This will be Reinhart’s first-ever All-Star Game, and it’s much deserved as he’s had 20+ goals on the season while also leading the league in Power Play Goals at 11. Matthew Tkachuk’s line started the match with Montour’s defensive pairing and Bobrovsky in the net. It was back and forth early, with neither team having any extensive offensive zone time. However, Florida ends up with a player injured early in the period when Rodrigues blocked a shot by McNabb at point-blank range. Vegas broke the ice, scoring off a rebound that went right to Pavel Dorofeyev. The first half of the period was all Vegas, as the had pace and urgency that was missing from the Winter Classic game. Bobrovsky made some great saves during the stretch, bailing the team out and keeping Vegas to only a one-goal lead. Reinhart went to the box at 11:22 for a delay of game; he attempted to argue with the officials that the puck hit the glass before it went out of play. The Cat’s PK stayed hot and killed off the penalty and then went to take control in the Vegas Zone to get a couple of their own shots. A Vegas penalty sends Florida to it’s first power play of the night. Bennet captializes off a puck that rebounds off the backboards and scores for Florida, tie game 1-1. Late in the 1st, Denisenko collides with Kulikov, which sends his stick into Bobrovsky’s face and a second power play for the Panthers. Florida gets a couple of shots off, Vegas gets a steal that Bob saves, and the period ends with a tie score.
The Cats take a penalty less than a minute into the 2nd period when Mikkola high-sticks Carrier. The PK goes back to work and even gets a couple of short-handed shots off that Logan Thompson saves. Undisciplined, Florida takes a second penalty when Kulikov trips Mark Stone to give the Golden Knights a 5-on-3-man advantage for 40 seconds. They kill the 5 on 3 only to take another penalty with Ekblad going to the box for hooking. So the 5 on 3 advantage stays for another minute twenty for Vegas. The Golden Knights also take their time out; Bruce Cassidy not happy with the power play performance from his team. The rest of the 5 on 3 advantage is killed by Florida, with them only allowing one shot through the entire stint. Tempers get heated in the 2nd period, Whitecloud and Bennet get into a scrap, resulting in a third power play for the Panthers. Whitecloud got two minutes for elbowing and two minutes for roughing; Bennet got two minutes for roughing and left the ice to get looked at. Barkov was on the receiving end of Whitecloud’s elbowing and did not return to the game. Reinhart took a shot during the PP, which Tkachuk tipped in, 2-1 lead Florida with 13:45 left to play in the period. Bobrovsky got a great kick save on Pachal and then knocked a wrist shot from Cotter. Florida got more offensive pressure in the back half of the period and yet another power play when Carrier goes to the box for cross-checking. The Panthers’ PP continues it’s hot streak, with Verhaeghe scoring off a Tkachuk shot that rebounded for the 3-1 lead with 1:18 left in the period. Vegas only got five shots total in the 2nd period and had no shots in the last five minutes.
Verhaeghe got a shot off early in the 3rd that hits Thompson in the mask. Vegas controlled most of the possession in the opening 5 minutes, but Florida’s been excellent in the 3rd with a +15 goal differential. Bennet gets a pass to Tkachuk off the rush, but the shot gets kicked out by Thompson, and yet another VGK penalty. Whitecloud goes back to the box this time for slashing; Florida was 2 for 4 on the PP going into their 5th man advantage of the night. Reinhart made Vegas pay and scored off the power play yet again with 14:37 left to play. Quick passing from Verhaeghe & Tkachuk set up Reinhart in the slot to shoot and score. Reinhart is the NHL leader in power-play goals and increased that number to 12. Vegas managed to kill off Florida’s 6th power play after Pachal went to the box for high sticking, and then they got their own power play chance when Reinhart got his second delay of game call. VGK got 40 seconds of offensive zone time before Florida managed to clear the puck. As the period winds down Hague and Lomberg get into it after Hague shoved Lomberg, both got penalties and were sent to the locker room with less than two minutes left on the clock. Time ran out, and for the first time, Florida won on Vegas’ home ice, 4-1, the final score. The Cats sweep the regular season series and look to end the week strong in their match against Colorado.
Colorado:
Game 3 of the road trip brought the Panthers to the home of the Avalanche and a fight between two of the best teams in the league. The Florida top line of Rodrigues-Barkov-Reinhart would take the first shift, Forsling-Ekblad anchoring the defense, and Bobrovsky was back in the net. For Colorado, Prosvetov was in the net with the Avs top line opening play. There was no shortage of action in the first three minutes of the period, as Florida wasted no time breaking the ice. Carter Verhaeghe scored with a top-shelf shot just a minute ten into the start of the game; Verhaeghe got assists from Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennet. Only two minutes later, Sam Reinhart scored after tipping in a shot from Forsling and Barkov with the secondary assist. The Avs get a couple of looks, but Florida is able to block the shots, or Bobrovsky came up with the necessary save. The Panthers weren’t done scoring yet as Reinhart scored another goal off a top-shelf shot with 12:18 left in the period. Colorado gets some offensive pressure with just under nine minutes to go however, Bob comes up big for the Cats to make the saves and keep the lead. Barkov committed the first penalty of the day with a high stick double minor, and so the Avs got a four minute power play chance. Colorado does hold the zone for most of the PP; however, the Cats’ PK continues to be aggressive, and they kill the penalty. Olofsson then goes to the box for cross-checking with just under three minutes left; the Panthers do a lot of passing but not a lot of shooting. A crazy start to the first period gives Florida the 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The weirdness of this afternoon game wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Colorado came out extremely strong in the 2nd scoring just 21 seconds into the period off a shot from Makar that found the back of the net. It didn’t stop there as Josh Manson got in on the action 30 seconds later, deflecting a shot that bounced in the crease and the crossed the line. A time out is called by the Cats to try and settle things down, but Tkachuk got into a fight with Girard because he took some swings at Bobrovsky. This escalated into a bigger fight between the two teams, and there was gear scattered all over the ice. Both players went to the box, four minutes to Tkachuk for roughing and two minutes to Girard for interference. Nichushikin would tie the game after only 35 seconds on the power play, Makar and Rantanen with the assists. A couple of shots for both teams get saved to keep the game tied. Just under nine minutes to play, and the Panthers break into the Avs zone, a wrist shot from Ekman-Larsson at the blue line crosses the line to give Florida the 4-3 lead. Not liking that goal, Colorado makes a goalie change and sends Alexander Georgiev between the pipes. He was supposed to have the day off, having had started the last nine straight games. With 3:04 left on the clock, Lomberg goes to the penalty box for tripping, but Florida is able to kill it off despite the Avs controlling a lot of zone time.
A one-goal lead for Florida coming into the 3rd, they take control in the Avs zone early with a change to some of the lines; Lundell was now centering Tkachuk’s line with no Bennet present. Jonathan Drouin got a breakaway chance and made the most of it tying the game up at four a piece, 16:29 to go in the period. Rodrigues goes to the bench, having taken a high stick to the face, resulting in a four-minute power play for the Panthers. Ross Colton was the offender for the Avs and headed to the box, then O’Connor joined him, taking a delay of game penalty. 5 on 3, the man advantage for Florida, and Reinhart completes the hat trick, his 7th career hat trick. The scoring for the Cats wasn’t ready to quit, with Stenlund scoring off a no-look backhanded shot that found the net 8:59 into the period. Stenlund’s chance came right off the face off, Lomberg got credited with the assist. Some massive confusion on Colorado’s side on whether Georgiev was leaving the ice or not for the man advantage gave Matthew Tkachuk a wide open to shoot at and a 7-4 lead with just under four minutes to play. The Avs give the empty net strategy another go, yet much to their disappointment, for the second time in under a minute Florida scores on the open net, this time from Verhaeghe. One final penalty on Kurtis MacDermid gives the Panthers’ a power play, which gets killed. In what was a strange game of runs of goal scoring and momentum swings, Florida comes away with the 8-4 win and still two points behind Boston who beat Tampa Bay in a similar fashion. The away game road trip wraps up on Tuesday against St. Louis.
