Florida wrapped up its week with two road games to Pittsburg and New York. The difference between these games was night and day; the Pitt match spent much of its time with specialty teams out and fighting, while the Islanders game was mostly clean 5-on-5 play and a defensive battle. Sam Reinhart continued on his goal-scoring tear and headed into the All-Star game next week, and stellar goal-tending from Bobrovsky and Stolarz were on display. One frustration from a fan point of view is seeing the Panthers give up game-tying goals in back-to-back nights when the opponents pulled the goalie for the man advantage. Overall, it was a good road trip that had the Cats walking away with four more points headed into the All-Star break and sitting solidly in second place in the Atlantic Division.
Pittsburg:
After beating Arizona at home, Florida traveled up to Pittsburg to take on the Penguins. There was no change to the line pairings, so Barkov was still down on the 3rd line with Samoskevich and Rodrigues. Verhaeghe’s line started for the forwards, Mikkola-Montour was the starting defensive pairing, Bobrovsky was in the net, and Alex Nedeljkovic was in the crease for the Pens. This match was very demanding of specialty teams that started early, with Verhaeghe going to the box for holding just 22 seconds into the opening period. Pitt would convert the powerplay into the opening goal, with Guntzel tipping in a shot from Rust. Florida responded by getting time in the offensive zone with shots from Barkov, Lundell, and Bennett. Lundell had a second shot that hit the crossbar but was just a bit high and bounced over the net.
Pettersson got called for holding 3:40 into the period, sending the Panthers to their first powerplay. The Penguins PK is ranked 7th in the NHL. However, Rodrigues turned a rebound off a shot from Ekman-Larsson into a powerplay goal with 15:08 on the clock, a 1-1 tie game. Bennett was the secondary assist and, with that point, put him at 11 points in 11 games. Rodrigues had a shot get saved, followed by Verhaeghe’s chance getting blocked. Pitt had an odd-man rush chance, but a great play from Bennett broke it up. It was mostly back-and-forth at the midway point in the period before the Penguins had some chances. Bobrovsky was there to make the saves to keep it tied, an especially great save on Crosby’s breakaway shot. The Panthers got a two-on-one chance; however, Verhaeghe’s shot went high, followed by Ekblad’s going wide. With just over 3:35 left to play, Tkachuk took a big hit, and a fight broke out between the teams. Gadjovich took a punch while the lines were changing, and players were unwilling to separate; No penalties were called. Pitt would hold the offensive zone time late in the period. A high stick that Montour took to the face didn’t get called, and Rodrigues took a big hit. Teammates Bennett and Tkachuk didn’t like that and were quick to respond with some shoving on the Penguins player. At the end of twenty minutes, the game was tied 1-1.
The second period is where the penalties started to get out of hand. Seven total penalties were called, with five being called on Florida and only two called on Pitt. The Penguins held the offensive zone time in the opening 4 minutes of play. Bob made a big save, and then Ekblad was able to clear the rebound. Lomberg got called for interference at 15:29 on the clock. A Crosby shot went wide, and Barkov jumped on the rebound to clear the zone. Reinhart and Ekblad made a short-handed rush, with the shot hitting the crossbar. Bob then made a save, resulting in a short-handed chance for Stenlund to get saved. Back to the 5-on-5 play, Barkov took a big hit that sent him to the ice, and he didn’t get up until he was helped off the ice by a trainer. Prior to Barkov taking the hit, three other penalties could’ve been called but weren’t. This Florida team doesn’t sit by when something like this happens, so the players on the ice immediately jumped Letang for the hit. The refs call a 5-minute major so they can review the play, Barkov was nowhere near the puck when Letang hit him. After review, the refs called a double minor on Letang, 2 minutes for tripping and 2 minutes for interference. Crosby had also tripped a player, but the referees didn’t call it. Bennett stepped into Barkov’s PP spot. Montour and Tkachuk both got a couple of shots off during the powerplay, but they didn’t find the back of the net. Loustarinen got tripped by Nedeljkovic after the whistle sounded right in front of an official, and they didn’t call it. A play that could be its own highlight reel that Cats fans have seen many a time this year, Tkachuk passed to Reinhart to score on the PP 2-1 lead with 8:11 to play. The only downside to the goal is that it happened 2 seconds into the second minor penalty to be served. That brings Reinahart’s powerplay goals to 19, a point streak of 12 games, 36 goals on the year, and tied the franchise record for powerplay goals in a single season. He’s now spent about one-third of the season averaging a goal a game, with the majority of his goals coming on the powerplay. Stenlund went to the box for hooking with 7:05 left in the middle frame. Reinhart made a steal and then cleared the zone, and yet another short-handed chance for Florida with that shot hitting the crossbar. Letang was still public enemy no. 1 for the Panthers; Tkachuk went after him, and so did Bennett.
Bennett ended up getting a double minor, 2 minutes for crosschecking and 2 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Stenlund was still in the box, so the Pens got 22 seconds of a 5-on-3 PP. Amazingly Barkov still got a short-handed chance during the 5-on-3. Bobrovsky came up big for the Cats late in the period, making saves at 5:04, 4:05, and 3:48. Half the double minor killed, and Bob made more saves to keep the lead. He saved a shot on Karlsson and then a shot at 2:24 and one more at 1:47. The Panthers were able to kill off the double minor, to Penguin fan’s displeasure. However, Pittsburg went right back to the powerplay when Lundell decided to have a go at Letang; he got sent to the box for roughing with just over a minute on the clock. Bob made one more glove save before the period ended, Florida with the 2-1 lead and half the penalty killed.
Pitt had four consecutive powerplays in the second period and was starting the third with half of the last one. The Panthers killed it off and then Verhaeghe and Bennett used their speed to get to a loose puck in the Pitt side for a point-blank chance that was stopped. The Cats had heavy offensive pressure early with shots from Ekman-Larsson, Kulikov, and Rodrigues that all got saved. During this period, Florida was utilizing aggressive forechecking to force turnovers. A collision between players happened in the neutral zone, but it was Bennett who got called for interference. Another high stick on Montour wasn’t called by the refs. Forsling made a great block at the goalpost to keep the Florida lead. The penalty was killed, but the Pens kept the offensive pressure around the midway point in the period. So far the Panthers had held Pitt to just four shots on goal. The offensive pressure was then ramped up by Florida, Kulikov with a shot that got blocked. Reinhart made a strong defensive play to break up the Penguin rush chance. Bob made a stop on a wraparound chance. The penalties weren’t done, Ekblad went to the box for tripping with 5:25 on the clock. Forsling played eight and a half minutes on the PK, and Ekblad played just over 7 minutes. Bob made more big saves at 4:49 and 4:38 to keep the lead. Mikkola cleared the zone, followed by Ekman-Larsson clearing it again to kill the penalty. The Penguins pulled their goalie with just over a minute left, they then converted the man advantage to tie the game with 41.5 seconds left in the period. Malkin found the loose puck that had pinballed around before he put it in the net. In the dying seconds, Tkachuk, Bennett, Montour, and Reinhart all took shots to try to end it in regulation. To no avail, this game headed into overtime, but the Cats had extended their point streak to 7 games.
Rodrigues, Barkov, and Reinhart started for overtime. When Verhaeghe got on the ice he had a couple of shots that got saved. Florida was holding the offensive zone during the 3-on-3 play. Reinhart’s shot got deflected, and Montour had a one-on-one chance but missed. No score during the 3v3, so it heads to a shootout. Rakell started for the Pens, and his wrister shot went wide, Lundell started for Florida and he tried to go 5 hole but got stopped. Crosby was next, and Bob made the stick save on him; Barkov followed and scored with his wrist shot. Guentzel shot at Bob, who thought he made the save, but the puck had just enough momentum to get past the top of his glove and score. Who else but Sam Reinhart was next who scored to win the game, 3-2 the final score.
New York Islanders:
After an emotionally charged game against Pittsburg, the Panthers headed to New York to take on the Islanders. The Reinhart line would start, Forsling-Ekblad on defense, and Stolarz between the pipes; Semyon Varlamov was the starting goaltender for the Islanders. The Cats set the franchise record for consecutive road wins at 7 with a win over Pittsburg; they looked to extend it to 8 games. Since January 2nd, Reinhart has had 13 goals, four assists, and 17 points, so teams are looking to slow him down. The Panthers have been good on the road as of late; they haven’t lost a road game since December 18th and are out-scoring opponents 31-12, with 10 of those goals coming on the power play. Florida took control of the offensive zone first, getting shots from Ekman-Larsson and Forsling, but they went wide and got blocked, respectively. A loose puck got deflected toward the net, but Varlamov made the stop. The game became mostly a back-and-forth in the first 5 minutes. Stenlund got a shot off but it was glove saved by Varlamov. The Islanders responded with their own shot that Stolarz saved. It was more up and down the ice at the midway point, a lot of skating but not a lot of shooting from either team. Florida was moving the puck quickly to avoid the forecheck pressure from New York. Tkachuk made a shot that went wide, and Montour got a chance off the rush that got saved. Mackie Samoskevich didn’t play much against Pitt due to all the specialty teams, the same can be said for the bottom two lines that aren’t a part of the units. They’re fresher for this game than the top 6 players. Gadjovich got called for tripping with 6:44 left to play. During this 4 game stretch, the Panthers’ PK has been at 94%. They pressured the puck carrier heavily and didn’t allow a shot on goal, penalty killed. Montour made a great diving play to block an Islanders shot. A stretch pass to Rodrigues gives him a shot chance that gets glove saved. Holstrom got called for tripping and sent the Panthers to the powerplay with just over 3 minutes left in the period. The Islanders were aware of how dangerous Reinhart is on the powerplay as the had 3 guys on him, Tkachuk was still able to make a pass to him but the shot got tipped away. After 20 minutes of play, the game was scoreless.
New York opened up the second period with a short-handed chance, Stolarz was there to make back-to-back saves and then a glove save after the penalty was killed. The Islanders controlled the offensive zone for the majority of the opening 4 minutes. The Panthers responded by Barkov using speed on the rush to pass to Reinhart, whose shot got saved, followed up by Ekblad’s shot getting saved. Head Coach Paul Maurice made one change during the intermission: Barkov was moved back to the top line to play with Reinhart and Rodrigues, while Mackie was put with Lundell and Lourstarinen. Gadjovich and Lombger set up a prime scoring chance, but it was saved by Varlamov, and then Tkachuk passed to Bennett, whose shot got saved as well. Barzal got called for hooking, sending Florida back on the power play. Verhaeghe’s shot went high, and then Tkachuk made a no-look pass from behind the net to Reinhart to score. In other news, the sky is blue, and Reinhart is nearly unstoppable on the power play. That’s now 20 PP goals (a franchise record), 37th goal on the year, 13-game point streak, and scored in 9 consecutive road games. Mackie made a steal and took the shot, and Varlamov made the shoulder save. MacLean goes to the box for tripping, so the Cats go back on the power play. Florida held the offensive zone, getting shots from Reinhart, Ekman-Larsson, and Bennett, but no goals. The Islanders killed the penalty. Mackie made an impressive play, taking a shot while falling, but no goal reward. Holmstrom would tie things up with 3:31 on the clock. The Panthers had only allowed one shot on goal, but that’s all the Islanders needed to tie the game. Florida made a heavy offensive push in the last three minutes, but none found the net. Things stayed tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes.
The Cats held the offensive zone in the opening 3 minutes of the third period. Forsling got a shot off that got saved and then the Islanders cleared the rebound. Stenlund and Lomberg worked to force a turnover. New York then got time in their offensive zone, but the Cats were playing great defense. Ekblad cleared the zone, and Forsling broke up a shot attempt. Mackie was able to draw a tripping penalty by Bolduc just over 5 minutes into play. New York was back to heavily covering Reinhart after he made them pay on the last power play. Not that it made much of a difference; Barkov made the shot, and Tkachuk tipped it in to take the lead 2-1 with 14 minutes left to play. Compared to the last two games against Pittsburg and Arizona, the Cats have skated a much cleaner game and been able to draw penalties. The Panthers have been able to keep Barzal quiet through 2 periods, he’s not had a single shot on goal. Ekman-Larsson made a shot that got saved, and then Verhaeghe got a chance off the rush that went high. New York’s 3rd line was the only line that’d been able to create any scoring pressure against Florida. Bennett made a backhand shot, and then Verhaeghe took a shot off the rebound, but no goals. Barkov made a quick drop pass for Montour, whose shot got blocked. The Panthers were out-shooting the Islanders 12-3 in the 3rd period. Barkov had been stellar in the faceoff circle, winning 13 out of 14 faceoffs. New York pulled the goalie with just under 2 minutes to play, and twenty seconds later, they’d tie the game off a cross-ice pass to Palmieri. Florida responded by putting a lot of offensive pressure and a flurry of shots from multiple players in the last minutes of the game. None would find the net, and so, for the second night in a row, they were headed into overtime. Barkov, Reinhart, and Montour got the start for overtime, Montour’s shot went wide. Verhaeghe got a chance that also went wide, followed by a wraparound that got stopped. The Islanders got a breakaway chance that Stolarz saved. Rodrigues broke into the zone with speed, creating a 2-on-1 chance. A quick cross-ice pass to Ekman-Larsson, who took the shot and finally beat Varlamov. The Cats won 3-2 in OT and extended the road win record to 8 games. Florida heads into the All-Star break, sitting comfortably in 2nd place in the Atlantic division.
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