NHL Game Recap: Florida Panthers vs Columbus Blue Jackets 10/15/24

Tuesday night is the one game of the season where the outcome didn’t matter to anyone. It wasn’t about the final score, who had a great night, or who won. It was about starting the healing process for Columbus and celebrating Johnny Gaudreau, someone who meant so much to the hockey world and loved the game. HC Paul Maurice said prior to the game, “The game’s going to start when the puck drops, and hockey will take over. I think the first part is clearly the most important part of the event tonight.” After the game got underway, there were some great things to take away from the match. New defensive pair Niko Mikkola and Dmitry Kulikov were fantastic on the back end for the Panthers, the Luostarinen-Lundell-Reinhart line continued their tear, and Spence Knight had a great bounce back game coming up big for the Panthers when they needed him, especially in the third period.

Remembering Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau:

There was a hockey game played Tuesday night, but it didn’t matter. The home opener at Nationwide Arena was an emotional one for everyone in attendance as the Blue Jackets honored Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. There was a touching remembrance video with clips of Johnny getting interviewed, talking about how much he loves hockey and the places he played in, and highlighting clips from his career. There were also clips and photos of him and his family together. Columbus raised a banner in honor of Johnny with his number on it. Sam Bennett and Adam Boqvist both hugged Meredith Gaudreau after the banner raising; they both played with Johnny, Sam in Calgary, and Adam in Columbus. Adam Boqvist said after the game, “When I saw Meredith and the kids, my old teammates out there, it was pretty hard actually. I’m not going to lie. I think they had a beautiful ceremony. Johnny is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. It’s hard, they’re strong, the Gaudreau family.” In addition, the Blue Jackets lined up with no left wing to start the game, and Sean Monahan knocked the opening faceoff to Sam Bennet. The Refs allowed 13 seconds to tick off the clock before resetting for another puck drop at center ice. Sean Monahan also scored a goal and pointed toward the sky in acknowledgment of Johnny. It was a beautiful and touching start to the Columbus home opener and will hopefully allow that team to start the healing process.

New Line Pairings Working Well:

Luostarinen-Lundell-Reinhart isn’t necessarily a new line pairing as Paul Maurice used during the 2022-2023 season, but it hasn’t been the norm for Reinhart to move up to play with Barkov. It’s safe to say that with a little time back together, that line is clicking once again, and Lundell and Luostarinen have only gotten better since the last time those three were together. Lundell’s breakout performance during the playoffs has not dipped at the start of this season. The coaching staff are expecting a big year out of him, and he’s been so noticeable on the ice in the best ways. Luostarinen got the go-ahead goal off a great pass from Reinhart, who had taken a stretch pass from Mikkola. Lundell got another goal off a feed from Reinhart, who had to settle a bouncing puck with his stick. Reinhart then scored his fourth goal of the season off a give-and-go with Sam Bennett below the goal line and gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead just beating the buzzer in the second period. This line scored all the Florida goals against Boston and three out of the four against Columbus. For as good as Reinhart and Barkov are together, this line pairing is making a strong argument to be kept together. I doubt they will once Barkov is back, but if lines are struggling it does give Florida another line combination to work with. Mikkola-Kulikov is a brand new defensive pairing this season and an interesting one as they’re more of a defense-defensive pairing as opposed to the Mikkola-Montour pairing that gave defense from Mikkola and offense from Montour. That said, they were noticeable all over the ice and made some big plays for the Panthers to break up shot chances or block shots. Kulikov only scored one goal all of last season, Tuesday night he scored his first goal of the season off a beautiful shot from the blue line. The shot was high and then died over the shoulder of Merzlikins and landed in the back of the net. They had great pressure on Columbus all night long, especially down the stretch in the final half of the third period.

Spencer Knight Bounce Back:

Knight had a rough go in Buffalo; some of that was probably due to nerves, and some of it was due to the team in front of him. That said, he had a great game against the Blue Jackets. He stopped 35 of 38 shots for a .921 SV%, and when Florida needed him in the final minutes of the game to defend the lead, he did just that. Columbus had multiple chances to tie up the game with the six-on-five advantage, but Knight stood tall in the net to deny them the equalizer. Spencer had a jam-packed night against the Blue Jackets but looked settled in after his first game in Buffalo, a loss he clearly took hard, saying in that postgame that wins and losses start and end with him. While some fans overreacted on social media following the Sabers game, he proved them wrong with a great showing in his second start. Knight is still a very young goalie at only 23, he has plenty of chances to grow and get better as the season goes along and this performance is something he can use to build confidence. HC Paul Maurice had this to say on Knight, “It’s a long time, a year off. This is a huge game for him. We didn’t have much in the tank. They’ve got some firepower there. They can make some plays, for sure. Our goaltender was the key piece for us tonight.”

The Panthers split their road trip 2-2, wins and losses. They travel back home to finish out this week playing against the Canucks and Golden Knights.