Florida missed having Aleksander Barkov on the ice with the top line. Wednesday night’s match between the Panthers and the Red Wings featured quite a shuffling of the forward lines as Barkov is currently out with a lower-body injury. The top line now featured Reinhart paired with Lundell and Loustarinen, Rodrigues got moved down to the 3rd line, and the 4th line featured Gadjovich-Lorentz-Lockwood. Kulikov was back in the defensive lineup after missing last game having been injured and Bobrovsky was in the net. Tempers were hot early, with several fights breaking out in the first period, but Detroit would prove to be the more physical team, holding the advantage in blocked shots and hits. Sam Reinhart had a big milestone night but the Panthers are missing depth scoring at the moment from their bottom six.
Sam Reinhart’s Hot Streak:
Sam Reinhart continues to be a scoring star on this Panthers team. By scoring Wednesday night against the Red Wings, he extended his goal streak to eight games and set a franchise record. Reinhart scored short-handed, marking his 500th career NHL point, 20th specialty teams goal on the year, and his 33rd goal at the halfway point in the season. Florida as a team has scored four goals short-handed so far, and all of them came from Reinhart. He’s a huge presence on the ice in both the PK and PP units and a big reason why specialty teams have scored goals in eight consecutive games. Sam only trails Austin Matthews in goals this season and will set a career-high when the season comes to a close. If this level of production continues, Reinhart would be looking at having a 60+ goal season.
Bottom 6 Production:
In stark contrast, the Cats haven’t gotten as much production out of the bottom six forwards. Lockwood is knocking on the door of getting his first goal, having some great chances in the last two games, and even hitting a couple of posts. The scoring has come primarily from the top six, especially Reinhart, Tkachuk, Verhaeghe & Barkov. With Barkov out, it’s even more important to be able to get some goals coming from the bottom lines to take some of the pressure off the top lines. Teams know that the top six can score, so if you shut them down, it shuts down the goals, but if the Cats can get more goals out of the bottom six, it makes it harder for teams to just focus on the top lines. A great example of depth scoring is how the Seattle Kraken play, any given night one of the lines could go off and score a bunch but they achieve scoring from every line. They may not have a Sam Reinhart scorer on the roster, but they have three or four players who can all achieve 20+ goals in a season. The fourth line with Gadjovich and Lockwood have generated some very good chances over the last two games and are extremely close to breaking down that final barrier to get rewarded for the hard work.
Detroit’s Physicality and Defense:
There was no lack of fighting and scrums in the first period; five different players between the two teams went to the penalty box for roughing. Tkachuk lost his helmet a couple of times, once in the first period and once in the second period, and just like the game against New Jersey last week, he was quick to jump into a fight to defend his teammates. But despite the fights, Detroit’s physicality showed up most on defense; for the second straight game, Florida got outplayed on defense. Detorit held the advantage in blocked shots 26-13, and hits 20-14, bodies were put on the line to keep the dangerous goal scorers on the Cats roster from finding the back of the net. Most of Florida’s shots came from near the boards or closer to the blue line. There were several chances from right in front of the net on both tips that went wide or the breakaway chances that didn’t finish. Detroit’s defense did a good job of clearing the rebounded pucks, or Lyon was there to cover them. The Red Wings defense clogged up the shooting lanes, leaving the Cats with few clear shots at the net. Florida has a chance to end the week with a Win as they play one more home game against Minnesota before going on the road to Nashville.
