Three takeaways: Brandon Montour, Sam Bennett rounding into form, Bob steals the show
Both Bennett and Montour missed significant time this season due to injuries
It was a bit surprising to see the Florida Panthers drop back-to-back games by the same lopsided 4-0 score last week in Seattle and Vancouver.
That’s why it was a bit less startling when the Panthers smoked the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in their own barn on Saturday night.
Florida will be looking to keep the good times rolling when they wrap up their road trip on Monday night in Calgary, but before we get to the Flames, here are our three takeaways from a crucial win over the Oilers.
Importance of the Sam Bennett line
Possessing the puck and playing a physical brand of hockey are staples of how the Panthers want to perform.
The line of Sam Bennett centering Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk has proven that it can be consistent, shift in and shift out, playing the way head coach Paul Maurice wants.
On Saturday the trio combined for 3 goals and 7 points on 9 shots and a plus-9 rating, and while Verhaeghe came away with a pair of goals, it was Bennett’s play both at even strength and on special teams that really stood out.
“He was fast tonight, and that's why he and Matthew are so good together. You have two guys with exceptional speed, and I know Matthew didn't get the same number of points the other guys did (Saturday in Edmonton), but the line was just puck control, and that's where we got used to seeing last year, especially in the back half of that year when Matthew had such a big run, they would control the puck with their speed and with their hands and they were like that tonight.”
Bob’s big night
When Sergei Bobrovsky is operating at an elite level of goaltending, watch out world.
It’s what we saw for much of last season’s run to the Stanley Cup Final, and it’s what we saw Saturday at Rogers Place.
If you’d like to hear from Bob after the sparkling start, click here.
“You're not beating these guys on home ice unless you get a goaltending performance like that,” Maurice said Saturday. “He was quick, and as dynamic and as explosive he was in the crease, he was also incredibly calm. You could feel it from the bench that he wasn't getting beat tonight. We needed that, we needed our A-guys to step up and be great.”
Montour coming around
The additions of defenseman Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad to the Panthers lineup has provided a clear and welcomed infusion of talent to Florida’s back line.
They both returned on Nov. 17 in Anaheim and have slowly but surely been working their way back into form.
For Montour, his play on Saturday in Edmonton has been the closest he’s looked to the guy who had a monster year a season ago.
“That's what it's all about, right? We had a guy who had a huge year for us last year and he's a really good player, but when they miss that amount of time, it takes them a while,” Maurice said. “Now he gets the feeling like he's back. We've had a lot of times this year we've tried to generate (offense), we just couldn't get pucks through, but our back end moved, and he looked like the Brandon Montour we’re used to seeing.”
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