The Panthers are 7-1-0 over their past eight games

The first home game following an extended road trip can be a challenge, particularly for east coast teams returning from three time zones away.

That was part of the challenge the Florida Panthers faced on Monday night.

Another element that made Florida’s task more difficult was the team they were hosting, the high-flying, top-heavy, win starved Edmonton Oilers.

As we’ve learned in recent years, falling behind early is no big issue for these Panthers.

The Comeback Cats overcame multiple deficits, including an early 2-0 hole, to take down Connor McDavid and the Oilers 5-3.

Florida received contributions from across the lineup, and that takes us right into our first takeaway from the win.

Niko’s big night

Panthers blueliner Niko Mikkola is on pace for the most productive offensive season of his career, and he’s doing it while providing excellent defensive play for Florida.

On Monday, Mikkola recorded his first two-goal game in the NHL. He’s up to 3 goals and 7 points through 18 games this season.

After the game, Mikkola couldn’t help but smile when asked how badly he wanted to go for a hat trick.

“That would be maybe too much for me,” he said. “Maybe if there was a chance to shoot at the empty net, I would take it, but I’ll take two (goals) for sure.”

The 27-year-old is playing in his fifth NHL season and appears to be turning a corner with the Panthers, excelling in head coach Paul Maurice’s defensive systems.

“He's a big man that can cover ice and he can play very aggressively,” Maurice said. “He gets on the ice with some pretty good players around him that will open it up, but it's a new kind of thing for him, to see him up the ice that much, but he's capable of doing it. We want all our defenseman to do that. He fits here, and we really felt he would, just by…he’s a very competitive guy, he competes every shift, he closes the gap, he battles, he’s physical, and then when the puck is going north, he gets involved. He looks good.”

Penalty kill steps up

The Panthers penalty kill has had some high highs and low lows in the early parts of the season, but there have been signs that greener pastures are on the horizon.

Despite Florida taking a pair of third period penalties against the extremely potent Oilers on Monday, the Panthers penalty kill came up with four of their best PK minutes of the season.

And not only did the Panthers kill both penalties off, but they didn’t allow the Oilers a single shot on goal.

“I know we gave one up in each of the last two or three games, but for six or seven games right now our penalty kill looks really good and really dialed in,” Maurice said. “Sergei (Bobrovsky) is a big part of that, but our penalty kill looks good.”

Florida finished the night 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 on the power play. 

Monday night sellout

The Panthers have become one of the top teams in the NHL, and South Florida has taken notice.

On a Monday night against Edmonton, the Panthers drew a sellout crowd of 19,628.

Larger crowds have been a regular occurrence at Amerant Bank Arena this season, which makes sense considering the Panthers are coming off a run to the Stanley Cup Final and have continued their winning ways into this season.

After Monday’s victory over the Oilers, Florida holds a 12-5-1 record and sits comfortably in second place in the Atlantic Division.

“It’s awesome,” Maurice said of the fan support. “And you know what? It does matter. When you're on the bench and you got one of the teams where you get a lot of people fans from the other team, and we don't see other sweaters anymore. It's just all Panthers sweaters, right? It matters. You can feel it. The crowd is energized, they have a good time. But it's way different…when the other team scores, it's quiet in our building and that's the way it should be. That's nice for the players. I'm glad that the players get to play in that environment, and I think the fans here enjoy the style of hockey we play.”

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