Three takeaways: Top line humming along as Panthers keep finding ways to win
In their third season together, Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart are clicking like never before
There’s just something about those Comeback Cats.
For the second straight game, the Florida Panthers took an early lead only to fall behind and have to come back to claim not one, but two points in the standings.
They did just that, both on Monday against Columbus and Wednesday in Washington.
The win improved Florida’s record to 7-4-1 on the young season, which is a commendable accomplishment for several reasons.
The Panthers have been far from full strength, missing two top defenders and a key centermen, and remember they stumbled out of the gate, dropping the first two games of the campaign.
Not all the victories have been pretty, but that doesn’t really matter right now, as long as they’re winning.
And that takes us to our first takeaway from Wednesday’s win.
Take Wins However You Get Them
There isn’t much more to be said on that, other than what the Panthers themselves had to say, so let’s give them the floor.
Head Coach Paul Maurice: “We've had some unusual things happen against us in the last two games, strange goals, off legs. We’re a resilient group, so I’m happy with it. It's not going to look perfect right now, we don't have that expectation.”
Forward Sam Reinhart: “The identity we're wanting to play, the gameplan we're trying to execute on a nightly basis…to be successful when you're not 100%, and when it comes down to it, you can’t be 100% all the time, and we saw that last year, so these are important ones at this time of year to build that structure and build that consistency.”
Forward Evan Rodrigues: “We've had some great starts in games, we’ve had some comeback wins, so we know the ability is there. I think now it's just continuing to do the small things over and over again, and that's how you kind of put together a full 60 (minutes). There's definitely no quit in this team. No matter what the score is, we're not going to roll over.”
Barkov and Reinhart Finally Producing Together
Moving Reinhart to the top line with Rodrigues and Panthers captain Sasha Barkov has proved to be a very savvy move by Maurice.
We’ve seen Barkov and Reinhart paired up many times in past years, but they could never seem to click.
Well they’re sure clicking now.
“It's nice for Sam (Reinhart),” Maurice said. “The year before I came, and my first year, he spent a 20-game block at the start of the season with Sasha (Barkov) and it didn't work. But last year it did, and they just couldn’t score. They were getting the same chances (they are now), they just couldn't produce, so you start to wonder, like you thought you saw the chemistry and you could feel it as a coach, it just didn't convert anything so you can't believe it after a while. They've certainly made believers out of us now.”
E-Rod the Magic Ingredient?
Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one.
Rodrigues can do a little bit of everything, and he’s finding ways to compliment both Barkov and Reinhart’s game while still playing his own style and finding ways to contribute.
Having a player like Rodrigues on the roster is invaluable because he can fit on so many different kinds of forward lines.
He’s also got a nice little bag of tricks to go along with his veteran presence and high hockey IQ.
“Speed for sure, and some reliability,” Maurice said. “He's a bit of a hybrid guy, he can play both sides (of the ice) equally as well. He skates very, very well, and then he can make some plays and he’s competitive on the puck. Barkov can play with just about anybody, but he needs at least one other player with some speed so that he can kind of loosen up and get his game going.”
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