Florida's revamped top line flashed elite chemistry as the captain's highlight-reel tally and a dominant performance from his new star winger is generating some excitement.
The new-look first line for the Florida Panthers continued its impressive preseason start on Tuesday night in North Carolina.
Accounting for a pair of first period goals, the unit looked great for the second game in a row as Florida ultimately fell to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout.
New Panthers forward Brady Tkachuk scored his third goal in two games, giving Florida a quick 1-0 lead.
Standing at the top of the left circle, Tkachuk one-timed a pass from Sam Reinhart past goaltender Brandon Bussi, with Florida captain Sasha Barkov picking up the secondary assist.
Later in the first period, it was Barkov’s turn to light the lamp, and he did it with some gusto.
After being sprung on an offensive rush by a long alley-oop pass from Seth Jones out of the defensive zone, Barkov picked up the puck from Tkachuk and crossed Carolina’s blue line with Brady on an odd-man rush.
As he neared the slot, Barkov completely turned his head to look at Tkachuk, giving the impression he was looking to make a pass.
Instead, Barkov shot the puck while still looking at Brady, and somehow, the blind shot eluded Bussi to give Florida a 2-1 lead.
“He does so many great things all over the ice, but when he’s scoring and putting the puck in the net too, he’s obviously one of the best players in the world,” said Jones, while adding about the no-look shot, “I’m not surprised. We see it all the time in practice.”
It may just be the preseason, but Barkov is already in high gear and appears poised to put his experience of missing the entire 2025-26 season behind him.
Through two exhibition games, Barkov has logged two goals and four points on eight shots with a plus-5 on-ice rating while skating an average of 16:44 between the two contents, which is not bad at all.
Adding a highlight-reel goal to the mix is just icing on the cake.
“Yeah, I don’t coach that part of the game,” Maurice said with a smirk when asked about the no-look goal. “I coached the part that was ugly tonight, so I’ve got some work to do, Barky’s fine.”
After a brief pause, Maurice smiled again.
“That was pretty good. It’s impressive.”
As for Barkov’s linemates, Florida’s top unit continues to look quite formidable.
Brady Takchuk added another goal and an assist, giving him a team-leading three goals and five points on nine shots on goal.
Panthers fans were holding their breath for a little while on Tuesday night when Tkachuk did not return for the third period, but afterwards, Maurice assured everyone that there did not appear to be anything to worry about.
“Minor, just precautionary,” Maurice said of Tkachuk. “He may well be on the ice tomorrow, we’ll see, but it’s not an injury. Just tightened up on him. It’s an exhibition.”
Tuesday was the last we’ll see the majority of Florida’s Opening Night players during the preseason, as the new CBA says those who have played 100 or more NHL games may only compete in a maximum of two preseason games.
Maurice said he plans to treat the coming days like the time between two playoff series’, giving his veteran players several days of practice and video work ahead of Tuesday’s Opening Night in Raleigh.
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Photo caption: Sep 22, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; FloridaPantherscenter AleksanderBarkov(16) celebrates his goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during the first period at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)
