Lundell was asked to fill in for the injured Sam Bennett, and this week he’s done just that

Earlier this week Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice singled out Anton Lundell as someone who needed to step up.

It was Monday morning in Ottawa.

Sam Bennett was about to miss his fourth straight game and Florida was struggling to fill the void left in the middle of their previously scorching-hot second line.

On the surface, Lundell seemed like a logical choice.

He’s a young, gifted two-way center that’s played with some of the best players on the team.

But he’d also gone the entire month of March without a point.

Things didn’t go particularly well for Lundell or anyone else on the Panthers roster that night in Ottawa, but with Bennett remaining out, Maurice stuck with Lundell in his new spot.

Wednesday night in Toronto the move began to pay dividends.

Lundell scored a minute into the game, finding himself alone in front of Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov and snapping the puck past his blocker.

He finished the game with a point (the goal), a plus-one rating and three shots, a combination of things he hadn’t done in the same game since late January.

“The confidence has been there all the time, but I’m not going to lie, it helps when you get a goal,” Lundell said Thursday.

That much was made clear during his big night in Montreal, less than 24 hours after the game in Toronto.

This time it took four minutes and nine seconds for Lundell to light the lamp, but he didn’t stop there.

The 21-year-old had possibly his best game of the season, logging a pair of goals and an assist while matching a season-high with six shots on goal.

He was noticeable on both ends of the ice and found himself in the middle of several high-danger chances.

“He probably could have one or two more,” Maurice said. “I think with young players, that weighs on them more because they don't have the experience of what it takes to get out of a tough stretch, and it was weighing on him for sure.”

With Lundell suddenly appearing to take his game to another level, he was fortunate to be grouped with a couple of guys who had no problem keeping up.

Matthew Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen skated alongside Lundell, a line that was put together ahead of the Toronto game by Maurice.

After a decent but modest opening act on Wednesday, the trio exploded all over the scoresheet Thursday night, combining for five goals, three assists, 11 shots on goal, another six shot attempts and a plus-6 rating.

“Today was really good game from our line,” Lundell said. “We were creating a lot of chances and got some goals too.”

After Thursday’s game, Tkachuk discussed what it’s been like skating with Lundell over the past couple nights.

Tkachuk had three goals and an assist against the Canadiens.

“He's a super smart player that makes great plays and great reads, and I've enjoyed playing with him a lot,” Tkachuk said. “He had a great night and made it super easy for me.”

Florida wraps up their four-game road trip Saturday in Columbus.

Suddenly, the Panthers are looking at the prospect of finishing the trip with three straight wins.

That seems pretty remarkable considering where they were just a few days ago after kicking off the roadie with a loss in Ottawa, what was their fourth straight defeat.

The Blue Jackers are a team that has been at the bottom of the standings all season, but that’s the kind of thing that doesn’t seem to matter this time of year.

Whether you’re playing the best team in the league or the worst, the only thing that matters is getting those two points.

At the end of the day, everything else is just white noise.

“We need to battle, we need to get points every game, everybody knows it,” Lundell said. “We’re just going there to try and enjoy the game of hockey and give everything and then we’ll see what the result is.”