In the Florida Panthers' 1-0 opening-night victory, the penalty kill looked stellar, but the power play was awful. They'll need to fix things, and quickly.
It wasn't the most thrilling opening-night game, but the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in overtime.
The Panthers mustered just 20 shots on goal, but on the bright side, they limited the Hurricanes to just 15 shots, all of which Jacob Markstrom turned away.
In the end, the two points matter most, but there were plenty of takeaways from yesterday's game.
The Panthers were perfect on the penalty kill, denying the Hurricanes on all six of their attempts. They also limited the Hurricanes to just five shots on goal on the man advantage, while firing two of their own. The Hurricanes mustered seven high-danger chances on the power play, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, but the numbers were still quite low.
The penalty kill was perfect, even killing a 5-on-3. The Panthers ' penalty-killing unit on defense, consisting of Aaron Ekblad, Niko Mikkola, Seth Jones, and Forsling, gobbled up the majority of the shorthanded minutes, while three forward duos – Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, Garnet Hathaway and Lars Eller – were excellent when called upon.
With such an effective night killing penalties, it typically results in a comfortable win, but the Panthers' power play was awful.
They mustered just three shots on goal and created only two high-danger chances on seven-man advantages. Neither unit could generate anything, and they struggled mightily to even set it up.
The Panthers' power play ranked 19th in the NHL last season, and they are hoping the additions of Barkov and Brady Tkachuk will help turn it around. After the first game, the same issues appear apparent. The hope is that this is early-season rust and that it turns around quickly.
The Panthers are back in action on Friday against the San Jose Sharks. With players like Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Michael Misa, Ivar Stenberg, and others on the Sharks' power-play units, the Panthers can ill-afford to lose the special-teams matchup.
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