Three Takeaways: Panthers lines, goaltending getting primed for playoffs
Each of Florida's past three wins have been shutouts; two for Sergei Bobrovsky and one for Anthony Stolarz
The Florida Panthers are starting to hit their stride again, and the timing couldn’t be better.
Following a tough few weeks in which the Panthers struggled to play their particular brand of physically demanding hockey, the Cats are snapping back into the form that saw them considered one of the NHL’s top Stanley Cup contenders this season.
Florida’s 4-0 win over Columbus on Thursday was the Panthers’ third win in four outings (3-0-1), and all three victories have come without surrendering a single goal against.
With the playoffs only eight short days away, momentum is once again starting to build for the Cats.
Pretty good timing, eh?
Let’s get to the Thursday’s takeaways.
An intelligent win
Florida did exactly what it needed to do on Thursday.
The Panthers controlled the puck for much of the night, outshooting the Blue Jackets 46-25 while only taking a single penalty.
For those who have been paying attention, that’s a big accomplishment these days.
Speaking after the game, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice had glowing remarks for his players for their effort against the Blue Jackets.
“We didn’t cheat the game to try to generate points,” Maurice said. “We were good defensively. They had three major outbreaks of chances off pucks that we went from the offensive zone to our end or that we got something blocked or whatever it would be. But there wasn't a casualness about our game and was pretty smartly played.”
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNINZspYvpA[/embed]
Lundell line shines
Anthon Lundell has looked like a different player over the past few months.
It all started back in mid-January, when Lundell skated a few games alongside Sam Reinhart while Sasha Barkov was out with an injury.
Something about skating alongside one of the hottest goal scorers in the league sparked Lundell’s game, and he’s been on a different path ever since.
Over the past several games, Lundell has been skating between his usual linemate Eetu Luostarinen and speedy, skilled winger Evan Rodrigues.
Maurice has been toying with different line combinations to see what could work during the playoffs while utilizing the team’s depth, and he may be on to something with this trio.
Should it stick, being able to deploy Rodrigues on a formidable third line only gives Florida that much more pop in their top six, which will likely feature Barkov, Reinhart and Vladimir Tarasenko on the top line and Sam Bennett centering Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk on the second unit.
“Anton Lundell had made a comment a few months back that he liked when Evan (Rodrigues) played on that line, and you can tell,” Maurice said. “I think they like playing with each other. They’ve each got a little something different, they’re on the puck, they generate, and they're just starting to get used to each other. One of the critical things in the line is the players. They don't have to like each other, but they have to like playing together. They have to believe that something good can come when they're coming to the rink, and I think they have that now.”
What about Bob?
It was another one of those unconventional games, with little zone time and some decent-sized lulls for Sergei Bobrovsky in the Panthers’ end of the ice.
No matter to Bob.
He finished with 25 saves, including on all four high-danger shots sent his way by Columbus, whose expected goals were 1.41 on the night, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Bobrovsky has recorded two shutouts over his past three outings and appears to be locked in and ready for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“That’s a tough game for goaltender to play because there wasn't even a lot of zone time,” Maurice said. “So if you're not giving up much, but there's zone time, at least the goalie has to move a certain way and he stays in the game mentally, and he didn't have as much work to do. And then you'd get the full-on breakaway or the big break. So it's a veterans game now.”
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