{ "blocks": [ { "type": "video", "data": { "url": "https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/video-migration/e6RgLNf1.mp4", "streached": true, "controls": true, "caption": "Panthers forward Sam Reinhart speaks to the media after Florida's 3-2 overtime win over the Islanders on Jan. 27.", "image": { "url": "https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/video-migration/e6RgLNf1-poster.jpg" }, "cdn": { "service": "jwplayer", "playlistUrl": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/e6RgLNf1.m3u8", "sources": [ { "file": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/e6RgLNf1.m3u8", "type": "application/vnd.apple.mpegurl" }, { "file": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/e6RgLNf1-6LgJnXEq.mp4", "type": "video/mp4", "height": 180, "width": 320, "label": "180p", "bitrate": 229152, "filesize": 4812202, "framerate": 30 }, { "file": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/e6RgLNf1-1QJ1dkot.mp4", "type": "video/mp4", "height": 270, "width": 480, "label": "270p", "bitrate": 303844, "filesize": 6380734, "framerate": 30 }, { "file": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/e6RgLNf1-h6aVm5rK.mp4", "type": "video/mp4", "height": 720, "width": 1280, "label": "720p", "bitrate": 835377, "filesize": 17542933, "framerate": 30 }, { "file": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/e6RgLNf1-UQSYMDp9.m4a", "type": "audio/mp4", "label": "AAC Audio", "bitrate": 113572, "filesize": 2385021 }, { "file": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/e6RgLNf1-vnHaI3dA.mp4", "type": "video/mp4", "height": 1080, "width": 1920, "label": "1080p", "bitrate": 2000493, "filesize": 42010372, "framerate": 30 }, { "file": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/e6RgLNf1-yFReK32n.mp4", "type": "video/mp4", "height": 360, "width": 640, "label": "360p", "bitrate": 348140, "filesize": 7310942, "framerate": 30 }, { "file": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/e6RgLNf1-0LealTTd.mp4", "type": "video/mp4", "height": 540, "width": 960, "label": "540p", "bitrate": 552414, "filesize": 11600696, "framerate": 30 } ] } } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Story by Randy Boswell" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "When Florida Panthers sharpshooter Sam Reinhart scored his league-leading 19th power-play goal of the season at 11:49 of the second period in Friday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the B.C.-born centreman put his team up 2-1 and himself a stride closer to history in a remarkable run he’s on to challenge two longstanding single-season NHL scoring records: most power-play markers and most game-winning goals." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "There was no more scoring in the middle frame, and as the seconds began ticking away in the game’s final minute after a so-far scoreless third period, it looked like Reinhart would record his 10th GWG of the 2023-24 NHL campaign — the other goal-scoring category in which he tops all players in the league (alongside Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson)." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Then Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby shoveled a nifty pass to Evgeni Malkin off the edge of the Panthers’ crease during a dramatic Penguins scramble for the tying goal, and Malkin banked the equalizer in off of sprawling Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky with 42 seconds left on the clock. " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Three-on-three overtime failed to decide the contest, but Reinhart’s wrister off the post and in past Pens’ goalie Alex Nedeljkovic gave Florida a 3-2 shootout victory. The snipe (his second in two shootout attempts this season) earned Reinhart a first-star selection but — technically speaking — no game-winning goal. Scoring in the five-minute OT period adds to a player’s offensive stats and counts as a game-winner, but there’s no GWG credit or scoring bump for bagging the decisive goal in a shootout." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Still, in just the 48th game of this 82-game season, the 28-year-old Reinhart had tied the Panthers’ all-time club record for most power-play goals in a season, equalling the 19-PPG standard set by Scott Mellanby in 1995-96 and matched by Pavel Bure in 2000-01 — though their totals are for 79 and 82 games respectively." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "A night later against the New York Islanders, Reinhart snapped home his 20th power-play goal to become sole owner of the Panthers’ single-season PPG record. It’s safe to say Reinhart will go on to smash the old franchise mark by a long shot this season, but there’s also a fair chance he could match or break the all-time single-season NHL record for power-play goals (Tim Kerr’s 34 PPGs for the 1985-86 Philadelphia Flyers) as well as a more enduring league benchmark: the 53-year-old NHL single-season record of 16 game-winning goals set by Boston Bruins scoring legend Phil Esposito in 1970-71, repeated by Espo in 1971-72, then equalled again in 1983-84 by Quebec Nordiques great Michel Goulet." } }, { "id": "wwh1a4ss-2b6wr0hf", "type": "embed", "data": { "service": "twitter", "source": "https://twitter.com/NHLNetwork/status/1751636254729605256", "embed": "https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?id=1751636254729605256", "caption": "" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Among the game-winners Reinhart has scored this season was a particularly memorable one on Jan. 11, when he flipped home a backhander with less than a second remaining in overtime to give the Panthers a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. He’s currently on a 13-game point-scoring streak and has 19 goals in the past 17 games." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Had he earned his 10th game-winner against Pittsburgh in that Jan. 27 match, Reinhart would have been on track to reach an all-time NHL best of 17 GWGs by season’s end. As it stands, with the Panthers idle until Feb. 6 for the All-Star Break, his nine game-winners after 49 games puts him on pace for 15 in 82 games — a total that would position Reinhart alone in second place all-time behind Esposito and Goulet. Pettersson, also with nine game-winners after 49 games, has an equal shot at the record. Next in line are Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Dallas’ Matt Duchene with seven each." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The Panthers’ Bure (14 GWGs in 1999-2000) is currently tied for second on the all-time list with Cooney Weiland, a Boston Bruins centreman who notched 14 game-winners in 1929-30 — the year the NHL first allowed forward passing of the puck but hadn’t yet implemented an offside rule. " } }, { "type": "image", "data": { "file": { "url": "https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg" }, "caption": "" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "That tells you how long it took Esposito to establish a new GWG high-water mark and how durable the Espo-Goulet record has been." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "And before you say, “Wait — what about Wayne Gretzky?” the NHL’s all-time greatest single-season and career goal-scorer never got more than 12 game-winning goals in a single year. He did that in 1981-82, while teammate Jari Kurri owns the Edmonton Oilers’ franchise record with 13 in 1984-85, tying him with five others in the overall NHL rankings — including the Bruins’ David Pastrnak (2022-23), the Montreal Canadiens’ Guy Lafleur (1978-79) and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Charlie Conacher (1934-35). " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Gretzky and Brett Hull, however, do share the NHL record of 24 career game-winning goals in the playoffs. Brad Richards set the league record for most game-winning goals in a single playoff season with seven in 23 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003-04." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "And Jaromir Jagr has the most career game-winning goals with 135, topping a list that includes Alex Ovechkin at No. 2 (126), Gordie Howe in third (121), Esposito at No. 4 (118) and Brett Hull in fifth (110). Gretzky, surprisingly, is in 21st with 91 regular-season game-winners." } }, { "id": "3jjp7qjg-jdjix1o4", "type": "embed", "data": { "service": "twitter", "source": "https://twitter.com/JLazzy23/status/1745640939354218819", "embed": "https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?id=1745640939354218819", "caption": "" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Reinhart is also in an excellent position to challenge Kerr’s 37-year-old single-season record of 34 power-play goals for 1985-86 Flyers. " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Currently, Reinhart’s 20 power-play goals is a whopping seven ahead of Colorado Avalanche right-winger Valeri Nichushkin’s second-place 13. (Nichushkin hasn’t played since Jan. 10 and is on indefinite leave dealing with undisclosed personal issues.) Vancouver Canucks right-winger Brock Boeser is No. 3 with 12." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Reinhart is on pace to score 33 man-advantage markers by the end of the regular season, a total that would put him in sole possession of second place in NHL history, one PPG ahead of the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl (32 in 2022-23) and Dave Andreychuk, who scored 32 in a 1992-93 season split between the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "But Kerr’s longstanding superlative isn’t out of reach." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Chasing two marquee NHL scoring records is just a bonus feature of Reinhart’s stellar season, which includes his first-ever All-Star Game selection and seems sure to earn him consideration as a Hart Trophy candidate alongside MacKinnon, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and a handful of other standouts. " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "With 37 goals and 25 assists for 62 points, Reinhart is in 10th place in the overall NHL scoring race as of Jan. 28, he’s No. 2 in goals between Toronto’s Auston Matthews (40) and Boston’s Pastrnak (33), and tied for second in short-handed goals (4) behind co-leaders Simon Holmstrom of the Islanders and the Flyers’ Travis Konecny, each of whom have five." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "He’s also one of the league’s most efficient marksmen; Reinhart is currently 8th in shooting percentage at 27.6 per cent." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The son of high-scoring NHL defenceman (and two-time All-Star) Paul Reinhart, a key player with the 1980s-era Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks, Reinhart also has two older brothers — Max and Griffin — who had brief NHL careers. " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Reinhart, 6’2” and 193 pounds, was drafted No. 2 overall in 2014 by the Buffalo Sabres. He recorded five 20-goal seasons with the Sabres before being traded in 2021 to Florida, where he had 33 goals and 82 points in 2021-22 and 31 goals and 67 points in 2022-23 prior to this year’s breakout season, when his torrid goal-scoring pace could see him break two very old and venerable NHL records." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Randy Boswell is an Ottawa, Canada journalist with an interest in hockey history." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Three takeaways: Samoskevich moves to Lundell line, tired Panthers play smart game" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Ekman-Larsson overtime goal gives Florida 3-2 win over Islanders" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The Hockey Show: Talking All-Star, Kings, Oilers and more with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Lundell, Samoskevich playing prominent roles as Panthers travel to face Penguins" } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "THN Archive: Panthers goalie masks’ place among greatest of all time" } }, { "type": "image", "data": { "file": { "url": "https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg" }, "caption": "" } } ] }

Panthers’ Reinhart chasing pair of historic NHL records