Sunrise – Led by a timely offense and stingy protection, the Florida Panthers have caught fireplace the previous couple of months. Four straight wins, sellout crowds, and a crew acquiring its wounded gamers again has the rest of the NHL on notice.
The defending Japanese Conference champions are deeper than past season, and if they keep up their winning ways, they may well not have to go on a late-season operate to squeeze into the playoffs as the 8th seed.
Predictions by lots of had this workforce taking a step back again. When once more, Paul Maurice’s group is proving these men and women erroneous.
Bennett Back again
Sam Bennett’s return helps make the ahead lines tougher, further and gives opponents matchup challenges. The Panthers in essence have two best lines. Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk are Bennett’s wingers, and the two scored 40 targets previous period. That just just isn’t witnessed in the NHL.
Barkov Line
The Panthers’ captain is owning most likely his finest start to a time in his occupation. Averaging a stage for every video game, Aleksander Barkov is shining defensively. He has cerebral linemates that believe the video game at a high degree in Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues. Add in Reinhart’s unbelievable begin, and it provides up to a fantastic leading line. At 5 on 5, the trio has been on the ice for 14 plans scored and only two ambitions versus. That’s remarkable production that displays no indications of slowing down.
Egoless Captain
Getting no moi is a good issue in this case. The very best portion of Barkov’s video game, as superior as he is on the ice, might be his selflessness when it comes to statistics and quantities. He is a player who does not treatment about his individual factors, ice time, or anything else as very long as his staff wins and he’s contributing to that. Owning a leader like Barkov, the longest tenured Panther, filters down to the relaxation of the workforce, and we are seeing that on this Panthers squad.
California Dreamin’
Soon after Sunday’s thrilling 4-3 get at property towards Chicago, the Panthers hopped on a aircraft to San Jose. They choose on the Sharks on Tuesday and then slide south to Los Angeles for back-to-again game titles in opposition to the Kings on Thursday and the Ducks on Friday, the place the Panthers will see previous teammate Radko Gudas. The Cats are 9-2-1 given that shedding the initially two video games on the time and have dropped just when in regulation in the very last a few months.
Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for more features.
