The Panthers started the day with exciting news as it was officially announced that the Winter Classic is coming to South Florida next year. The Panthers are set to host the outdoor game at IoanDepot Park in Miami on January 2nd with the New York Rangers as their opponent. Coming off a tightly contested loss against the Avalanche, the Cats were looking to rebound against Utah. With Niko Mikkola finally back and Aaron Ekblad cleared to play, the Florida defense was back to full strength. Bobrovsky had another outstanding game against Utah, and Florida got goals from their top three lines. While they sit four points behind Toronto for the division title, the Cats will ride positive momentum into their game against Boston on Saturday.
It can’t be overstated how much Niko Mikkola has stepped up for the Panthers this season. With the departure of OEL and Montour, Mikkola has evolved his game to fill in some of the gaps. He no longer defines himself as just a defensive defenseman, he’s added a more offensive mindset this year and has already set a career-high in goals. Will he put up as many points as Montour did? I doubt it, but his offense has helped make the Cats more dynamic, and he’s one of the best penalty killers on the team. Needless to say, Florida has missed having him in the lineup in the last two weeks. While he didn’t get on the scoresheet, he ended the night at +2 with three hits and just over 19 minutes of ice time. Mikkola was muscling guys off the puck and making zone entries very difficult for Utah. Ekblad also returned from injury after missing a couple of games. With Ekblad back in the lineup Florida got its top defensive pairing back and their PP Unit 1 quarterback. The Cats made their one power play count as they converted on it to break the ice for the 1-0 lead early in the second period. Ekblad was shooting toward the net as well, got credited with 2 SOG, and had more than a couple get blocked by Utah. Florida’s physicality was up from their previous game, with 34 hits and 16 blocked shots as opposed to 24 hits and 13 blocked shots. Those may not be huge shifts in numbers but in tight games, it can make all the difference.
After a tough start to the year, Bobrovsky is back to form and had another stellar game against Utah. He stopped 26 of 27 shots for a .963 SV%, the lone goal came on the power play off a very tough angled shot from Cooley. Even in Bob’s two previous starts, where he went 0-2-0, his SV% was a .944 with a 2.00 GAA, so he’s giving his team every chance to win the close games. For the year, Bobrovsky is up to a .903 SV% with 2.69 GAA and was on the verge of getting his second shutout of the season. He made the big saves when Florida needed it and had good decision-making with well-timed poke checks to disrupt Utah opportunities. As the season gets into the back half Florida will need Bob playing at his best once again if they want to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. As of right now, there should be no worry in Cats fans over the goaltending situation, even with Knight as the backup. If the defense can play up to its potential then they’re in a good place moving forward.
Florida is grinding its way through this stretch of games, with many of them being tightly contested. Those are the types of games that the Panthers want to excel in, it was one of the team’s best qualities last season that led them to success. Would it be nice for Florida to put up 3+ goals a game every game? Of course, but that’s not realistic, and as the offense works through its minor slump, the Utah game was a good starting point for getting guys going again. Reinhart scored from his office in the slot on the power play off the quick passing from Barkov to Tkachuk to himself. That brings him to 23 goals for the season, and while he may not hit that 59-goal mark again this year, he’s still on pace to have a great season, and his assists are on pace for one of the best of his career. He’s currently above a point a game with 47 points in 42 games. The new third line of Verhaeghe-Lundell-J. Boqvist is working really well for Florida. At times, HC Paul Maurice has called it the team’s best playoff line and they got points on the board Wednesday night once again. Jesper Boqvist’s first goal came from a great pass from Verhaeghe on a play that was set up by Lundell and Verhaeghe’s hard work behind the Utah net. Jesper slid into the slot and took the shot where the puck bounced its way past Vejmelka. Boqvist is on pace for a career year with the Panthers; he’s one goal shy of tying his career-best and five assists shy of tying his career-best in assists. In his last eight games, he’s had five goals, three assists, 18 hits, and was +5. His second goal of the night was a backhanded clearing attempt from the Panthers’ side of the ice that slid into the empty net for the insurance goal. Luostarinen’s never been the biggest points producer, but he’s currently on pace for his second-best season in the NHL. With his empty-net goal, he’s at 7 goals & 9 assists for 16 points. His best season came two years ago when he had 17 goals and 26 assists. Getting offense from him is always welcome, and fans may see an uptick in goals as he’s currently playing with Tkachuk and Bennett on the second line. While two of the goals were empty-netters, it could be enough to get the rest of the offense going moving forward. They started the year hot on offense and are just in a bit of a scoring slump at the moment once everyone gets going again there should be little to worry about with this team.
