Acciari hits 20-goal mark. Could bigger role be in store for Panthers’ ‘repair man?’
Noel Acciari has been a goal scorer before, if he goes back to his days at Bishop Hendricken High School in Rhode Island. The Florida Panthers forward has been a two-way menace, if he goes back to his days as a national champion with the Providence Friars.
When he got to the NHL, he had to learn to stop worrying about scoring goals, though. He built a reputation as a great defensive forward for Providence, and it got him his first shot with the Boston Bruins in 2016. In parts of four seasons with the Bruins, he scored a total of 18 goals. Scoring 20 in a single season seemed impossible to Acciari.
“I never thought, with my numbers,” Acciari said, “that I’d do it.”
On Thursday, he doubled him his previous single-season career high, scoring his 20th goal of the year in the first period of the Panthers’ 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Acciari, 28, had cracked double figures in the goals column just once in his career before this season. He is now tied with center Aleksander Barkov for fourth on the team in goals.
“I’ve gotten a lot more confidence this year,” Acciari said. “I just kind of stuck to my game, and I think as the goals started to come. I got a little more confident to try some things.”
Until this season, Acciari stuck to what he knew. The Friars were a defensive juggernaut when Acciari was there, so he earned a reputation as a shot blocker in front of the net and a defensive stopper in the middle of the ice. Boston signed him to be a defensive forward, and Acciari leaned into his reputation, solidifying his place in the NHL as a grinder.
Even as he has become a reliable scorer this season, Acciari still leads Florida with 112 hits and 93 blocked shots.
“You have to adapt,” Acciari said. “I signed as a free agent with Boston, and they saw how defensive I was and just got that, so it helped me get into the league that way. So I just kind of stuck with it.”
Flexibility has been perhaps Acciari’s most valuable skill this season. He has played both center and right wing for Florida this season, and played on all four lines.
Joel Quenneville called Acciari the Panthers’ “repair man” because he fixes issues on any line he plays with. Despite frequently playing on some of Florida’s bottom lines, Acciari has an even plus-minus this season.
On Thursday, Acciari played with the Panthers’ fourth line as the center between winger Colton Sceviour and attacking defenseman Mark Pysyk, whom Florida recently moved to right wing. Quenneville said he could move Acciari to some different lines Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“It seems like whatever line he gets to that line seems to have success and we’ll try to move him around tomorrow, as well,” the coach said. “He gets some responsible shifts, some matchups and usually gets the job done. The production’s the bonus plan for us.”
Sergei Bobrovsky weekend plan
The Panthers follow up their 4 p.m. game with the Blackhawks on Saturday with a quick turnaround Sunday against the Calgary Flames. Sergei Bobrovsky could be in goal for both.
While goaltenders often get one game off in a back-to-back set, Bobrovksy did start back-to-back games earlier in this month. The superstar goaltender started Feb. 3 in a win against the Maple Leafs, then started again Feb. 4 and played perhaps his best game of the season in an overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner forced overtime by shutting out the Blue Jackets in regulation before finally conceding a game-winning goal on the 45th shot he faced.
With 18 games left, the Panthers are rapidly approaching must-win territory, so Quenneville won’t rule out relying on his star goalie to start twice this weekend.
“One game at a time,” Quenneville said, “but that could happen.”
