Panthers’ Barkov always strives to shoot more. This season, he’s actually doing it
Aleksander Barkov has made the point apparent multiple times this season. This Florida Panthers team has a different vibe to it compared to the teams he played on the first seven years of his NHL career.
A mixture of new ownership, new players and newfound confidence has the Panthers humming early. Florida is 6-1-2 on the season heading into its Tuesday matchup against the Detroit Red Wings at the BB&T Center, the fourth game of a six-game homestand. The Panthers were the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss before losing 4-1 to Detriot on Sunday.
“We’ve got a new team,” Barkov said. “A fresh start.”
But the way Barkov describes the team can also apply directly to himself. The Panthers are seeing an almost brand-new Barkov, an aggressive Barkov, the shoot-first Barkov to complement the otherworldly passing Barkov they have come to embrace as their captain.
“I think that’s my mentality every year,” the 25-year-old Barkov said. “Every training camp and every summer, I want to come into the season and shoot more and be more aggressive.”
This year, he’s actually doing it.
His 37 shots on goal? Most ever through the first eight games of a season. The next closest: 24 in the 2017-2018 season. Barkov already has four games with at least five shots on goal. He had eight games with those marks over 66 games last season and just 49 in his 478-game career heading into this season.
His four goals and 11 points? Yup. Also career-best marks eight games into a season. His seven assists only trail the eight he recorded in the opening of that 2018-2019 season.
Recording at least one point in seven of the first nine games of the season? You guessed it. He never did that in his career before this year, either.
Barkov, always one to defer credit, points to his new linemates, Carter Verhaeghe to his left and Anthony Duclair to his right, for a lot of his success.
“When you have the chance to shoot,” Barkov said, “you don’t pass up that opportunity. As a line, we’ve been putting a lot of pucks to the net and creating chances from that.”
And that group has been successful. Verhaeghe and Barkov have combined to score 10 of the team’s 29 goals — 34.5 percent. Barkov has the primary assist on three of Verhaeghe’s six goals. Verhaeghe has the primary assist on two of Barkov’s four goals.
“So easy to play with,” Verhaeghe said. “We click pretty well.”
With three capable scorers — Duclair scored 23 goals a season ago and has six assists already this year — Panthers coach Joel Quenneville likes his chances when the trio of Verhaeghe, Barkov and Duclair is on the ice.
“I don’t care who shoots on that line, and I don’t think they have to make the perfect play,” Quenneville said. “They are creating odd-man situations with their speed, taking it to the net. … Barky, whether he passes it shoots it, that whole line sees plays and make plays. They expect the puck at all times. The quality they have been getting has been very noticeable.”
And just because Barkov is taking the initiative and attacking the net more doesn’t mean he isn’t a magician when it comes to passing. He gave a clear reminder of that in the second period of Thursday’s 5-4 overtime loss when he slid the puck through Nashville defenseman Matt Benning’s legs before passing to Aaron Ekblad for a power play goal.
But honing in on both aspects of the game, as the Panthers have wanted him to for his entire career will only make him more lethal on the offensive end.
He’s embracing it.
“I’m looking forward,” Barkov said, “to shooting more.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
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