Two key areas where Giroux has given Panthers a huge boost. And more honors for Huberdeau
The Florida Panthers did not need a boost for their offense as the trade deadline approached last month. They already have the league’s highest-scoring offense in more than a quarter of a century and three forwards averaging more than a point per game. Jonathan Huberdeau, their lone All-Star, is a dark horse contender for the Hart Memorial Trophy, and Aleksander Barkov might have been, too, if he hadn’t missed nearly a month with a knee injury.
On paper, they did not need Claude Giroux.
Bill Zito didn’t care. The general manager saw more than just another All-Star forward in the 34-year-old Canadian.
“For our team,” he said on the day of the trade deadline last month, “he fits so many [roles].”
At the time, there were three clear areas to nitpick: Florida’s defense was not quite up the lofty standard set by its offense, its power play was near the middle of the pack and the Panthers were one of the league’s worst teams in the faceoff circle.
In the three weeks since, Giroux has helped Florida start to fix the latter two.
“He’s taken control of different situations,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said, “especially the faceoff dot on the power play.”
Since Giroux debuted for the Panthers last month, Florida (51-15-6) has moved up three spots in the league rankings in both power-play and faceoff percentage. The Panthers begin their final 10-game stretch of the regular season Tuesday when they host the Anaheim Ducks (29-33-12) at 7 p.m. at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise and — with a six-point lead in the Eastern Conference — they can mostly shift their focus to getting healthy for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, maintaining their high level of play and nitpicking some of their flaws.
At the faceoff dot, Florida probably is what it is and, with Giroux, it’s a borderline top-10 group.
Since Giroux debuted, the Panthers have won 51.2 percent of their faceoffs — 11th most in the league — and are up to 24th in the NHL at 48.0 percent after they won just 47.5 percent before the trade deadline.
This is all with Giroux slightly underperforming his track record, too. The versatile forward has won 55.8 percent of his faceoffs for the Panthers, but he was winning more than 60 percent with the Philadelphia Flyers and has topped 58 percent in four consecutive seasons.
“It’s such a nice luxury to have,” Brunette said. “It’s a nice toy to have as a coach.”
Giroux’s faceoff prowess also directly ties into Florida’s improvement on the power play.
Before the trade deadline, the Panthers ranked just 10th in the league with a 23.7 power-play percentage. Now they’re up to No. 7 at 24.0 percent and have gone 9 of 35 — 25.7 percent — since Giroux debuted.
The unit has had its ups and downs in the last three weeks and is on a hot streak now. Florida has gone 6 of 14 on the power play in the past four games as its five-forward look is gaining comfort.
Giroux’s arrival coincided with Aaron Ekblad’s knee injury — the star defenseman will miss the rest of the regular season — and it prompted Brunette to go five forwards on the power play rather than playing a defenseman at the point.
“I’ve never done that before,” Giroux said. “We can get more opportunities to get pucks on net and get more chances in one power play than just kind of move it around, but we’re just getting a feel to it.”
There’s also the playoff track record, something none of the Panthers’ other star forwards have.
Neither Barkov nor Huberdeau has won a posteason series. Giroux helped lead the Flyers to the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals and has scored 70 points in 82 career playoff games.
“On the bench, he’s been really good,” Brunette said. “He brings a lot of different attributes that he’s showing night in and night out, and I like how he loves the big moment and he loves to take charge in those moments.”
Huberdeau earns NHL’s Third Star
Huberdeau led Florida to an undefeated week — including a four-goal comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday — and it helped him earn the NHL’s Third Star of the Week.
The All-Star left wing had seven points in three games and became the first player in franchise history to record 100 in a season. He also had one of the best single-game performances of his career Tuesday when he recorded five points, including the game-winning goal in overtime, to lead the come-from-behind win against the Maple Leafs.
