Panthers don’t think Ekblad’s return threw off rhythm. He’s staying on top power play.
The first time Aaron Ekblad and Claude Giroux shared the ice together for any real significant period of time as teammates came in the second period of the Florida Panthers’ first game in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs Tuesday. A few minutes later, they were on the ice together for the Panthers’ first power play of the first round.
They’re two of the best players on the team — Giroux is an All-Star and Ekblad a would-be James Norris Memorial Trophy contender, if only he could stay healthy — and, because of an Ekblad knee injury right before the trade deadline, they never got even a test run together in the regular season.
There were growing pains — Florida went 0 for 2 and lost Game 1 to the Washington Capitals — albeit not enough for interim coach Andrew Brunette to ditch the idea altogether for Game 2 on Thursday. Even after they found some success by playing five forwards on the power play near the end of the regular season, the Panthers are sticking with Ekblad at the point.
“You’re always looking to adjust. It’s one game,” Brunette said Wednesday. “Parts of it went well, but we have the option to run five forwards if we need it. We’ll kind of make those decisions as we go.
“It wasn’t as fluid as it has been, but we’ll adjust.”
Florida closed its morning skate Thursday by working on the power play, sticking with Ekblad, Giroux, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Reinhart on its top unit.
On those two power plays in Game 1, the Panthers had just three shots on goal, four shot attempts, two scoring chances and no high-danger chances.
“We did a lot of good things, we had a few chances, but, at the end of the day, on the power play you need results,” Giroux said. “We have a lot of skill on that power play, but we just need a little bit of work into it.”
As a whole, Ekblad’s first game since March yielded mixed results. Florida mostly controlled 5-on-5 possession time when the star defenseman was on the ice, but the Capitals outshot the Panthers 9-5, with a 4-2 edge in high-danger chances. Ekblad was on the ice for Florida’s go-ahead goal in the second period, but also for Washington’s game-tying goal in the third.
The 26-year-old Canadian also didn’t record any 5-on-5 shots, hits, blocked shots or takeaways and had one giveaway.
After he missed the final six weeks of the regular season and was a “game-time decision” for Game 1, Ekblad was happy with his play and the Panthers obviously hope he’ll build as the series progresses.
“It held up really well,” Ekblad said Tuesday. “I didn’t really feel it at all, so that was a plus, for sure.”
Panthers bench Lomberg, insert Acciari
Florida’s only lineup change for Game 2 is on the fourth line.
The Panthers moved left wing Ryan Lomberg out of the lineup Thursday and replaced him with Noel Acciari. The forward played left wing next to center Eetu Luostarinen and right wing Patric Hornqvist.
Florida’s fourth line was its least effective in Game 1, in terms of expected goals percentage, and Lomberg committed a pair of giveaways.
Acciari, although he only played in 20 games this season after missing the first four months of the regular season with a pectoral injury, is a proven playoff performance with 35 postseason games in his career. He also played well in the final weeks of the season with the Panthers outshooting their opponents 38-22 while Acciari was on the ice for 5-on-5 action in his final four games.
“He played so good down the stretch for us, so I’m expecting Acc to play the same game he always plays,” Brunette said. “He’s a guy that’s kind of built for playoff hockey.”
