How have Ekblad and Montour looked in their Panthers return? What the numbers say
It has been about two weeks since defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour made their season debuts after offseason shoulder surgery and the lengthy rehab process that followed.
And the Florida Panthers wasted little time pushing the duo back into their usual workload.
Entering Thursday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens to cap the Panthers’ three-game Canada road trip, Montour and Ekblad have averaged the most time on ice out of any Panthers players — Montour at 24 minutes, 8 seconds per game, Ekblad at 22:25 — in six games since making their season debut against the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 17. Both are playing on the power play, with Montour running the top unit and Ekblad part of the second group.
“For me personally, it’s just about getting the touches and getting the pace back,” Montour, who had a breakout 2022-23 season (16 goals, 57 assists and career-best 24:07 average ice time), said last week. “Legs feel good. Body feels good. I’m capable of playing big minutes if we need to.”
Added Ekblad, the Panthers’ longest-tenured defenseman: “I feel good. ... Just trying to play a steady game and find a way to contribute.”
And their presence has also helped stabilize the Panthers’ defense pairings.
Montour and Ekblad are the Panthers’ only defensemen who shoot right-handed. Teams generally like to have a left-handed shooter and right-handed shooter on each of their defense pairings so that defensemen are shooting from their natural side when in the offensive zone.
If, for example, a left-handed shooter is on the right side of a defense pairing (which the Panthers have had to do to start the season before Montour and Ekblad’s return) and has a chance for a rush or breakaway, it’s tougher for him to fire off an effective shot and more often than not leads to a failed scoring opportunity.
“They’re gonna move the puck differently, possibly more efficiently than a lefty will,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “It’s a tough place to move the puck on your backhand. So [Montour and Ekblad] come into the game and the difference between being a really good breakout team and a really poor breakout team isn’t that much. It’s one or two breakouts a period. Even one a period will move you up to the top half of the league.”
As for specifics, the Panthers have dominated puck possession and scoring chances when either Montour or Ekblad is on the ice at full strength.
Ekblad so far has primarily been paired with Gustav Forsling, a duo that the Panthers have utilized the past few seasons. When Ekblad is on the ice during 5-on-5 play, Florida has had a 53-44 edge in scoring chances and 120-91 advantage in shot attempts.
As for Montour, he has been playing mostly with Niko Mikkola at even strength. The Panthers have a 124-87 edge in shot attempts and 51-37 edge in scoring chances when Montour is on the ice.
“It’s nice to have them on the ice,” said defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who played on the top defense pairing with Forsling and ran the top power-play unit while Montour and Ekblad were out and now plays on the third pairing. “They’re unbelievable players. You can tell with how they move the puck and how they skate that they make it look very easy out there.”
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