Not even a face shield can hold Panthers’ Barkov back from being one of NHL’s best
Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov needed an extra piece of equipment to play on Saturday. The star captain donned a full face shield in the Panthers’ game against the Colorado Avalanche two days after he took an inadvertent elbow to the face against the Vegas Golden Knights that forced him to miss two periods of action.
“I wasn’t really happy about it,” Barkov said about having to wear the face shield, “but it’s OK. As long as I can be out there, it’s fun.”
Especially the way Barkov is playing.
Barkov dished out a season-high four assists — two primary assists, two secondary — in the 8-4 win against the Avalanche, Florida’s season-high seventh consecutive victory.
It was Barkov’s fourth multiassist game during this win streak. Overall, Barkov has 13 assists during the seven games.
“He’s been fast all year, and the helmet didn’t slow him down,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Barkov will have to wear the face shield again Tuesday when the Panthers close their four-game road trip against the St. Louis Blues.
“But if he gets four in the next one, he will have to wear it the whole year,” Maurice said jokingly after the Colorado game.
The Panthers would welcome it, as Barkov is playing at his usual dominant level nearing the midway point of the season and should be a serious contender for the Selke Award, given annually to the NHL’s best defensive forward.
Entering play Tuesday, Barkov is tied for seventh among forwards with 32 assists and is 18th with 43 points. His assists mark leads the team and his points total trails only Sam Reinhart (50).
Defensively, Barkov has been one of the best in the NHL. The Panthers are outscoring opponents 32-11 when Barkov is on the ice at 5-on-5. That plus-21 goal differential is the best among forwards with at least as much ice time as Barkov entering Tuesday.
The Panthers dominate puck possession with Barkov on the ice at full strength, holding a 294-190 edge in shots on goal and 278-191 edge in scoring chances (including 112-67 in high-danger chances).
Another league honor for Reinhart
Reinhart, who was named an All-Star last week and posted his first hat trick of the season on Saturday against Colorado, was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week on Monday after logging six points (five goals, one assist) in the Panthers’ road wins over Arizona, Vegas and Colorado.
It was the fourth time Reinhart was named one of the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Reinhart enters Tuesday tied for second in the NHL with 28 goals and tied for 10th with 50 points. Reinhart leads the NHL in power-play goals (13) and game-winning goals (seven).
Reinhart has scored on 27.7 percent of his shots on goal. Only one of the other 15 players in the NHL with at least 20 goals this season has scored on at least 20 percent of his shots (Vancouver’s Brock Boeser, 25 goals at 22.5 percent).
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