After injuries slowed him early, Sam Bennett is finally heating up for Florida Panthers
Sam Bennett knew it was a matter of time before he would get back into a groove. The Florida Panthers’ second-line center missed 12 of Florida’s first 13 games due to a pair of lower-body injuries, and it took a little bit once he was back on the ice for blend of physicality and goal-scoring prowess to return.
And it now looks like he’s here.
Bennett logged his first multi-goal game of the season in Florida’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. He opened scoring in the first period with a shot from the slot at the tail end of a power play. Later on, he gave Florida a 4-2 lead with about seven minutes left in the second period when he fired a one-timer from the right circle on a feed from Matthew Tkachuk.
Bennett now has 10 goals on the season in 31 games played. Of those 10, six have come since Dec. 23, when the Panthers’ season-long nine-game win streak began. Florida has lost back-to-back games since that win streak — 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday and the overtime defeat by Anaheim on Monday.
But getting Bennett going and keeping his whole line on the offensive attack is critical for the Panthers.
On the season, the line of Bennett centering Carter Verhaeghe and Tkachuk has outscored opponents 16-11 when playing at full strength while holding a 169-99 edge in scoring chances.
“Our line is finding that chemistry that that we ended the year with last year,” Bennett said. “We’re feeling good together. We’re making plays again. I’m enjoying playing with those guys for sure.
Added Panthers coach Paul Maurice: “They are going. They had a stretch of hockey at the start of the year where they weren’t really maybe in sync or not healthy is probably the more accurate way to describe it. How they are, they were going right from the start. Critical piece. We can’t rely [entirely] on the Barkov line and now we’ve got that line going as well.”
This and that
▪ Sam Reinhart has scored a goal in seven consecutive games. That matches Pavel Bure for the longest goal streak in franchise history. It is also the longest goal streak of any player in the NHL this season. He is also the first player in NHL history to record a special-teams goal in seven consecutive games (six power-play goals and one shorthanded goal).
▪ The Panthers have scored a power-play goal in nine consecutive games for the fourth time in franchise history. The club record is 10 consecutive games, done from Nov. 1-Nov. 21, 2018.
▪ Monday was just the sixth time the Panthers went to overtime. They have split those half-dozen games, winning against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 8, Washington Capitals on Oct. 8 and Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. They lost in the five-minute overtime period to the Boston Bruins on Oct. 30 and Anaheim on Monday in addition to losing a shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 28.
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