How the Florida Panthers’ power play got hot. Plus NHL honors Tkachuk and an Ekblad update
Brandon Montour has the perfect view of the Florida Panthers’ power play success.
The 29-year-old defenseman runs Florida’s top unit that has all sorts of firepower. There’s Sam Reinhart at the net front, Matthew Tkachuk at the goal line, Carter Verhaeghe on the flank and Aleksander Barkov up top with him.
“We’ve got strengths all over it,” Montour said.
And those strengths are turning into goals after an extended stretch of struggles to begin the season.
Florida scored three power-play goals in its 9-2 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and has now scored at least one power-play goal in each of its past 10 games. That is tied for the franchise record with a stretch from Nov. 1-21, 2018.
During those 10 games, which started on Jan. 22, the Panthers have scored 15 power-play goals in 33 attempts with the man advantage — a 45.5 percent success rate that is second only to the Toronto Maple Leafs (47.8 percent) in that timeframe.
But Florida’s success has gone beyond that.
Since Dec. 23, a 23-game stretch in which Florida has gone 18-3-2 entering Tuesday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators, Florida’s power play is working at an NHL-leading 36.6 percent success rate.
In the 32 games before this run, Florida’s power play scored on just 18 percent of its opportunities, which was 23rd in the NHL.
Reinhart is at the heart of Florida’s success, scoring a franchise-record 22 power-play goals so far this season — matching the totals of two teams (the Columbus Blue Jackets and Buffalo Sabres) and two more than the Chicago Blackhawks.
But it’s not just Reinhart.
Verhaeghe has eight power-play goals this season. Sam Bennett, who is on the second unit, has five. Tkachuk has four in addition to 21 power-play assists.
“As long as we’re making fast-paced plays and we’re playing quick enough to play aggressive as five,” Montour said, “you can see we’re dangerous.”
Tkachuk honored by NHL
The NHL on Monday announced that Tkachuk was the league’s Third Star of the Week.
The star winger logged eight points (three goals, five assists) during Florida’s three road wins against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and Lightning on Saturday.
Since Jan. 1, Tkachuk leads the NHL with 37 points and is tied for third with 15 goals and 22 assists.
Aaron Ekbald update
After missing Florida’s win against Tampa Bay on Saturday with a lower-body injury, defenseman Aaron Ekblad is expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday when the Panthers host the Senators.
Since making his season debut on Nov. 17 after missing the start to the season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, Ekblad has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) over 37 games.
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