Watch Aleksander Barkov make unreal pass in Florida Panthers win over New York Rangers
Sam Reinhart couldn’t believe how the puck landed on his stick. Aleksander Barkov insists he wasn’t trying to do anything fancy.
But midway through the second period of the Florida Panthers’ eventual 4-2 win over the New York Rangers on Monday, Barkov and Reinhart wound up teaming up on what might be one of the NHL’s top plays of the year — and at the very least should have Barkov in consideration for best assist.
Here’s how the play developed:
Carter Verhaeghe sent the puck to Aleksander Barkov on a give-and-go while they were entering the offensive zone on a power play.
The puck bounced off the ice and then off the blade of Barkov’s stick.
Barkov then bounced the puck twice off his stick, weaving past a Rangers skater in the process, and, while falling toward the ice, managed to fling it across the goalie crease to Reinhart, who slipped the puck past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin to tie the game at 1-1.
As teammates mobbed Reinhart, the Panthers’ All-Star let out an expletive in celebration of the pass he received.
“Everything happened so quick,’’ Barkov told Bally Sports Florida’s Katie Engleson during the game’s second intermission. “I was just trying to make the best play possible at the time. Thankfully, Reino was there — as always — to finish it off. It wasn’t planned, but it happened.”
Barkov then connected with Reinhart about two-and-a-half minutes later to put Florida up 2-1. Ryan Lomberg and Anton Lundell scored third-period goals to seal Florida’s win — its fifth in a row and 15th in its past 17 games to improve to 42-16-4 and, with 88 points, stay atop the NHL standings with 20 games left in the regular season.
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