Who stood out for the Florida Panthers in their preseason doubleheader vs Nashville?
Aaron Ekblad still gets goosebumps, even on days like Sunday.
The Florida Panthers defenseman is entering his 11th season in the NHL and even a moment like stepping on the ice for a preseason game remains emotional for him — even when he reached the highest of highs just months ago as Florida won its first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
“It’s never different,” Ekblad said. “It’s always the same kind of nervous feeling and excitement to get it going.”
The Panthers certainly got it going on Sunday. In their first games at Amerant Bank Arena since that Game 7 victory in the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, Florida swept a preseason doubleheader against the Nashville Predators. They won the opening game 3-2 before putting up a 6-2 rout in the nightcap.
After three intense days of training camp leading into the preseason opener, Panthers coach Paul Maurice liked what he saw from the group.
“We would by design put them kind of under duress to come into these games,” Maurice said. “We have these new players that come in — and there’s a number of new players — but there’s a big bulk of guys that have been through at least one camp. So from a systems point of view, while not perfect but relative to all other first games, we’re systematically a little further down the road because we’ve been here. It’s our third training camp. I think that was kind of the driving force in the game. And we’ve got NHL guys in both groups. [Nashville has] a lighter group. But I liked it. I liked it a lot. It’s not a sign going forward. There’s no predictive at all to how your season is going to be except the veteran players played smart. They did the right things. They didn’t cheat the game. They just ran the routes. And then we got some pretty good work from some guys, some good goaltending, some saves at important times ... and then we won’t think about those games again.”
Here are a few Panthers players who stood out on Sunday.
▪ Goaltender Spencer Knight: After spending all of last season with the Panthers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, Knight has looked sharp so far in training camp.
That was the case again on Sunday in the first game of the Panthers’ doubleheader. Knight stopped all 19 shots he faced in a little more than 30 minutes of action before giving way to Cooper Black for the rest of the game.
Knight appears to have the inside track for the Panthers’ backup goaltender job behind Sergei Bobrovsky.
▪ Forward Hunter St. Martin: It was less than three months ago that the Panthers selected St. Martin in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Entry Level Draft.
All he has done since then is impress.
He scored a goal in all three games of the Rookie Showcase in Nashville earlier this month and then followed up with a goal in Game 1 of the doubleheader on Sunday.
A reminder: He just turned 19 in June.
▪ Forward Sam Reinhart: Reinhart set a franchise record last season with 27 power-play goals and 32 total special-teams goals.
He picked up right where he left off on Sunday.
The 28-year-old forward, who signed an eight-year, $69 million deal this offseason, opened scoring in Game 2 with the first of three Florida power-play goals in the first period. He also added a secondary assist on the third of those power-play goals, which was scored by Jesper Boqvist.
▪ Forwards Patrick Giles and Josh Davies: Both had a goal and an assist in the second game of the doubleheader.
▪ Forward Jonah Gadjovich: Gadjovich had the assist on Adam Boqvist’s third-period goal ... and 22 penalty minutes. He won a fight against Nashville forward Kyle Marino in the first period and then had his night end with 7:01 left in the third period when he was given an instigator penalty, fighting major and misconduct when he went after Nashville forward Navrin Mutter for taking defenseman Gustav Forsling into the boards.
Gadjovich led the Panthers with 104 penalty minutes last season, 50 of which came from fights (10).
▪ Defensemen Adam Boqvist and Nate Schmidt: The two newcomers ran the top power play units for their respective game on Sunday. The Panthers have an open competition for that role this preseason following the departures of Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Newcomer Nosek injured
Forward Tomas Nosek left Game 2 of the doubleheader early in the first period after a trip from Nashville defenseman Jeremy Lauzon sent him flying head first into the boards. He was down on the ice for a few minutes before being helped to the dressing room.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not have an update on Nosek postgame other than he was being looked at by doctors. The team is off Monday and is scheduled to be back on the ice Tuesday.
Nosek, 32, signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Panthers this offseason to help replenish the team’s forward depth. On Sunday before the injury, Nosek centered wingers AJ Greer and Jesper Boqvist — a look that very well could be the Panthers’ primary fourth line this season.
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