Sam Bennett heating up after ending scoring drought as Panthers shut out Kings
It wasn’t too long ago that Sam Bennett was in the midst of the worst scoring drought of his NHL career. The center had gone 20 consecutive games without finding the back of the net despite having his share of looks and not deviating from his style of play that helped him score 13 goals through the Florida Panthers’ first 25 games.
“It’s just just a matter of bearing down,” Bennett said while in the tail end of that slump. “You’re gonna have your ups and downs throughout the year, and it’s just a matter of staying positive and and eventually things are gonna turn.”
Consider things turned.
Bennett’s first-period goal in the Panthers’ 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday was his third in the past five games and the latest
“That’s obviously tough when you go through long, long droughts,” Bennett said, “but that’s just part of it. It’s not an easy league to score, and sometimes you go through those. It’s just about staying consistent, staying with your game.”
Bennett did that during his drought.
Over his 20-game scoreless streak — from Dec. 5 to Jan. 18 — Bennett was among the team leaders in shots on goal (54), scoring chances (59) and high-danger chances (28). His expected goals rate in that span, according to the advanced hockey statistics website Natural Stat Trick, was 6.45 despite not actually scoring.
The chances were there. The effort was there. The only thing missing was the results.
That changed during the Panthers’ four-game road trip last week when he scored against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday and the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
The effort continued on Wednesday. Bennett led the Panthers (30-19-3) with seven shots on goal, tying a season high. His line, with Matthew Tkachuk and Mackie Samoskevich on the wings, was arguably Florida’s best on Wednesday and got rewarded for it early.
Bennett’s goal 4:55 into regulation came when he took a feed from Tkachuk across the goal crease and sent a wrist shot high as Kings goaltender Dary Kuemper was sprawled down on the ice.
“He’s a really heart-and-soul kind of guy for our team,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “And it’s not just Sam. When you get a guy that gets an extended drought, the players around him are feeling it too. They’re forcing pucks into him. They’re just trying to get him something. He gets going again, and now they’re just playing. Now they look fast, and they’re making the right plays instead of trying to force things. Good to have him back going.”
Aleksander Barkov gave the Panthers an insurance goal 4:43 into the third when he tapped the puck into the net on a 5-on-3 power play. Tkachuk, who had the primary assist on each of the first two goals, capped scoring with an empty netter with 1:12 left to play.
Shutout for Bobrovsky
Meanwhile, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky posted his second shutout of the season, 46th of his career, and first ever against the Kings by stopping all 29 shots he faced from Los Angeles (26-16-6). This included six high-danger saves, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Bobrovsky over his past three games has posted a .951 save percentage over his past three games, stopping 78 of 82 shots in that span. This comes after giving up four goals in each of his three games before that.
Milestones
In addition to defenseman Dmitry Kulikov skating in his 1,000th career NHL game, Panthers coach Paul Maurice also hit a milestone on Wednesday. The game was his 1,900th behind the bench as an NHL head coach. That’s second all-time in NHL history, behind only the legendary Scotty Bowman’s 2,141.
Maurice also now has 899 wins, putting him one win away from becoming the fourth coach in NHL history to get to 900 victories (also Bowman at 1,244, Joel Quenneville at 969 and Barry Trotz at 914).
Up next
The Panthers continue their three-game homestand with a back-to-back this weekend against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (1 p.m., ABC) and the New York Islanders on Sunday (6 p.m., Scripps).
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 9:40 PM.
.JPG)