With ‘freak accident’ behind him, Eetu Luostarinen back to helping the Panthers
Eetu Luostarinen can laugh about it now. The Florida Panthers’ do-it-all forward is back to full strength after an eight-game absence, and the situation that caused it could have been much worse.
But there was a burning question he had to answer: What caused the “freak accident,” in his words, that had only been described to this point as a barbecuing incident that led to lower-body burns and forced him to miss three weeks?
“The gas was on,” Luostarinen said, “and it just blew up on my feet.”
Luostarinen provided the clarity after Florida’s 7-6 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 6, his first game back since the backyard grilling incident. He added that “there was no one else around, and it could have been worse.”
“Got to be more careful around the house,” Luostarinen said.
The Panthers were careful with Luostarinen’s return. This was uncharted territory of sorts. Pain management was going to be the key to figuring out exactly when he could take the ice again.
But now that Luostarinen is back, the Panthers are using him to the fullest extent possible. With all the other injuries the team is dealing with, they have no choice. Florida remains without a slew of key players — namely forwards Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich and Cole Schwindt plus defenseman Dmitry Kulikov — so any player returning provides a noticeable spark.
So the 27-year-old immediately found himself playing with top-line responsibilities, back on the left wing of a line with center Anton Lundell and right wing Sam Reinhart. It was a return that helped slot much of the Panthers’ forwards back into proper places. He also resumed his roles as a main contributor on Florida’s penalty kill and as part of the Panthers’ second power-play unit.
“Getting a guy back off an injury is a really big deal for us,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He’s such an important part of everything that’s happened here.”
And it has helped right the ship since getting back.
The Panthers entered their road game against the Dallas Stars on Saturday with a 3-1-0 record since Luostarinen returned to the lineup after going 3-4-1 without him.
Luostarinen has a pair of assists in those games, both on Lundell goals that came in critical moments — a game-tying goal in the overtime win over Columbus in his return and a go-ahead goal in the final minute of a 4-3 win at the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday to start Florida’s current four-game road trip. Luostarinen nearly had a goal of his own in Florida’s 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday that was taken off the board because he kicked the puck into the net.
Florida controlled 56.25% of shot attempts at five-on-five when Luostarinen is on the ice over the past four games, according to the advanced hockey statistics website Natural Stat Trick, and also held a 33-20 edge in scoring chances and 12-8 advantage in high-scoring chances.
The Panthers gave up just one goal at five-on-five in 42:54 over his first three games back with him on the ice before Colorado scored three of its six goals against Luostarinen’s line on Thursday. They also went 10 for 11 on the penalty kill over the past four games.
Luostarinen has averaged nearly 18 minutes of ice time in his four games back, a full minute above his season average of 16:48 and almost three minutes above his career average of 14:56 per game.
“Honestly, felt pretty good,” Luostarinen said. “Just happy to be out there and compete with the boys.”
And the Panthers happy to have him back as well. Teammates had their share of chirps at Luostarinen expense once he got back on the ice — Luostarinen expected to get some heat for what happened — but they understand the value he brings.
“He’s a huge part of this team,” veteran forward Brad Marchand said. “It’s great to see him back in the lineup. He brings so much offensively, defensively, depth wise. He continues to stay hot.”
Panthers in the standings
Through 30 games played entering Saturday, the Panthers remain on the outside looking in of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
But the Eastern Conference as a whole remains tightly contested a little more than one-third of the way through the season.
Overall, the Panthers have 32 points. That puts them sixth in the Atlantic Division. However, only eight points separate the teams top of the Atlantic — the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins, with 38 points apiece — and the eighth-place Buffalo Sabres, who have 30 points.
Meanwhile, Florida is just three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their 35 points for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot.
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