Panthers rely on Sam Reinhart for so much. Injuries have only amplified his role
Paul Maurice knows just how important Sam Reinhart is to the Florida Panthers. The winger is involved in essentially every facet of their success. His 200-foot game is among the best in the league, especially when he’s surrounded by the immense talent Florida has stockpiled on its roster over the past few years.
But when that talent around him on the ice has disappeared — when injuries have taken key player after key player after key player from Florida’s roster this season — Reinhart has only been that much more paramount to Florida weathering the storm and staying afloat in the standings.
Defense is Reinhart’s priority — and always will be — but his natural ability to score is now being relied upon to lead the team instead of just be an additional factor to his game. His time on ice is racking up, a burden that comes when top players are sidelined and games are close and every point is valuable.
And it’s not lost on Maurice exactly what he’s asking Reinhart to do — or that he’s stepping up while he has to do it.
“He’s been our best player because he’s done it on both sides of the puck,” Maurice said. “And then as skill comes out of your lineup, it puts an awful lot of pressure.”
Reinhart enters Florida’s road game against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday leading the team with 24 goals and 47 points and tied with Brad Marchand with a team-leading 23 assists. Half of those goals are on special teams — nine on the power play, three shorthanded.
His 24 goals are tied for 19th in the league. His nine power-play goals are tied for 10th. His three shorthanded goals are tied for third. His five game-winning goals are tied for sixth.
He’s averaging 21 minutes and 19 seconds of ice time per game, nearly 50 seconds more per game than last season and nearly a minute more than two seasons ago.
It’s out of necessity.
Florida is still without captain, top-line center and back-to-back Selke Award winner Aleksander Barkov. Matthew Tkachuk just returned this week after missing the first 47 games of the season. Marchand has been out the past seven games. Florida also is still without fourth-line forwards Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich plus two key defensemen in Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov.
That’s a lot of firepower missing from the lineup of the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. That’s a lot of minutes that have had to be spread around. Reinhart has been one of the players handling that burden even as Maurice tries to find ways to balance his playing time.
“I’m playing him more than I want to play him,” Maurice said. “I’d like to get his minutes closer to 20 [per game], but he’s also killing penalties in the No. 1 hole. He’s driving the power play, and then he plays against the other team’s best. He’s been incredible.”
Tkachuk’s impact
He’s only been back two games, but Tkachuk’s impact for the Panthesr is already readily being seen.
First and foremost, he helps balance out Florida’s forward lines back to configurations the team is used to running.
Tkachuk moved back to his customary spot on the right wing of the Panthers’ second line with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett midway through his season debut on Monday and the chemistry almost instantly returned. He set up Bennett for the game-opening goal on Thursday in Florida’s 2-1 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets. He corralled the puck off the board following a faceoff and sending it to Bennett in the high slot, where he fired a one-timer past Connor Hellebuyck with 11:11 left in the second period.
“That was an incredible shot,” Maurice said of the goal. “That’s two guys that have played together for a while and they did some good things.”
Added Bennett: “It’s great. It’s not easy to jump back in after seven months off the ice. He’s looked great. I think the more we play together, the more we’re going to keep building that chemistry that we have had for so long.”
In his first two games, Tkachuk averaged just shy of 20 minutes of ice time while logging four shots on goal, nine total shot attempts and four scoring chances. He has drawn three penalties (while committing two of his own), laid out two hits and blocked a shot in that span as well.
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