The Panthers told Mackie Samoskevich to keep shooting. He’s getting rewarded
The Florida Panthers have had a simple request for Mackie Samoskevich: Keep shooting.
That was easier said than done sometimes.
The Panthers know how lethal Samoskevich can be with the puck on his stick. His straight-end speed makes him a weapon on the wings. His quick release has the potential to be a goaltender’s nightmare if he can learn to finish more consistently.
But try as he might all season, the 23-year-old Samoskevich struggled to find the back of the net during his second full NHL season.
It wasn’t for a lack of effort. He has had his share of opportunities, so many moments where things could have broken his way. They just ... didn’t.
“I’ve never seen a guy that snake bit,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Truly, the number of good chances — he’s a good shooter. He can shoot the puck.”
But even with the lack of results, Samoskevich kept shooting.
And with the season winding down to its final days, Samoskevich and his shot is finally getting rewarded.
He entered Florida’s road game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday having scored goals in three consecutive games — the first goal streak of his young NHL career.
“I feel like I’ve been playing well enough to score,” Samoskevich said. “Just for whatever reason, they haven’t gone in. I think the difference is they’re going in now.”
Sounds simple.
But the numbers back up Samoskevich’s claim.
According to the advanced hockey statistics website Natural Stat Trick, Samoskevich’s expected goals scored (which takes into account shot selection and quality to measuring the probability that a specific unblocked shot attempt will result in a goal, based on historical data) this season is 20.15. He has actually scored just nine goals.
Samoskevich’s minus-11.15 difference between actual goals and expected goals is by far the largest on the Panthers’ roster (Eetu Luostarinen is second at minus-6.36) and is the fifth-largest discrepancy across the entire NHL. The only players with worse differentials: the New York Islanders’ Anders Lee (18 goals, 36.77 expected goals, minus-18.77 differential), the Vancouver Canucks’ Jake DeBrusk (18 goals, 31.6 expected goals, minus-13.6 differential), the New Jersey Devils’ Timo Meier (22 goals, 35.48 expected goals, minus-13.48 differential) and the Detroit Red Wings’ Andrew Copp (9 goals, 21.07 expected goals, minus-12.07 differential).
“It’s been tough,” Samoskevich said. “But that’s the cool thing about the sport; you get to try again the next night.”
And as usually seems to be the case when streak-busting goals, his first of these three was a particularly fluky one. In the final minute against the New York Rangers on Sunday, Samoskevich got a feed from Jesper Boqvist and sent a shot toward Igor Shesterkin. Samoskevich’s stick broke on the attempt, the puck fluttered in the air, Shesterkin tried to swat at it and it ended up in the net. It was Samoskevich’s first goal since Feb. 5, breaking a 12-game drought.
“It couldn’t have been an end-to-ender. It had to be exactly like that,” Maurice said. “And I’m sure for that young man, the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders.”
Samoskevich has been playing freer since then.
He was part of Florida’s five-goal first-period flurry against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, flicking a shot from up close past Linus Ullmark on the power play on a feed from defenseman Seth Jones 66 seconds into the game.
And on Thursday, Samoskevich opened scoring agianst the Boston Bruins when he scooped up a puck behind the Boston net, skated into the left circle and fired a wrist shot past Jeremy Swayman.
“His shot is what we see from him in practice, is what we saw from him last year,” Maurice said. “We believe it’s there. We believe he has that kind of shot.”
Added center Sam Bennett: “It’s awesome for him. He’s played some great hockey. He’s made some great plays. He’s had some great looks. It’s just sometimes it’s the puck doesn’t seem to want to go in the net, but he’s been sticking with it, and it was nice to see him get rewarded.”
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