Florida Panthers Anton Lundell Does Not Shy Away from Big Moments

BOSTON — With all of the attention on the man who returned to the lineup to take his spot on the second line, Anton Lundell stepped up to become a key factor for the Florida Panthers in a 3-2 Game 4 win against the Boston Bruins.

Lundell made his impact felt in many different ways.

The loud one was a booming slap shot that got the Panthers on the board with 5:02 to go in the second period to cut a two-goal Boston lead in half.

But the quiet parts are just as important.

The 22-year-old was out there pushing the pace physically, making big plays on both ends and killing penalties in key times.

“I feel like I’m a player that is able to play with anybody and I want to be a guy who can play with whoever the coach puts me with,” Lundell told Florida Hockey Now.

“I just want to try to help the team that way when the team needs me to step up and I’m trying to do my best to help the team win.”

Dating back to last season, Lundell has made it known that he steps it up come playoff time.

He scored two goals and 10 points in 21 games last season and came into Sunday night with six assists in his first eight games.

And then he scored his first goal of the postseason the exact same way he scored his first of last year’s playoffs.

“You talk about history being important to your team. We’re down 2-0 to Toronto in Game 2 and then Lundell scored. Believe it was also his first of the playoffs,” coach Paul Maurice said. “He has been exceptionally good for us. And that kind of fired the belief.”

After Sam Bennett and Sasha Barkov helped the Panthers take the lead, Lundell made his presence known in the defensive end.

He needed to play some on-the-fly penalty kill minutes with Sam Reinhart out, taking three key shifts in the third period and helping keep the pressure on the Bruins power play and come up with clear after clear.

That heavy, pressure-filled style of game is something Lundell has carried over from the past few games and it shined on Sunday.

“I think it’s an inner confidence about him,” Evan Rodrigues said. “He believes in himself and he wants to be a difference maker.

“For a young kid, it’s easy to have the opposite and shy away from the big moment but I think he’s got a little bit of that internal swagger that he just wants to get the job done and he likes the challenge. He’s the guy that likes to match up against the other team’s top centermen because it brings out his best game.

“He likes the big moment.”

Lundell is only going to get better, too.

He is in the locker room every day asking questions to Barkov, Vladimir Tarasenko or anyone else he can find.

“He’s a hardworking kid,” Barkov said. “You would not think he was that young with his approach to professional hockey. He’s working really hard and he wants to learn something every day. All the time he is asking questions. Stupid questions, good questions, it doesn’t matter. He is asking the questions, he wants to learn, so that’s great.

“I don’t think you guys have enough time for me to just sit here and talk about the good things about him.”

Sasha Barkov is invited to talk about the good things about Anton Lundell for a future Florida Hockey Now story. We have time for that.