3 Takeaways From The Florida vs. Columbus Game

After a disappointing weekend that saw the Cats drop both back-to-back games against Washington and Boston, Florida ended the road trip on a high note, picking up a big two points against Columbus. The Panthers so far this season have been very hot and cold; they’ve looked like world beaters against lesser competition, but they’ve struggled to find their consistent competitive footing against the better teams in the league. But the get-right game against the Blue Jackets kept Florida in their wild card playoff spot; they’re now just two points behind Ottawa and Tampa, although the Lightning have two games in hand and four points behind Montreal. Markstrom had a solid start after struggling a bit when he returned from injury; Sam Reinhart hit a big milestone for the franchise; and the Cats ground out a solid win.

.974:

After a solid game against Seattle last month, Markstrom missed a few weeks with injury and struggled to find his feet in his starts against division rivals Detroit and Boston. However, he had a great game against the Blue Jackets where he made 38 saves on 39 shots for a .974 SV%. HC Paul Maurice said he looked sharp from the start of the game till the end, and when the Panthers needed him in the third, he helped them keep the lead. Sam Reinhart echoed that message, saying, “It was steady. Really steady from the start.” Markstrom gave credit to his teammates during his postgame interview, crediting them with playing hard and a great defensive game. When asked about what was working for him, Jacob said, “I mean, guys did a great job. You know a lot of shots were from the point were you know no traffic. The guys in front of me made it easy.” He also said that the penalty kill was ready to go when it was called upon in the third. If the Cats can get this kind of goaltending out of Markstrom and have their offense continue to improve against better competition, the Panthers are going to be sitting in a very good spot. They aren’t built to be the most dominant regular season team; they just have to be good enough to get into the playoffs, and then that’s where the real magic has come out.

199th Goal:

Sam Reinhart has been a big contributor to the Panthers since joining the team. Best recognized for his Game 7 Cup-winning goal, his Game 6 4-goal performance, or his 57-goal season, Sam has been one of the best goal scorers in Florida Panthers history, which is extremely impressive given that he’s only in his 6th season with the franchise. Despite moving to center while Barkov is out, he’s still at his Sam Reinhart rate, 10 goals in 19 games and 18 points with a 16.7 shooting percentage. If anyone thought he was just a Barkov merchant, this season and last has proved that to be false. Reinhart led the team in points last season at 61 even though he only played 64 games. Sam scored the final empty-net goal against Columbus to secure the 4-1 victory and marked his 199th goal scored with the Cats, moving him into solo 2nd place in all-time goals with the club. When asked about Reinhart hitting the milestone, Bennett said, “He’s done nothing but score big goals for this franchise. That’s a huge accomplishment, and I’m sure he’s got a lot more goals in him. He means a lot to this organization.” HC Paul Maurice had high praise for Sam: “More than you see on the ice. One of the leaders now for sure. Just everything that comes out of his mouth on the bench is bang on, it’s gold.” When asked about it himself, Sam told the media, “It’s obviously pretty special,” then joked, “Still behind Cap in every other category, I’m sure.”

Full Team Effort:

While the Cats’ big-name players have carried a lot of the load for the offense, they did get some help from their bottom six in the match in Columbus. After Sam Bennett broke the ice in the second period with a power play goal assisted by Anton Lundell, Lars Eller scored his second goal of the year. Eller’s been a very good pickup for the Panthers and will pass his points total of 15 from last year. In 19 games, he already has 9 points (2G, 7A). I don’t think it’s too outrageous to say that we could see Eller put up 20’s to 30’s in points like he did during the ’22-’23, ’23-’24, or ’24-’25 seasons in his time split between Colorado, Washington, and Pittsburgh. Lundell’s had a quieter season than last year, but his assist on the Bennett power-play goal was the kind of play fans are used to seeing from him, and he got a second assist on the Reinhart empty-netter by winning a puck battle along the wall. Bennett scored again in the third period to restore the 2-goal advantage. Ekblad had his best offensive game of the season, tallying 3 assists. M. Tkachuk, Jones, and Verhaeghe all continued their blistering starts to the season with an assist each. Matthew leads the team in points at a staggering 27 points in 19 games; Jones is second at 21 pts, and Verhaeghe has 17 pts but is tied with Reinhart and B. Tkachuk to lead the team in goals at 10. Carter’s points have dipped a bit in the last two seasons, but if his pace continues, he’s on track to be nearly a point-per-game player like he was for Florida during the ’22-’23 & ’23-24 seasons, where he put up 73 and 72 points, respectively. Overall, the whole team chipped in for the win and looks to keep up the momentum when they face off against Detroit in Sunrise.