FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — On Saturday, the Florida Panthers will try to extend their 2-0 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes without the player who scored 96 goals for them over the last two seasons.
Sam Reinhart left Game 2 shortly after taking Sebastian Aho’s hip to his leg at 14:49 of the first period. The 29-year-old played one more 12-second shift after the open-ice hit but didn’t return thereafter and has now been listed as day-to-day by Panthers coach Paul Maurice.
“It’s a player that plays in all parts of your game,” Maurice said. “Critical part of our power play, (Aleksander) Barkov and Reinhart are elite at penalty killing, and draws the heavy fire and (goes against) the best set of D for the other team. So, it’s a significant player out of our lineup.”
The Panthers have lost some pieces over their last couple of playoff runs, but Reinhart took part in every game in 2023 and 2024 and missed just seven over the last four regular seasons combined.
A year ago, before helping the Panthers win the Cup, he scored 57 goals and finished fourth in the voting for the Selke Trophy, which is awarded to the best defensive forward in the league.
This season, Reinhart had 39 goals and was named a finalist for the Selke.
He also had four goals and 11 points in the playoffs before Aho’s hit sidelined him, leaving the Panthers scrambling for a replacement.
“You can’t have one guy go down and not still have a chance, or you don’t have the depth that you think,” said Maurice.
“That said, there’s a 57-goal scorer out of our lineup, so nobody has that kind of depth,” he added, confirming Jesper Boqvist will play with Barkov and Evan Rodrigues in Reinhart’s place.
Boqvist had 11 goals and 23 points this season, and he has one goal and one assist in nine during these playoffs.
Maurice also confirmed Boqvist will play on the Panthers’ penalty kill.
Enter Pyotr Kochetkov
Sean Walker and Seth Jarvis, who each left Game 2 following big hits from Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer, respectively, both participated in Saturday’s morning skate and are expected to play Game 3.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who was scratched from Game 2, practised with Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall.
If he remains there for Game 3, Jack Roslovic could be the odd man out of Carolina’s lineup.
Jalen Chatfield, who hasn’t played since Game 4 of Round 2, didn’t skate Saturday morning and is a gametime decision.
But Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour made one pivotal decision already: Pyotr Kochetkov is replacing Frederik Andersen.
Andersen came into this series with a playoff-leading .937 save percentage and 1.37 goals-against average, but he’s since allowed 10 goals in five periods.
Kochetkov replaced him for the third period of Game 2, and the Hurricanes are turning to him for Game 3.
“Just change the vibe a little bit,” Brind’Amour explained. “I don’t blame Freddy on any of the goals that went in. Obviously, save percentage is not great, if you look at that. We do need some saves, but I can’t blame him on any of them. All of the goals have been great shots or plays by them, but just change the vibe a little bit.
“We’ve got a kid who we’ve had all year who’s played great for us.”
In 47 regular-season games, the 25-year-old Kochetkov went 27-16-3 and posted an .898 save percentage.
He’s also appeared in three games this post-season, allowing six goals total but winning his only start — a 5-4 double-overtime squeaker in Game 5 of Round 1 to eliminate the New Jersey Devils.
Bennett the menace
Nine goals in 14 games makes Sam Bennett the top goal scorer of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which isn’t exactly what you’d have expected at the beginning of this decade.
Back then, the Calgary Flames were in the process of giving up on the massive potential they thought he possessed when they chose him fourth overall in 2014.
Turns out they were right 11 years ago, and much less so when they traded him and a sixth-round pick to Florida for two seconds and Emil Heineman in April 2021.
Much to Maurice’s delight.
“That was an incredible pickup because he was available there for a while. He was a health scratch about (five) years ago. I think in March of ‘21 he was a healthy scratch,” the Panthers coach said on Friday. “And I asked him what the difference was, and he said he got back to centre ice, which is an important position. He got back to playing the game the way he played it when he came into the league, and then he got to play with Jonathan Huberdeau. So, the confidence, right? What a difference. It’s a great example of how a player can look so different when he feels good about his game. He’s very fast, and he’s physically very strong, so he’s built for playoffs. Just his stature, he can handle the heavy going.”
Especially with six-foot-two sniper Carter Verhaeghe on one side of him, and bash brother Matthew Tkachuk on the other.
“I think he and Matthew (Tkachuk) really do have good chemistry,” said Maurice. “Matthew’s hands and his IQ and where he puts pucks and all those things lets Sam run a little bit — and I don’t mean run around. It lets him get his speed. And that’s I think the thing that was missing maybe before he got here. He got stuck on the wing and maybe couldn’t carry his speed. He’s a very fast player, and it might be the underrated part is how quickly he can get up the ice.”
Or in the face of his opponents.
Bennett got in there and forced a turnover with his speed on Florida’s first goal of Game 2. Then he scored two of his own and added an assist in that 5-0 win.
The 28-year-old had seven goals and 14 points to help the Panthers win the Cup last year, and he already has 13 points in the 14 playoff games they’ve played this year.
He’s a nightmare for his opponents.
“He’s very dynamic,” said teammate Gustav Forsling. “He can shut your lights out, and he scores goals, so I wouldn’t want to play him in the playoffs. I’m happy I’m on his team.”
Bennett is thrilled to be a Panther, playing in a system in which he was built to thrive.
“I think I definitely struggled in Calgary for a while,” Bennett said ahead of Game 3. “I think once I got here, just how the team embraced me, the opportunity the team gave me right from the beginning, was totally different than what I was getting in Calgary. I took that opportunity and found some success early, and our team definitely changed quite a bit from when I first got here. … I think our style changed, but I think it even fit my style of game even more, so that gave me even more confidence to go out and play. Just very fortunate to have some great teammates, and linemates, and great coaches that believed in me, and it just is a perfect combination to have success.”
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They said it…
On bouncing back from a game that saw his team nearly give up a touchdown while producing the lowest shot count (17) under his watch over the last seven years, Brind’Amour said: “The tougher ones are the first game, where maybe you were good enough but the score wasn’t close. That’s a little tougher one. But when you’re as bad as we were (Thursday), you gotta own that. We gave ourselves no chance to win that game. So, we’ve gotta get back to a little more trusting what we do instead of worrying so much about what they’re doing.”
On not getting complacent up 2-0 and learning from blowing a 3-0 series lead against the Edmonton Oilers in last year’s final, Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues said: “Can’t let your foot off the gas. Also, last year, it was in the finals. Lot of, I wouldn’t say pressure, but there was a will to get the job done. Stanley Cup on the line and the nerves and all the emotion that come with that is something you don’t forget, so when you get into a situation like this where we’re up 2-0, you understand what it takes after going through that, you understand what you have to do and the pressure doesn’t affect you as much. So, you look to build on those experiences and on those emotions and try not to let that happen again.”
