3 Takeaways: Panthers Win vs Flyers – 10/19/22

Welcome to Full Press Hockey’s Takeaway series on the Florida Panthers. After each Panthers game of the 2022-23 season, our Florida Panthers beat writer, Alex Slemp, will recap the game and give you his three biggest takeaways from the matchup. Today we will have a look at the Florida Panthers’ win vs the Philadelphia Flyers. You can follow more of his work on the Florida Panthers here, and also tune into his podcast where he talks the latest on all things Florida Panthers.

The Florida Panthers finally got to play their first home game of the season. And what a treat it was!

The Panthers faithful were out in droves and had the building rocking all night. 

Panthers win Home Opener vs the Flyers

It was an electric homecoming for the players and for Matthew Tkachuk, who got his first taste of the energy the fans bring to their arena.

The Panthers were short a couple of defencemen in this one but fed off the energy from the crowd and led wire-to-wire to take this one 4-3.

Let’s have a look at three main takeaways from the Panthers vs Flyers.

There’s no place like home

The Cats picked up where they left off last season, looking unstoppable in front of their home fans. 

The Panthers sported the best home record in the NHL last season and their 34 wins at home were also a franchise best.

After starting the season on the road for its first three games of the year, the Panthers were excited to get back to their own barn and play in front of their fans.

“It’s awesome,” Panther forward Carter Verhaeghe said of being home. “It’s been a while since we played in front of our fans. I’m really excited. All the boys are ready to go. It will be fun”

That sentiment was echoed by team captain, Aleksander Barkov, who stated, ”Playing at home in front of our fans, they always give extra motivation for us.” Barkov continued, “We like coming here. We love this building. It’s going to be the same thing this year, same thing tonight. We’re really excited to be on home ice.”

And the excitement showed! 

Right out of the gate, the Panthers were pushing the pace. They peppered the flyers netminder with 14 shots in the first frame and finished the game with 36 shots on goal. 

There were plenty of odd-man rushes and had it not been for some brilliant stops from Felix Sandstrom, the Panthers could have had six or seven goals up on the board last night.

Monkey Off His Back

Carter Verhaeghe is scoreless no more.

After not finding the back of the net in his first three outings, Verhaeghe scored two beauties in this one.

And he almost completed the hat trick had it not been for a ridiculous kick save from Sandstrom.

The third-year Panther had himself a career year in points (55) and goals (24) last season but had struggled to find the net through his first three games.

It wasn’t for lack of trying though. The top line of Verhaeghe, Barkov, and Sam Reinhart has generated plenty of scoring opportunities (30 shots on goal combined), but have all been handcuffed in the goals department.

Verhaeghe helped get the monkey off the back for himself and this line as he got the Cats on the board early and let that home-crowd energy carry them through the rest of the way.

We can expect the momentum gained from this top line to carry over into the Panthers’ next game, a home date against in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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Defense Finds a Way

Injuries hit the Panthers’ blue line early into the season but the group showed it was up for the task. 

With Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour sidelined, the Panthers called up reserves in Matt Kiersted and Lucas Carlsson from the Charlotte Checkers.

It was their first NHL games of the season and both played admirably. 

Kiersted logged just over 13 minutes of ice time, including 1:56 on the penalty kill. He finished with two shots, and two hits, and was even on the night.

His defensive partner, Carlsson, logged 10:36 in ice time, registering one shot, two hits, and a block, and was a minus one.

Veterans Step Up

But it was the Panthers’ veterans who stepped up most vs the Flyers.

Gustav Forsling led the way with 26:04 minutes of ice time, including 5:34 on the penalty kill. 

Forsling was jumping up into the rush all night. He registered five shots on net, and collected an assist on the team’s second goal. 

The former fifth-round pick has been answering the bell every time an injury to their blue line occurs.

The native of Linkoping, Sweden took on an expanded role last season when Ekblad went down with an injury, and he continues to lead the blue line again.

As a whole, the defensive group did a fine job limiting chances from their opposition. By the midway point of the third period, the Flyers had only managed 20 shots on goal. 

But in the final 10 minutes of play you could see the fatigue getting to the defensive group as the Flyers bombarded Sergei Bobrovsky with 13 shots in those 10 minutes.

Penalty trouble definitely caused early fatigue for the defensive group.

Radko Gudas, Marc Staal, and Forsling had combined for more than 19 minutes of penalty kill time. 

You always want to play disciplined hockey but you especially want to limit your time in the box when you aren’t playing with one of your best penalty killers in Ekblad.

The Cats killed off five of six power play opportunities and luckily had enough gas left in the tank to hold off that late push from the Flyers.

Next up

The Panthers take to the ice again on Friday night when they host their in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It will be the first installment of the Battle of Florida. We can expect the Panthers to put on another great show in front of their home crowd.

Puck drops at 7:30 pm EST.