3 Takeaways: Panthers Win vs the Islanders – 10/23/22

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 New York Islanders. 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 have closed out their three-game home stand with their second straight win over the New York Islanders.

Panthers secure win vs the Islanders

The Panthers beat the Islanders 3-1 in their season opener and ran it back last night with another three-goal effort to take this one, 3-2. 

The Cats pounced on the Boatmen early and led wire-to-wire in this Sunday night affair. 

Anton Lundell scored just 39 seconds into the game, helping to set the tone early. 

Lundell’s relentless pursuit in the offensive zone helped him to strip the puck from defenceman Adam Pelech, and he’d be rewarded with his first goal of the season after sliding the puck past Semyon Varlamov.

It would be the bottom six forward group that would provide all the offense in this one. 

Eetu Luostarinen buried his second goal of the year less than 10 minutes after Lundell’s opening goal. 

And Ryan Lomberg would notch his first tally of the season, early in the third period, and help restore the Panthers’ two-goal lead. 

Spencer Knight would shut it down the rest of the way and Florida would leave the ice with their second win over the Islanders in less than two weeks. 

There are a lot of great things to take away from this hard-fought win but also some glaring areas of weakness that still need to be sorted out. 

The Panthers boast a record of 4-1-1 to kick off the year, but there is still plenty of work to do as they hit the road for a two-game swing.

Let’s have a look at the three main takeaways from the Panthers’ fourth win of the season.

Flexing their depth

One of the biggest questions facing the Panthers to start the season was how would the exodus of forwards during the offseason affect the team’s depth.

Well, the Panthers gave their best effort last night to put those concerns to bed. 

The third and fourth lines for the Panthers led the way, contributing to all three goals and shutting the door defensively at even strength.

Paul Maurice made it known at the start of the season that he wanted to implement a system that would transition from regular-season play into post-season play, seamlessly. 

And by the looks of his this game played out, it seems the players have bought into this system.

Maurice’s decision to slide Luostarinen over to the wing on the third line has proven to be brilliant early on in the campaign. 

The chemistry and efficiency are evident and now the Panthers boast a formidable third line that can be deployed during all situations of a game.

The third line, consisting of Luostarinen, Lundell, and Colin White was a combined plus-seven with two goals and two assists. 

They provided energy right from the drop of the puck. A hard forecheck to start the game resulted in a goal and helped to set the tone against a stingy Islanders team. 

They limited the Isle’s to low-scoring, perimeter shots while defending, and overall made life miserable for their opponent. 

It’s the exact stuff you want to see out of your third line. 

As for the fourth line, made up of Lomberg, Patrick Hornqvist, and Nick Cousins, they were held to under eight minutes of ice time, due to the number of special teams being played. 

But Lomberg was sure to make the most of his limited ice time. The fan-favorite swatted at a puck from the same place Luostarinen scored his goal, notching his first of the year to restore the Panthers’ two-goal lead.

It’s efforts like these from your bottom two lines that help to keep the momentum going forward while the top line for the Panthers continues to be handcuffed.

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Special teams not so special

Once again the Panthers’ power play was a letdown. The Cats had another four opportunities last night on the man advantage but were unable to find the back of the net.

Florida has now gone 0-15 on the PP in their last three games and currently sits 29th in the NHL with an abysmal 7.4% PP rate.

This is a problem that stems all the way back from last season in the playoffs and it’s a trend that the Panthers desperately need to buck. 

With Ekblad out, Maurice has been rolling his first power play unit with five forwards, but that extra emphasis on offence doesn’t seem to be working. 

It’s not to say that the five-forward scheme can’t work, but it’s going to take some time. 

Some of the guys are playing in positions they aren’t used to on the PP and the lack of comfortability is evident. 

There is far too much talent on that power play unit to be stalled like this the entire season. Perhaps it’s time to look back on what the power play did early last season, and get back to what worked.

Not just the power play that’s faulty 

After conceding just one power-play goal through their first three games, the Panthers have now allowed five in their last three. 

Now the penalty kill hasn’t been awful, it’s just that they give the other team so many chances on the man advantage. 

The Panthers have played shorthanded 19 times during their three-game home stand. That is a level of undisciplined hockey that will not fly with the team’s new bench boss.

It does not matter how good of a penalty kill unit you have, being on the ice short-handed that often will fatigue your players and throw off the rhythm of the rest of the players who don’t play on the PK.

The Panthers have played exceptionally well during even-strength play, so should they get either one of their power play or penalty kill going, they would be an absolute force.

Top line’s offensive woes continue

It has been an awful start, at least on the stat sheet, for the Panthers’ top line.

Through six games, the top line has produced just two goals at even strength, both coming from Carter Verhaeghe in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers. 

It certainly isn’t for a lack of trying. The trio of Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, and Sam Reinhart has generated 46 shots on goal in their first six games. 

The chances have been there but it seems to be a case of bad “puck luck”.

The top line has still been effective. They’ve only surrendered two goals while on the ice and have a strong positive Corsi at 57.8%

When this line is on the ice, they dictate play and control the time on attack. 

They are doing all of the other things right and sooner or later the pucks will start going in for them.

Now isn’t the time to panic or make a big change up to the lines. Maurice has found superb balance in his group to start the year. And when you’re sitting at 4-1-1 despite not operating at full efficiency, you can allow yourself some patience and let your guys figure it out. 

Extra notes

Matthew Tkachuk saw his franchise record-setting, point-streak come to an end last night.

Tkachuk recorded points in the teams’ first five games (3G, 5A), beating the previous franchise mark of four, set by nine other Panthers players.

His five-game point streak to begin his tenure as a Panther was also the franchise’s third longest. Ray Whitney (97-98) set the record with a seven-game streak to start his career with the Panthers, and Pavel Bure (98-99) hit six.

Next up

The Panthers hit the road for a short two-game trip. Their first stop will be in the Windy City where they’ll take on the Chicago Blackhawks, who are off to a surprising 3-2 start to the season.

Florida swept the season series against the Blackhawks last season, going 2-0 and outscoring them 9-2.

Puck drop is Tuesday, the 25 at 8:30 pm EST.