Maurice’s New Lines Yield Immediate Results in Panthers Latest Win

It was an offensive explosion reminiscent of last season’s juggernaut Florida Panthers.

On the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Panthers jumped out to a three-goal first-period lead. The Cats added two more and the team’s new-look forward lines propelled the Panthers to a massive 5-4 win in Denver.

New Lines Provide New Life

It was the exact response head coach Paul Maurice was expecting out of his team after a humbling loss to the Dallas Stars a few days ago.

After Maurice’s club failed to generate much of anything offensively against Dallas, it was time to hit the drawing board. 

What he came back with was a brand new set of lines. And at first glance, one could say he put the lines in a blender and was hoping for the best.

Featured on the top line was a trio of players where two of the three were caught in a point drought. That seems logical, right?

Then we had the second line. A combination of players being reunited for the first time since October. 

And the entire bottom six was a look that was completely brand new.

38-year-old Eric Staal was centering the third line with Nick Cousins and Swiss army man, Eetu Luostarinen.

Then we had Colin White, who is ice cold as of late with zero goals in his last 20 games, anchoring the bottom ranks alongside Givani Smith and Ryan Lomberg.

Was this desperation or was there a method to Maurice’s madness?

Well, after last night’s result, it seems it was the latter.

Top Line Should Be a Staple Going Forward

Usually, when a team needs an offensive boost the coach will stack the top line with his best offensive players. 

Not Paul Maurice.

The veteran bench boss elected to put Anton Lundell, who was pointless in his last seven, with fellow Finn, Aleksander Barkov, and another struggling winger, Sam Reinhart.

Lundell’s sophomore campaign has been underwhelming after putting together a rookie season that garnered him Calder attention.

But Maurice played a hunch by partnering his two best two-way forwards against the speedy Avs.

“That was as good a game as I’ve seen Lundell play all year, and I thought Barkov looked energized,” Maurice exclaimed post-game.

“There might be something there.”

There might be something there indeed.

That line helped set the tone by scoring against the Avalanche. Lundell chipped a puck into the corner for himself and then outmuscled his man before sliding the puck over to a wide-open Barkov.

By the end of the night, the top line combined for four points and was a plus-four.

The line looks to be one of the most balanced lines Maurice has put together. You have Reinhart, who can finish, Barkov, who is a magician in creating plays out of nothing, and Lundell, who is like a mini version of Barkov with his strong 200-foot game. 

They are a line that plays effectively at both ends of the ice. And for a line that was playing for the first time together, while two guys were in a funk, their 47.8% Corsi For against a team like the Avalanche, is simply incredible.

Maurice may have found some magic here and it’d be wise to roll with this line going forward.

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If It Aint Broke

After making his new first line, Maurice reunited Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe with Sam Bennett on the second line.

Which, if you remember, was a pretty efficient line to start the year.

Last night the three forwards combined for three goals and five points, including Tkachuk’s game-winner.

“He’s scored big goals for us all year. There’s just another one.” Bennett said after the win.

Montour echoed that sentiment, “he’s a top player in this league. A big player comes up at big times.”

On the season as a whole, this trio has a CF% of 56.7 through 110 minutes of play. And for anyone new to Corsi, this is a good number. Anything over 50% means you are controlling the play more than your opponent.

Now, any line you put Tkachuk on this season tends to be the team’s best line. That’s what you get with a superstar calibre player like Chucky.

So if this new top line is something Maurice can stick with, then he has a solid top six he can roll out and trust, game in and game out.

Veteran Coaching Paying Dividends

Paul Maurice’s ability to seemingly find instant chemistry in new lines actually comes from something he did back in preseason play.

Maurice made it a priority of his to blend the lines as much as possible in training camp and in exhibition games.

The thought was to familiarize himself as best he could with which guys worked well together. 

And now we are seeing him reap the fruits of his labour. 

Maurice certainly hasn’t had the start he hoped for, in terms of wins, in his start in South Florida. But there’s a reason Bill Zito elected to go with the veteran coach.

It’s at times like this when a team desperately needs to make adjustments and get going, where Maurice’s experience shows off.

After looking lost on the ice against Dallas after falling behind, the Panthers look to have found a new belief in themselves. Beating the defending Cup champs in their own barn can do that.

The Panthers remain six points out of the final Wild Card spot. But with these new lines, that hill looks a lot more conquerable than it did on Sunday.