How Ekblad and Montour looked in Panthers season debut. Plus the latest on Barkov’s injury
It had been just over five months since defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour last played a game for the Florida Panthers. They battled through excruciating shoulder injuries — plus a broken foot and torn oblique for Ekblad — to provide whatever they could for the Panthers during their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
After surgery and a lengthy rehab process that spanned the entire offseason, training camp and the first month-and-a-half of the season, Ekblad and Montour finally made their long-awaited season debut for the Panthers in their 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
“It was a long road,” Ekblad said postgame on Bally Sports Florida. “It’s very sweet to get back in the lineup. It leaves a good taste in your mouth when you come back, especially when you get a win.”
Montour, paired with Niko Mikkola, was on the ice for a team-high 24:02 and took one shot on goal, while Ekblad played 20:05 and had four shots on goal while being paired with Gustav Forsling. Both were on the power play.
“It was awesome,” forward Anton Lundell said. “They’re such big players for our team. They help us so much. Today felt really good to have them back. You could feel the boys were enjoying it.”
Their return provides a boost to a defenseman group that features a slew of new faces. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dmitry Kulikov were signed this offseason in addition to Mikkola, as well as Mike Reilly and Uvis Balinskis, the latter two of whom were scratched from the lineup Friday.
Ekman-Larsson and Kulikov were the Panthers’ third defensive pairing on Friday. Ekman-Larsson began the season paired with Forsling and Kulikov was with Mikkola before the returns of Ekblad and Montour, both of whom are right-handed shooters that bring balance to a lineup that prior to their return only had left-handed shooting defensemen.
“There’s just a whole bunch of small puck movement things that they do that left-handed defensemen can’t do as easily,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Montour and Ekblad. “[They were a] big part of our offensive zone movement early in the game. Those guys will just keep getting better. The pairings, in some ways we have three new pairings for this year, but Forsling and Ekblad, we know what we’re going to get there. The other two pairings are brand new. They’ll get better as they get to know each other.”
Latest on Aleksander Barkov
Panthers captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov Friday’s game against Anaheim left 57 seconds into the third period and did not return after knee-to-knee contact with Ducks rookie defenseman Jackson LaCombe.
Maurice didn’t have an immediate update on Barkov’s status after the game.
“We’ve got to get him back and get him looked at, and then we’ll see from there,” Maurice said.
Barkov is tied with Matthew Tkachuk for second on the team with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists).
This and that
▪ Panthers backup goaltender Anthony Stolarz improved to 3-1-0 on the season after stopping 34 of 35 shots that came his way against Anaheim, including all 29 at even strength. The only goal he allowed was on the power play by former Panther Frank Vatrano 7:39 into the third period.
▪ Eetu Luostarinen and Ekman-Larsson scored Florida’s goals in the first period on Friday. It was Luostarinen’s first goal of the season and Ekman-Larsson’s fifth.
▪ Lundell had the primary assist on both goals for his first multi-point game of the season.
▪ Forward Jonah Gadjovich also made his season debut on Friday, firing off two shots on goal while on the ice for just 6:20.
▪ The Panthers went 2-1-0 on their California road trip, also winning 5-3 against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday and losing 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
▪ The Panthers’ win on Friday was No. 1,000 in franchise history.
