Florida Panthers once again learning to ‘get comfortable’ in tough situations
On the eve of the Florida Panthers’ season beginning, Paul Maurice warned about the road ahead.
With three key players out to start the season — center Sam Bennett for at least the first week, defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour until at least mid-December — and 11 players on their 23-man roster new to the team this year, the Panthers were going to have to balance an early adjustment period with a need to get off to a strong start while beginning the season with a three-game road trip.
“We’ve got to get into the mud early and as fast as we can and get comfortable living there,” the coach said.
That thought was only reinforced more after a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday to begin the season despite being the more productive team.
The Panthers were in that position more often than not last year and in the long run were better because of it, ultimately making a run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Experience in that regard — learning how to not beat themselves when things get rough — should help, but there’s still a learning process as the season begins.
“It’s definitely not going to be an easy start for us,” star winger Matthew Tkachuk said, “but I think we all believe in each other. We believe in what we’ve build here and we just want to keep that rolling.”
Added goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky: “We have new players and now we are building the chemistry, the trust and the belief in each other.
“That’s the process.”
Uvis Balinskis’ debut
While a lot of fanfare went in the direction of rookie forward Mackie Samoskevich on Thursday, he wasn’t the only Panthers player who made his NHL debut on Opening Night.
Defenseman Uvis Balinskis, who signed with the Panthers this offseason after spending his entire professional career to that point playing in Europe, also played in his first NHL game in Florida’s loss to Minnesota.
It was a day Balinskis thought might not happen.
“I’ve been dreaming about playing in the NHL since I was a kid,” Balinskis told reporters Friday in Winnipeg. “When I played a couple pro years in Europe, I forgot about that maybe, but since I signed, it was again my dream. Just happy it happened.”
Balinskis spent the last three seasons playing in the Czech Extraliga, the Czech Republic’s highest level ice hockey league, but truly began being noticed when he was playing for the Latvian National Team, which participated in the 2022 Winter Olympics and won the bronze medal at this year’s World Championships.
The 27-year-old defenseman has an offensive knack to his game — he scored 25 goals and added 50 assists over 140 games in his three Czech Extraliga seasons — and made enough of an impression in training camp to make the team.
“We like the way he moves the puck and how he plays the game without any fear,” Maurice said. “He is trying to make plays, he is trying to get involved, trying to kill plays. There does not seem to be any nervousness.”
This and that
▪ Panthers general manager Bill Zito, speaking during first intermission on the Bally Sports Florida broadcast Thursday, on Tkachuk’s impact on the team and in South Florida: “We know what’s been talked about what he does on the ice, but in the room, his leadership, and also in our hockey community, in the greater Broward community, he gets it. He’s genuine, he’s sincere, and he is that kind of person that you think he is. The boys love him, he loves the boys and it’s a great addition on all levels.”
▪ In his first start of the season with the Charlotte Checkers, goaltender Spencer Knight stopped 25 of 27 shots faced on Friday in Charlotte’s 4-2 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who scored all their goals in the third period and the final two on an empty net.
