Florida Panthers’ unlikely hero strikes again. Plus updates on Ekblad, Montour

Nick Cousins considered himself lucky — right place, right time, right set of circumstances all leading up for another chance for him to play late-game hero for the Florida Panthers.

A turnover in the Panthers’ offensive with less than a minute remaining in regulation set Cousins up to score the game-tying goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets to force overtime on Monday night before Carter Verhaeghe sealed Florida’s 5-4 win in the do-or-die extra period.

“Those are the goals that happen with a minute left,” Cousins said. “It’s a big goal for our team.”

And it’s not the first time this season Cousins has been in that spot.

The 30-year-old winger’s only other goal of the season came late in Florida’s 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 28. Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord was out of position after defenseman Josh Mahura dumped the puck into the zone and the puck bounced right to Cousins in front of the net.

“He deserves it,” Verhaeghe said. “He’s been awesome, making plays all over the ice. It’s good to see that guy get it for sure.”

Cousins has bounced around the Panthers lineup all throughout his two seasons with Florida, playing anywhere on the second, third or fourth lines depending on where the team needs a gap filled.

“Nick was described to me by another NHL coach as a jackknife,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He will play all over the lineup, up and down, because he has really good hands and a good sense of the game. He maximizes those things. He gets around the ice, and if you can get it on a stick close to the front of the net, he usually makes good on it.”

According to the advanced hockey stats website Natural Stat Trick, Cousins’ nine high-danger chances at 5-on-5 are tied with Anton Lundell for the fourth most on the Panthers, behind only Matthew Tkachuk (19), Aleksander Barkov (12) and Evan Rodrigues (10). His 14 hits also lead all Florida forwards.

“He’s had some incredible chances — and generated them,” Maurice said. “He’s doing it. We’re excited about that, especially playing on the right side. Right now, with [Sam] Bennett out, he’s a really important piece. The guy that comes into the top-nine to fill that hole is him.”

Ekblad, Montour update

Maurice said Monday that key defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour remain “absolutely on time” in their return from offseason shoulder surgery but added that one or both of them could be back in the lineup in as early as the next two weeks.

Neither will play this week, with Florida having a road game Wednesday against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday followed by home games Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes and Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The following road trip — a West Coast swing to face the San Jose Sharks (Nov. 14), Los Angeles Kings (Nov. 16) and Anaheim Ducks (Nov. 17) — remains unlikely, too.

But Florida’s three-game homestand after that appears to be fair game.

“When we come back for the homestand off the west coast, we can see one or two of them,” Maurice said.

The original timeline for Montour and Ekblad to return was mid-December, but the duo began practicing with the team about a week-and-a-half ago. Maurice at that point said a late November return became a possibility.

“I’m going to say they’re absolutely on time in terms of the normal window, and probably potentially ahead of what we would have thought at the start,” Maurice said. “You get these injuries, four to six months, but you’re probably looking at around five months of healing. They’re going to be ahead of the six months, but they’re probably going to be fairly close to a five month [return], which is great. So our biggest fear, why we would say to you this thing could be into December, because that would be the six month from surgery, and that’s possibly what happens, but their rehab and recovery has been very, very good.”

This and that

▪ Verhaeghe’s game-winning goal was his third career regular-season overtime goal, all of which have come over the past three seasons. Since the start of the 2020-2021 season, only 19 players have more than three regular-season overtime goals.

Verhaeghe also has four overtime goals in the playoffs.

▪ Lundell recorded his 50th career assist on Verhaeghe’s overtime winner. He became the third-fastest Panthers skated to reach the mark among those who debuted with the club (149 games).

▪ Sam Reinhart had assists on two of Florida’s three first-period goals Monday for his sixth multi-point game of the season. He leads the Panthers with 13 points (eight goals, five assists). The first assist of the night was the 250th of his NHL career.