ELMONT, N.Y. — The new-look Florida Panthers were as advertised in their first regular-season game of the 2022-23 NHL season — for better and worse.
Gone is the free-wheeling, Jonathan Huberdeau-led offense of last year, as well as the relentless pressure made possible by one of the deepest rosters in the league. In their place is a more traditional look, with more bodies around the net and Matthew Tkachuk, their new All-Star right wing, reshaping the Panthers in his own image.
The end result Thursday still was a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena — a fitting result to start this new era in South Florida.
The Panthers’ first two goals came on a deflection by center Eetu Luostarinen with 7:15 in the second period — finally beating star goaltender Ilya Sorokin after he stopped the first 16 shots he faced — and then on a wraparound off a rebound by right wing Patric Hornqvist with 16:17 left, just 30 seconds after the Islanders tied the game on a power play.
The third came from Tkachuk against an empty net with 1:15 left on his 16th shot attempt of the game.
New York always wants to play low-scoring games. The Panthers, for the last few years, have always been content to play high-scoring shootouts. On opening night, Florida (1-0-0) beat the Islanders (0-1-0) at their own game in Elmont, New York.
The good
—Tkachuk lived up to the hype in his debut and it only took him about 14 minutes to explain to everyone why general manager Bill Zito and Co. are so excited about him.
The Panthers went on their first power play just 22 seconds into the game, and Tkachuk immediately set up around the crease and tried to score a through-the-legs goal. About a minute later, he tried again and in the middle of it all he also drew shouts from the crowd when he ran into Sorokin without a penalty.
A little while later, he nearly scored on a penalty kill and he initiated one of the biggest scrums of the first period when he came in late for a bump after the whistle.
In his first 14 minutes, the All-Star right wing recorded five shot attempts and five scoring chances — both led the team — and did just as much as a pest and agitator. In the first 30 minutes, he fired nine shot attempts at Sorokin.
— The Panthers beat a red-hot goaltender with exactly the sort of play Maurice is emphasizing.
Luostarinen’s go-ahead second-period goal wasn’t anything fancy — a deflection on a big slap shot by defenseman Radko Gudas — but it was exactly what Florida needed to beat Sorokin, who otherwise stopped 26 shots.
It was also exactly what the Panthers felt they needed more of by the end of last year, when star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy almost singlehandedly led the Tampa Bay Lightning to a second-round sweep of Florida in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Hornqvist’s goal was similarly heady, jumping on a rebound behind the net and then wrapping around to the other side to beat Sorokin after the goalie lunged in the other direction to deny left wing Ryan Lomberg.
The Panthers’ two goals came from its bottom two lines, even though those two trios lost the possession battle when they were on the ice.
— Sergei Bobrovsky picked up where he left off, with 29 saves on 30 attempts.
It tracks with how the star goaltender played all year last year, including during the Stanley Cup playoffs. If this is what he’s going to give Florida all season, Bobrovsky is going to cover up a ton of his team’s weaknesses, particularly on defense.
The bad
— These are not the old Panthers and it means the regular season isn’t going to be quite as carefree.
A year ago, Florida was so deep at every position it never felt like it was at a disadvantage. Even its fourth line could go toe to toe with just about any other line in hockey and not look overmatched.
The salary cap meant the Panthers couldn’t keep a lot of those third- and fourth-line forwards — or do much at all about its defense — and the difference was stark. Newcomers Colin White, Nick Cousins and Rudolfs Balcers combined for just one point on a secondary assist and the the Islanders had more shot attempts than Florida when both of the Panthers’ bottom two lines were on the ice.
— MacKenzie Weegar is the departure Florida is feeling the most because this defense is clearly a player or two short.
The Panthers knew this was going to be the case and it’s why the trade for Tkachuk might ultimately make this team worst, with the tradeoff of being a long-term positive. The Huberdeau-for-Tkachuk swap is ultimately something close to a wash, but Florida gave away a legitimate star defenseman in the deal and didn’t find a clear-cut replacement for him. The Panthers are going to need either Marc Staal or fellow defenseman Josh Mahura to exceed expectations and then they’ll be able to upgrade the defense next season with about $10 million in projected cap space.
Statistically, Staal and Mahura both fared well in their Florida debuts.
— The power play picked up right where it left off — sort of.
The Panthers went 0 for 5 on the power play, which is terrible, but they did generate seven shots, 15 scoring chances and eight high-danger chances. There’s a shoot-first mentality they lacked on the power play when they went 1 for 31 in the playoffs last year and it should eventually pay dividends.
