To keep things fresh, Maurice has gut feeling about when it’s time to mix up his forward lines
The Florida Panthers were winning, so coach Paul Maurice was hesitant to mix things up.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
While things certainly weren’t broken — going 15-3-2 over a 20-game stretch is anything but broken — but there was still something missing. The Panthers’ production during 5-on-5 play had dipped but was masked by stellar performances on the power play and stingy defense.
So finally, during the third period Thursday against the Washington Capitals, Maurice made the changes he was considering for a while with his forward lines.
Carter Verhaeghe moved up to the top line with Aleksander Barkov and
Sam Reinhart.
And Nick Cousins moved up to the second line with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk.
And Evan Rodrigues dropped down to the third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.
(Florida’s fourth line of Jonah Gadjovich, Kevin Stenlund and Ryan Lomberg remained unchanged.)
Those lines remained intact Saturday in Florida’s shutout win over the Colorado Avalanche and will stay the same again on Wednesday when the Panthers play the Pittsburgh Penguins to start a threegame road trip.
“Over 82 games, things get stale every once in a while,” Maurice said.
“They just get into a game and it’s not there for them, so you try to give them a little bit of a feel.”
Maurice’s reasoning behind the decision is one that has considerable thinking behind it.
When he puts lines together, he generally starts with duos who work well together and then figures out which of his forwards who remain provide the biggest impact on the three lines.
When the team is fully healthy, the makeup starts with the duos he kept together on each of the top three lines: Barkov and Reinhart on the top line, Bennett and Tkachuk on the second line, and Lundell and Luostarinen on the third line.
Barkov and Reinhart have been the driving forces of Florida’s top line all season. Florida has allowed just 13 goals when the two are together at 5-on-5 regardless of who is on the left wing of the line.
Bennett and Tkachuk provide a gritty, forecheckforward game in addition to scoring potential.
And Lundell and Luostarinen are both defensiveminded, with their game focused more on goalprevention and timely scoring.
From there, Maurice is open and willing to rotate the other three forwards — Verhaeghe, Rodrigues and Cousins — if it can unlock untapped potential in any of the three.
Maurice said there isn’t a set amount of time or games played together for him to determine if a certain line will work longterm, but added that “you need to have seen enough combinations that when you get into a playoff series or you get into a stretch or you’re facing injury, you have another plan.”
“Over time,” Maruice continued, “I can say ‘I can put Verhaeghe there. Nick Cousins can play four, three and two and move over to the left side. Rodrigues and Lundell were good together.’ I’d like to see more of that so I understand when is it good?
What lines do they play well against that they seem to have it going or what lines do I keep them away from?”
As for the players? They are on board with whatever changes Maurice wants to make.
“Sometimes it’s just a switch to get your legs underneath you or your brain thinking,” Rodrigues said. “Sometimes it’s those little things that make a difference, and it worked out for us. I think it’s a big piece of this group that every player can almost play every position and with different players.”
Added Reinhart: “We’re all trying to play the same way. We’re all trying to execute the same systems. That’s when we’re at our best. That’s when we’re tough to play against. It’s important to be able to mix like this and have the same
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.
Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.
THURSDAY
Florida at Buffalo, 7
Anaheim at Ottawa, 7 Colorado at Tampa Bay, 7
Los Angeles at New Jersey, 7 Montreal at N.Y. Rangers, 7 Philadelphia at Toronto, 7 Seattle at Boston, 7
Dallas at Nashville, 8 Edmonton at St. Louis, 8 Pittsburgh at Chicago, 8:30 San Jose at Calgary, 9
Detroit at Vancouver, 10
WEDNESDAY
Florida at Pittsburgh
San Jose at Winnipeg Minnesota at Arizona
TUESDAY
Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2, SO Buffalo 7, Los Angeles 0 Montreal 5, Anaheim 0 Ottawa 6, Columbus 3 Toronto 4, St. Louis 1 Colorado 6, Washington 3 Seattle 2, NY Islanders 1, SO New Jersey 4, Nashville 2 Dallas 4, Carolina 2 Vancouver 4, Chicago 2 Edmonton 8, Detroit 4 result.”
THIS AND THAT
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on Monday was named the NHL’s second star of the week after posting a .966 save percentage and going 2-0-0 in wins over Washington and Colorado, including a 35-save shutout against the Avalanche.
“It’s definitely great,” Bobrovsky said. “I feel like when goalies are shining, it’s more about the team success. Guys played hard in front of me. I thank them.”
Jordan McPherson: 305-376-2129, @J_McPherson1126
Team Milwaukee UTAH Minnesota
(226½) (238½) (215½)
Team Line FLORIDA ATLANTIC 18½ SAM HOUSTON 6½ MIDDLE TENN. 2½ W. KENTUCKY 4½ CHARLOTTE 13½ PURDUE 17½ NORTH TEXAS 1½
Team
Florida OTTAWA TAMPA BAY NEW JERSEY NY RANGERS TORONTO BOSTON Dallas Edmonton Pittsburgh CALGARY
10 1 9
Line -154 -205 -114 -128 -275 -162 -192 -134 -170 -230 -330
MEMPHIS Golden State PORTLAND
Team
Temple Florida International
New Mexico State Utep Utsa Minnesota Memphis
Team BUFFALO Anaheim Colorado
Los Angeles Montreal Philadelphia Seattle NASHVILLE ST. LOUIS CHICAGO San Jose
Line +128 +168 -105 +106 +220 +134 +158 +112 +140 +188 +260
Player, Team
N.Kucherov, TB N.MacKinnon, Col C.McDavid, Edm D.Pastrnak, Bos J.T.Miller, Van E.Pettersson, Van M.Rantanen, Col A.Panarin, NYR Q.Hughes, Van W.Nylander, Tor S.Reinhart, Fla A.Matthews, Tor
Player, Team
Doncic, Dal. Alexander, Okl. Antetokou, Mil. Mitchell, Clev. Durant, Phoe. Curry, G.S. Booker, Phoe. Brunson, N.Y. Tatum, Bos.
G
53 54 47 53 54 54 54 53 54 51 52 50
FG
34 32 21 33 23 28 29 31 12 26 39 42
56 90 55 87 56 77 44 77 46 69 41 69 40 69 37 68 54 66 40 66 25 64 21 63
FT PTS AVG
46 531 337 1579 34.3 53 580 424 1649 31.1 53 611 381 1627 30.7 43 426 224 1219 28.3 47 483 255 1328 28.3 48 438 227 1344 28.0 44 430 272 1230 28.0 51 500 267 1401 27.5 51 474 286 1391 27.3