Panthers’ Montour is heating up. His goal: Play his ‘best hockey’ during the playoffs
The puck landed on Brandon Montour’s stick and before anyone could react, it was gone. The Florida Panthers defenseman fired a one-timer from the point on a five-on-three power-play in the third period against the Buffalo Sabres, falling to one knee as the puck made its way toward the net.
As the puck flew past Buffalo goaltender UkkoPekka Luukkonen, Montour raised his arms up high, wiggled his fingers, cocked his head to the side and gave the crowd a wink before his teammates surrounded him in celebration.
It was the final highlight of a big night for Montour, who contributed to all three of Florida’s goals in its 3-2 win over the Sabres, and the latest big moment for Montour over the past week and a half.
Over Florida’s past five games entering Thursday’s contest against the Montreal Canadiens, Montour has logged 10 points (three goals and seven assists). That’s second among defensemen only to the Winnipeg Jets’ Josh Morrissey (11 points, all assists) in that stretch as the Panthers continue getting into playoff form.
“I think we’re moving the puck and getting the confidence a little bit more,” Montour said. “Any time you can contribute offensively, especially with my game, it’s nice. It’s nice to collect these wins and play these big games. Still working towards playing my best hockey come April.”
Montour, who had a career-high 73 points last season, is certainly trending in that direction. He had a slow start to his 2023-24 season, missing the first 16 games of the season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and needing a couple months of game action before his offensive production began to pick up.
He has multiple points in four of his past five games after having just two multipoint outings in his first 38 games of the season. Half of his 10 points over that stretch have come on the power-play, on which he anchors the Panthers’ top unit that includes highscoring forwards Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov.
“He is moving well. He’s up the ice. He is so fast that he can get back,” Tkachuk said. “He is a one-man breakout, almost, so it is very easy to transition from defense and offense. He is super gifted. He sees the net really well and he is able to find shot lanes and is really good at finding the open man and getting his shots off quick. A lot of the time when he gets a goal, he one-times it really quick and it’s in the back of the net.”
Added Barkov: “The points are coming for him, but he’s an overall player. He’s one of the best skaters that I’ve seen. It looks easy for him. He’s not burning any energy. He sees the ice so well. He makes great plays. He can pass the puck. He can shoot the puck. He joins the rushes. He’s a really good player.”
Montour also sees the bigger goal. The Panthers have another month and a half of the regular season before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin. Florida is starting to peak as a team, entering Thursday having held opponents to two goals or fewer in 14 consecutive games.
His individual production will help, but only if it comes in the grand scheme of the team’s success.
“What we’re doing is working,” Montour said. “I think we can clean up a little bit, but especially with the last 20 or so games left, we’re going to get every team’s best. We have to be on top of that and be at our best as well.”
THIS AND THAT
Goaltender Anthony Stolarz is in net for the Panthers on Thursday against Montreal. It will be Stolarz’s 100th career NHL game.
Forward Will Lockwood will draw into the Panthers’ lineup on Thursday
Florida Boston Toronto Detroit Tampa Bay Buffalo Montreal Ottawa Metropolitan
N.Y. Rangers Carolina Philadelphia New Jersey Washington Pittsburgh N.Y. Islanders Columbus
Central
Winnipeg Dallas Colorado Nashville St. Louis Minnesota Arizona Chicago Pacific
59 39 16 4 82 194 142 60 34 12 14 82 202 165 58 33 17 8 74 216 185 59 33 20 6 72 213 186 61 32 24 5 69 208 207 59 27 28 4 58 171 178 59 23 28 8 54 167 211 57 25 29 3 53 190 203 GP W L OT Pts GF GA
60 40 17 3 59 35 18 6 60 31 22 7 59 30 25 4 58 27 22 9 56 27 21 8 58 24 20 14 58 19 29 10
83 201 164 76 194 165 69 183 177 64 198 205 63 153 186 62 170 154 62 170 197 48 171 214
57 37 15 5 79 176 135 61 35 17 9 79 218 187 60 36 19 5 77 221 189 60 33 25 2 68 188 188 59 30 26 3 63 171 185 59 28 25 6 62 188 196 58 23 30 5 51 168 192 59 15 39 5 35 123 208 GP W LOT Pts GF GA
Vancouver 61 38 16 7 83 221 170 Vegas 59 33 19 7 73 192 167 Edmonton 57 35 20 2 72 204 170 Los Angeles 58 29 19 10 68 178 160 Calgary 59 29 25 5 63 185 184 Seattle 58 25 22 11 61 163 169 Anaheim 58 20 35 3 43 151 207 San Jose 57 15 37 5 35 120 222
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.
FRIDAY
Arizona at Ottawa, 7
Philadelphia at Washington, 7
New Jersey at Anaheim, 10
THURSDAY
Montreal at Florida
Arizona at Toronto
Buffalo at Tampa Bay
Carolina at Columbus
N.Y. Islanders at Detroit
Vegas at Boston
Minnesota at Nashville
Winnipeg at DallasS
Colorado at Chicago
Los Angeles at Vancouver
Arizona at Ottawa
Philadelphia at Washington
New Jersey at Anaheim
Pittsburgh at Seattle
Anaheim at San Jose
WEDNESDAY
N.Y. Rangers 4, Columbus 1
Edmonton 3, St. Louis 2 (OT)
for Jonah Gadjovich, who coach Paul Maurice said is dealing with a “minor injury.”