It's been really fun to watch Chucky do what he's done this season, and that was a big goal he had for us against the Avalanche. He's bringing a lot to our team. He likes to compete and competes in every practice and every game. He's really strong in front of the net. Overall, I think he's been a huge piece of our team and our locker room. He likes to speak and is a good leader.
For me, it felt really good to play on a line with Barky in that game. As a line, we were able to create offense and were dangerous all the time. It was fun to play with him and Reino. We were speaking Finnish a lot, but when Reino was around we had to try and speak some more English.
If it's just Barky and I, we're always speaking Finnish. It just comes naturally. We don't really think about it when we're on the ice. It just makes it easier to communicate. But no matter what language we were speaking, all three of us knew where to be when we were out there together.
I was a little nervous to play on the wing, but it felt really good. I know how to play wing, but it'd just been a little a while. I've played with Reino before and with Barky on the power play and PK, so it was easy to play with both of them. I think that we read off each other very well out there.
It's our goal to keep building in the second half. This is an important road trip for us. I think it's good for us. It brings us more and more together. We're just trying to find ways to win games. It's only hard games from now on. It's kind of like our playoffs have already started this season.
We want to battle and give 100% every game and play as a team.
I missed the trip to Vegas last season because I was injured, so I'm excited for my first visit and to play my first game here. We only just arrived last night, so I haven't seen much yet. All that I know about Vegas is what I've seen in movies and from the stories you hear from people.
I'll have to walk around and check everything out later.
It's going to be really fun to play against the Golden Knights on Thursday. I've heard a lot about the fans here and seen some of their games and the atmosphere on TV. They've been having a really good season, so we've got to be ready to play and have a really good start against them.
See you back in South Florida,
Anton Lundell
\As told to FloridaPanthers.com's Jameson Olive*
