Barkov has perfect homecoming in Finland with Panthers

TAMPERE, Finland -- Aleksander Barkov had his dream game in a dream setting.

Playing an NHL game in his hometown of Tampere for the first time, the Florida Panthers center shined brightest among the seven players from Finland in the game, getting a goal and three assists in a 6-4 victory against the Dallas Stars in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal at Nokia Arena on Friday.

“This game obviously is an NHL regular-season game, but for me it’s not just a regular-season game,” Barkov said.

Barkov became the fourth player in NHL history to get four points in a regular-season game outside North America, joining Theo Fleury (three goals, two assists at Game One Japan ’98), Nathan MacKinnon (four assists at 2022 Global Series Finland), and fellow Finn Mikko Rantanen (three goals, one assist at 2022 Global Series Finland). But it was Barkov’s goal, which came on a wrist shot from the high slot to finish a 3-on-2 rush and give Florida a 2-0 lead at 7:11 of the first period, that stood out the most.

It also produced perhaps the biggest cheer from the sellout crowd of 12,786.

“For me to be able to come home to Finland and play here, especially in my hometown, bring my teammates here, drag my teammates here and then play and then, obviously, scoring the goal was an amazing, amazing feeling,” Barkov said. “So, I’m really happy.”

Barkov wasn’t the only Finnish player to star in helping the Panthers (8-3-1) roll to their fourth straight win. Center Anton Lundell, who is from Espoo, scored a power-play goal that increased Florida’s lead to 3-1 at 15:52 of the first period. And defenseman Niko Mikkola, who is from Kiiminki, assisted on Mackie Samoskevich’s goal that made it 5-2 at 2:31 of the third period and turned out to be the game-winner.

Left wing Eetu Luostarinen, who is from Siilinjarvi, was the lone Finnish player on the Panthers who didn’t have a point. He still shared a special moment with his six countrymen, including Stars center Roope Hintz and defensemen Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen, who were part of the starting lineups.

But the loudest ovation during the pregame introductions was saved for Barkov.

“It was pretty electric,” linemate Evan Rodrigues said.

Although Barkov played with Florida against the Winnipeg Jets in the 2018 NHL Global Series in Helsinki, playing in Tampere was different. He has never forgotten where he comes from. After the game Friday, the NHL Players’ Association announced that Barkov and the NHLPA Goals & Dreams are donating $20,000 worth of hockey equipment to the Tappara RY Hockey Program in Finland. Barkov met with 12 players from the program, signing autographs and taking some photos, after the game Friday.

The 29-year-old grew up playing in the Tappara program and watched his father Alexander Barkov Sr. play for Tappara’s pro team, which he eventually played for himself before being selected by the Panthers with the No. 2 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.

After becoming the first Finland-born captain to win the Stanley Cup last season with Florida, he brought the Cup to Nokia Arena as part of his day with it on July 31 so he could share it with the fans here.

So, for Barkov to put on a performance in that building Friday that merited him being named the player of the game seemed like the perfect homecoming.

“We’re happy for him, but I think maybe we’ve seen that game from him,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We get to see it quite often. That’s why he is a star in our league. The people that were a part of his development, and not just his hockey development, the teachers in town -- I asked him if he lived near here and he said, ‘about a mile’ from both the schools he went to, so, his life is right here. It’s in this area.

“So, there’s a lot of proud Finns tonight from his third-grade teacher to peewee hockey coach to all the people who had a piece of his development.”

As happy as Barkov was, his teammates seemed even happier for him. Linemate Sam Reinhart, who scored two goals and made a deft touch pass to Barkov to help set up his 3-on-2 goal, didn’t seem to mind Barkov getting most of the attention.

“I remember my first game in Vancouver,” said Reinhart, a native of West Vancouver, British Columbia. “It was something you had thought about your whole life. This wasn’t even on [the Finnish players’] radar, his radar, for his whole life. So, it just adds to that moment for him.”

It started from Barkov’s opening shift, when he helped set up Rodrigues’ deflection goal that opened the scoring 28 seconds into the game, and continued throughout the evening. Barkov also assisted on Reinhart’s short-handed goal that gave the Panthers a 4-2 lead 6:07 into the second period and Reinhart’s even-strength tally at 10:08 of the third that made it 6-2.

“I don’t think it could’ve went any better for ‘Barky,’” Lundell said. “So, I’m really happy for him to be able to carry the team and play maybe his best game of the season. He hasn’t [played] too many, but he was really good today.”

This was just Barkov’s fourth game of the season and second since returning after missing eight games with a lower-body injury. He found a way to get healthy in time for the Global Series and has shown no rust since returning, piling up six points (two goals, four assists) in the two games.

Barkov will have one more chance to play in front of his hometown fans when Florida faces Dallas (7-3-0) again in the second and final game of the Global Series on Saturday (noon ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN1).

What could he possibly do for an encore?

“We have an expectation,” Maurice said, “that it happens again tomorrow.”