NOTEBOOK: Mahura finding early success; Staal stands out in his debut

SUNRISE, Fla. - The waiver wire has once again been kind to the Florida Panthers.
Less than three weeks after being claimed from the Anaheim Ducks, Josh Mahura is already feeling at home on Florida's blue line. Suiting up in all eight games thus far, the 24-year-old has scored a pair of goals and garnered a +6 rating while averaging 13:35 of ice time per contest.
With one more goal, he'll match the career-high three he scored with Anaheim in 2021-22.
"Feeling more comfortable every game," Mahura said of his coast-to-coast transition following Friday's practice at FLA Live Arena. "As a D-man, it's pretty easy to play with the forwards we have. They do a lot of the dirty work down low and are able to get us the puck to try and get it to the net. When you play with these guys you get some open looks that you wouldn't usually get."

With two road trips already in the books, he's also feeling more settled off the ice as well.
"It's been a very welcoming room," Mahura said. "Each day, each week, I'm getting more comfortable with the guys. When you're on the road, you're with each other all the time. It's been fun."
Finding the perfect partner right upon his arrival to South Florida, Mahura has been flourishing while playing alongside a hardened veteran in Radko Gudas. Over the 69:31 that pair has been together at 5-on-5, the Panthers have led 92-40 in shot attempts, 48-23 in shots on goal and 7-3 in goals.
When asked about that success, Mahura said it starts on the bench.
"We talk a lot on the bench about plays," said Mahura, a third-round pick (85th overall) of the Ducks back in 2016. "I think the more games and the more minutes we play together, the easier we'll find each other's tendencies and it'll start working naturally. We want to keep it going."
In Thursday's loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, Mahura chased down a rebound after a point shot from Gudas and fired the puck past Carter Hart to put the Panthers on top 2-1 in the first period.

"Just trying to find open space and being able to create as much chaos in the O-zone," Mahura said of the goal. "It's nice to know Radko's always going to be back there. He just wants me to play pretty freely. We've been getting some good looks and it's nice to contribute a little bit."
What's the best piece of advice he's received from Gudas?
"He just wants me to be able to play my game and be moving," Mahura said. "It helps a ton."
While it's hard to gauge how a player will fit with a new team, head coach Paul Maurice said he received "some good intel" on Mahura from assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre, who had coached the budding blueliner over parts of the three previous seasons with the San Diego Gulls in the AHL.
Looking ahead, Maurice believes Mahura has the tools to continue to find success.
"We had a good understanding of what his skillset was," Maurice said. "Sometimes it's just fitting into a different group where you can get more out of a player or sometimes see different aspects. He's been very consistent. This is the new NHL. If you can skate and move the puck, you can play."

STAAL STRONG IN DEBUT

Eric Staal has had more than 1,200 game days in his NHL career.
But even with that, he still had some butterflies heading into his Panthers debut on Thursday.
"I've been through a few, so everything came back to me pretty quickly," said Staal, who turns 38 on Saturday. "I stayed in my same routine that I've had over the course of my career. I had a little bit of nerves, but good nerves in the belly before the game started. Once you get those first couple [shifts] out of the way, it's just playing again."
Seeing 10:37 of ice time in his debut -- including 36 seconds on the penalty kill -- Staal looked strong against the Flyers while centering Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Lomberg on a gritty and formidable fourth line.
"Horny and Lombo were flying," Staal said. "They were skating real hard for me. It made it a lot easier to just kind of follow along and be tenacious on the forecheck. I thought we created a lot of looks at the net -- a lot of shots, a lot of havoc. That just needs to stay consistent as we go."
Although he's racked up 1,034 points (441 goals, 593 assists) over his 17 seasons in the NHL, Maurice said that Staal's greatest contribution against the Flyers had less to do with his offense and more his utter domination in the faceoff circle, especially on draws in the defensive zone.
Going 9-for-13 in the dot, his 69.2% winning percentage led all skaters in the game.
Thanks to that success, the Panthers were able to give players like Aleksander Barkov a breather.
"I thought shaving a few minutes off him through [two periods] let the Barkov line be pretty dominant straight through," Maurice said. "They had 35 shot attempts. That's a team's worth. They're going to make those go. I really liked what I saw out of that line. … Staal allowed those other lines to stay a little fresher so we didn't have to use them in so many defensive situations."
With one game in the books, Staal is now eager to build off his debut.
"It was a ton of fun," said Staal, a Stanley Cup champion with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and a member of the illustrious triple gold club . "The guys were great. There was great energy in the locker room and excitement to be back out there. I'd like to keep building on that."

COMING UP

The Panthers (4-3-1) will host the Ottawa Senators (4-3-0) at FLA Live Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
During the game, the Panthers will be celebrating both Halloween and their annual "Grateful Dead Night" with special activations.
Additionally, the first 300 fans that purchase the ticket package for "Grateful Dead Night" will receive a groovy tie dye hockey jersey.
To purchase tickets, click
HERE
.