LOS ANGELES – A third-period goal from Matthew Tkachuk and a 19-save performance from Jacob Markstrom helped the Florida Panthers close out their very successful season-opening trip with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at Crytpo.com Arena on Tuesday.
Despite some adversity, the Panthers now sit at 2-0-2 and lead the Atlantic Division.
"It was 2-1 filthy tonight to finish off a road trip,” said Tkachuk, who is tied for first on the Panthers with two goals this season. “If you would have told me going into the trip that we’d take six of eight [points], I would have signed on the dotted line."
Even with the Panthers controlling much of the play in the first period, the Kings drew first blood when Alex Laferriere scored from the left side of the net to make it 1-0 at 19:00.
At 5-on-5, the Panthers finished the opening 20 minutes leading 6-3 in scoring chances.
Through their first four games, the Panthers have surrendered just two goals at 5-on-5.
"I like our 5-on-5 game an awful lot,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “I think we gave up eleven even-strength shots tonight. They were battling and they're dialed in. They're not cheating the game. I'm very pleased with the road trip."
After getting into penalty trouble at the end of the first period, the Panthers were in a very difficult situation at the outset of the second, needing to kill 1:05 of a 5-on-3 power play.
Instead of just surviving the sequence, they flourished.
After giving up a meager two shots on goal to Los Angeles’ power play, the Panthers went on the offensive just seconds after completing their penalty kill, with Seth Jones driving to the net and lifting a shot over Darcy Kuemper’s shoulder into the cage to make it 1-1 at 3:49.
“We talked about a game plan [during the intermission], and just wanted to be aggressive, you know, make them make plays around us,” Jones said of the outstanding penalty kill and his ensuing goal. “Lars [Eller] made a great play on that goal. I saw a little bit of space against the forward playing defense.”
Already losing superstar captain Aleksander Barkov for six to eight weeks due to a lower-body injury suffered during the second game of the season, the Panthers lost another key player when Brad Marchand was high sticked and then sent flying into the right post while driving to the net.
Unable to put weight on his left leg, Marchand was helped off the ice and did not return.
“We’ll get him looked at probably Thursday,” Maurice said.
Taking the lead for the first time in regulation this season, the Panthers went up 2-1 in the third period when Matthew Tkachuk took a pass from Sam Bennett and squeaked a shot through Kuemper’s pads across the goal line from the left circle at 11:20.
A brick house between the pipes all game long, Markstrom stopped all 14 shots he saw in the second and third periods.
“He's been unbelievable,” Jones said. “Great goaltender and a great person off the ice. He’s blended with us chemistry-wise away from the rink perfectly and in the locker room.”
In three starts on the road trip, Markstrom went 2-0-1 with a .927 save percentage.
“A good team in front of me,” the veteran goalie said. “They're making my life really easy.”
THEY SAID IT
“We had to deal with that pretty much every single game last year. I know when I came back [from injury], I came back in mid-to-late January and literally it seemed like every game somebody was going down. So, when your name's called, you get that tap on the back to just go out there and do a job\\\.” – Matthew Tkachuk on overcoming injuries\\\
“Has he been good. He made some huge saves. A lot of those nights you play really hard and then you have a power play that gets in one and your goalie bails it out. We all get to be in a good mood for three days instead of not based on his play.” – Paul Maurice on Jacob Marktstrom’s performance during the road trip
“It’s going to be fun to play in front of the home fans. We’re away a lot this this first month, so it’s going to be fun.” – Jacob Markstrom on his excitement for Saturday’s game in Sunrise
“Everyone gets hit with injuries, right? We're not going to have a victim mentality. It’s next man up. That's how it's always been. We can't think about the past or last year. Injuries happen. I think we have an extremely deep team. Everyone plays the exact same way, and I think that's what makes us great.” – Seth Jones on overcoming early-season injuries
CATS STATS
- Matthew Tkachuk scored his ninth third-period, go-ahead goal as a Panther.
- The Panthers led 33-13 in hits, with five coming from Garnet Hathaway.
- Radko Gudas blocked a team-high three shots.
- Lars Eller extended his point streak to three games.
- The Panthers led 18-11 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.
- Jacob Markstrom made three high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
- Florida has started the season on a four-game point streak for the sixth time in franchise history.
WHAT’S NEXT?
It’s finally time to play in front of the home crowd.
Returning to South Florida, the Panthers will celebrate their Home Opener with a matchup against the Minnesota Wild at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET
For tickets, click HERE.
