George Richards, FHN Publisher
SUNRISE — In a chat on Tuesday morning, Florida Panthers sophomore Anton Lundell intently listened to a question and then stopped to ask the reporter to explain the phrase he had just used.
“What does snakebit mean?” he asked, the expression apparently lost in translation.
Lundell may not have understood the meaning on first reference, but he certainly was experiencing the effect of being snakebitten.
After scoring in Florida’s win over the Islanders on Oct. 23, the second-year center from Espoo, Finland, had not put another puck in the back of the net.
Even though his line had been producing at a pretty nice clip thanks to the resurgence of one Sam Reinhart, you could see the frustration starting to mount.
Then came Wednesday night.
“Yeah, it felt good,’’ Lundell said after his first goal in 13 games gave the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish in a 5-2 win over the Bruins.
“It is always fun to score goals and we just need to keep going. It’s coming. It was a good goal. As far as the celebration goes, I had the chance to have a good celebration so I took care of it.”
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Getting Reinhart back on track after going the first 12 games of the season without a goal was something the Panthers really needed and he has responded in kind.
Since being reunited with Lundell after a terrific run by those two last season, Reinhart has picked things up in a hurry.
After scoring twice against Anaheim on Nov. 6, Reinhart has been on a scoring tear with six goals in his past eight games — including the opening tally against Boston.
When asked what has been the difference in Reinhart finding the scoresheet, coach Paul Maurice did not skip a beat.
”Lundell. There’s something between the two of them the way they play off the puck,’’ Maurice said.
“That translates to the 5-on-4 game if you’re feeling good at 5-on-5 and then your hands warm up and you relax a little on the power play; for the highly-skilled players, they need to play mentally free when the puck is on your stick. There can’t be any other thoughts just instinct. He has gotten to that point now.”
Reinhart started his season up on the top line with Sasha Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe just as he had in 2021.
After a few games, Matthew Tkachuk and Reinhart switched spots before Maurice decided to just go with what had worked in the past and put Reinhart and Lundell back together.
Right now, the two are playing with Nick Cousins on the left side and he looks like a nice addition to the line after Mason Marchment did such a nice job there last season.
“It is always comforting when we get back together,’’ Reinhart said of being back with Lundell, “and I think there is another step for both of us. Hopefully we can hit our top gear coming up.
”We’re in the same boat. Hopefully we start clicking a lot more and that offense starts coming. We’re trying to stay defensively, stay the course and the confidence keeps coming back more and more.”
When it comes to Lundell, he does so much more than score goals sometimes his drought went unnoticed — or at least was overshadowed by Reinhart’s play.
During his goal drought, Lundell did have seven assists — although he had gone scoreless in his previous five games coming into Wednesday night.
“It felt good right away when we were put back together and we both know there is more to give,’’ Lundell said on Tuesday morning.
“We know we can improve, do more to be a more dangerous line. But, overall, I am here to make my wingers better and good players make others better. That is what I try to achieve in every game. It is good to see and it is very important that Sammy is getting more confidence and some goals. That helps a lot. But sometimes things do not bounce your way. You have to keep going.”
What impressed Maurice Wednesday night was Lundell’s mindset going into that second period.
Late in the first while killing a penalty, Lundell got hit with a four-minute high-stick giving the Bruins an extended 5-on-3 which they scored on six seconds in.
That power play bled into the second and Lundell ended up scoring a few minutes after coming out of the box.
Despite the Panthers getting the game run on them by the Bruins up to that point, Lundell’s drought-buster gave them a 2-1 lead.
It was certainly a turning point for the Panthers who added two more goals in the second and went into the third up 4-1.
“Good for him,” Maurice said. “He built throughout the game. His second and third periods were very strong. For young players, to have a first that maybe you don’t love, and not call it a night. It’s really important. He dug in there in the second and I am glad he scored. That’s the thing he’ll probably remember. But his compete level went way up.”