Colby Guy
SUNRISE — After sustaining two injuries and playing just 7:54 of hockey through the first month of the season, it admittedly took Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett some time to get his feet back underneath him.
Bennett scored three goals and six points in his first 15 games back in the lineup.
Ever since?
He has eight goals and 16 points in 18 games.
“It was definitely tough,” Bennett told FHN.
“I came into camp feeling good and excited for the year and then had that big setback, so obviously, that’s tough to go through. But it’s part of the game. Everyone goes through it, and it took a bit longer to get my game back to where I wanted it to be, but that’s part of it, and I’m comfortable with how I’m feeling.”
Things clicked for Bennett during a one-goal, two-assist performance over the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 16.
He got his points the same way he always did, going hard with the forecheck, pressuring the front of the net, and playing with a ton of tenacity.
And he has been money since.
“I think this is all healing from his injury,” coach Paul Maurice said.
“You are seeing the hits come back into his game, the physicality come back into his game, and he needed to be 100 percent confident coming off his injury to do that.
”I think he and Matthew Tkachuk are tied together in an increase in effectiveness. They’re hard-working guys, but they’re honest guys, but they couldn’t get to where they needed to get to. Their bodies just weren’t there yet. So they move together, and they’ve been really, really good.”
Tkachuk started the season with similar struggles after suffering a fractured sternum in the Stanley Cup Final last year.
He started the year with five goals and 20 points in 29 games through Dec. 14 before scoring 10 with 28 points in his next 18 games.
From then on, Florida’s ‘Bash Brothers’ have been back to the same shenanigans that helped them lead the Panthers to the Cup Final a few months ago.
Bennett and Tkachuk bring the physicality near the front of the net for the Panthers.
Carter Verhaeghe, who has 11 goals and 26 points in that same 18-game span, brings a quick release that thrives in chaotic situations.
“There are two guys that I’d like to say they’re more shooters than I am, so I try to get them the puck, and for me, I just try to get to the net when I know they’re going to shoot it,” Tkachuk said.
“We’re pretty strong as a line. We’re a strong, physical line, so in those 50/50 battles, I’d like to think that we’ll come out with the puck most of the time. So, it’s about creating those opportunities to create chaos around the net, in the corners, and come up with all of the pucks.”
Situations like that — when Bennett is driving hard to the net or making a quick pass out of a puck battle in the corner, or when Tkachuk is deflecting pucks in front the net, banking in rebounds and making things happen in tight, physical situations — is when that line has been so, so good for the Panthers.
“I think we’re playing our best when we’re on the forecheck and pressuring the other team,” Bennett said.
“That’s been a little bit of a focus of our line, and we’ve done that recently. So we’re going to look to do more of that.”
And they’ve been doing it for a long time, too.
Maurice paired the trio in Tkachuk’s first year in South Florida, resulting in numerous clutch goals throughout last year’s playoff run.
The Panthers were not trying to stray from that while Bennett and Tkachuk were laboring, and they certainly want to keep it going now that they’ve found their groove.
“I don’t think anything’s changed,” Bennett said.
“Obviously, we had that great chemistry last year in the playoffs. We had some injuries and a bit of a slow start, but it just took a little bit of time to get that chemistry back and we’re feeling good together now.
“Chucky and Swaggy are a lot of fun to play with, so we can create some offense now.”