Alan Greenberg, FHN Sr. Writer
SUNRISE — The postgame story for the Florida Panthers Tuesday should have been the celebration of Paul Maurice’s 2,000th game as a coach, Aaron Ekblad’s 800th game as a Panther or, perish the thought, how the Panthers blew a three-goal lead against a marginal (at best) Kraken team with less than six minutes to go.
For hockey trivia buffs, four unassisted goals in a single game is definitely a rarity.
“I don’t think I have ever seen four unassisted goals in a hockey game,’’ Maurice said. “So, that tells you how it was played.”
The game, certainly, was strange from a quickly paced opening period that went almost 16 minutes without a timeout to one that ended up being a showcase for Panthers players who will be looking for new contracts either here or elsewhere moving forward.
With Mackie Samoskevich and Anton Lundell the most recent additions to Florida’s lengthy injury list, the Panthers lineup had a host of players who spent most of the year elsewhere.
The first two stars of the game were Vinnie Hinostroza, playing only his sixth game since being reacquired by the Panthers in a deal with Minnesota, and Noah Gregor who was recalled from AHL Charlotte so Florida would have enough healthy bodies to play.
Gregor looks like he wants to stay.
And, perhaps, should.
Given the shortage of personnel, Hinostroza was “promoted” from the fourth line to the third unit between Tomas Nosek and Cole Reinhardt who normally would have been a fourth line.
Gregor and Nolan Foote, both offseason depth signings, figured prominently in the goofy 5-4 shootout win.
Foote was in his third game after being called up from Charlotte.
He scored the opening goal, his first as a Panther and only the seventh of his NHL career, after being sprung for a point-blank shot by Gregor on a 2-on-1 attack.
Gregor’s work was not done.
He celebrated his return a little more when he went looking for Foote again — only his third period centering pass deflected off the stick of the Kraken’s Shane Wright and landed behind goalie Joey Daccord.
Hinostroza received an assist on Eetu Luostarinen’s goal when his backhander deflected off Luostarinen’s leg and into the net. He now has three goals and four points in six games since being acquired at the deadline.
But wait, there’s more.
Hinostroza cemented his official first-star status and the Panthers’ victory by notching the only shootout goal, a backhander after putting a neat fake on Daccord.
Hinostroza is 3-for-8 in career shootouts over 11 NHL seasons.
He was pressed into shootout service because of the five Panthers who participated in shootouts this season, only Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk were available.
They both missed in their attempts.
Gregor downplayed his role after the game, explaining that he’s used to being put in these situations.
“I think it’s just experience,” he said. “I’ve been doing it for a little bit now, being up and down or in and out of the lineup. It’s kind of the same thing. I’m a professional and whenever I get the call, I’ll be ready to go.”
Gregor and Foote occasionally played on the same line in Charlotte, so they knew each other fairly well.
“I’ve gotten to know Gregs down in Charlotte,” said Foote, “and you know what he brings. Speed, and he obviously showed it tonight and it was nice to be on a line with him.”
Maurice said of Gregor, “He was fast tonight. That’s the payoff for having been here. He goes out with (Luke Kunin), they’ve got a relationship, they played in the American League together and up here, so he gets to come in here, he knows the systems, he knows what he’s doing. He was flying tonight.
Hinostroza, Gregor and Foote are on two-way expiring contracts. Kunin has a one-way expiring deal.
They were a big reason why the Panthers won on Tuesday.
Aside from Verhaeghe and Sergei Bobrovsky, it was the guys fighting for their NHL lives who did most of the heavy lifting against the Kraken.
Good for them.
We will probably be seeing a lot more of them in these final 12 games.
ON DECK: GAME No. 71
MINNESOTA WILD at FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
- National TV: ESPN
- Streaming: ESPN+, Disney+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Last Season: Tied 1-1
- This Season (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Minnesota: Panthers 4, Wild 3 OT (Jan. 24).At Florida: March 26.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Minnesota leads 21-11-3, 1 tie
- Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at New York Islanders, 1 p.m.