Colby Guy
SUNRISE — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice knew his team needed a change after it blew a three-goal lead to the Blue Jackets on Monday. One of them was moving Carter Verhaeghe.
Maurice opted to switch up his lines and dropped Verhaeghe to the third line.
It was a move that ultimately helped his team to a 5-4 overtime victory as Verhaeghe scored the game-winning goal.
Maurice did not call it a demotion for Verhaeghe.
“I didn’t think the line that he was on was getting as much done as it should have,” Maurice said. “So I moved him off of it.”
Verhaeghe was struggling, however.
The move seemed to help.
Not only had Verhaeghe not scored in four games after putting up 42 last season, but a turnover on a cross-ice feed attempt led to Boone Jenner’s goal which made it 3-2 with 1:09 to go in the first.
Scoring in OT and winning the game helped make that miscue a little easier to swallow.
“He had a tough night other than that, and he knows it,” Maurice said. “It’s good that he gets to leave the rink redeemed from the turnover goal. But he’s a shooter, man. He finds those holes.”
After the second period, it was apparent that the entire line needed a change.
In the middle frame, eight of their shot attempts were blocked rather easily as they settled for weaker shots from the perimeter.
The defensemen were the ones who drove the offense at times, with Josh Mahura and Mike Reilly accounting for three of the eight shots which were blocked while they were on the ice.
“There are obviously some things to work on,” Verhaeghe said. “We need to get pucks through and to the net quicker.”
It was clear they needed a change and Maurice wanted to put Verhaeghe with Kevin Stenlund and Nick Cousins who were driving to the crease and creating better chances.
And it was a line which helped the Panthers get out of a hole once the Blue Jackets took the lead with a 7:30 to go.
That line was on the ice when Columbus tied it, with Stenlund losing an offensive zone draw before Alexandre Texier stuffed in a bouncing puck after a quick rush chance.
Ultimately, it was Cousins who forced a turnover while pressuring the slot with the extra attacker on the ice and tied the game with a minute left in regulation.
“Nick was described to me by another NHL coach as a jackknife,” Maurice said.
“He will play all over the lineup, up and down, because he has really good hands and a good sense of the game. He maximizes those things. He gets around the ice, and if you can get it on a stick close to the front of the net, he usually makes good on it.”
Verhaeghe was on the ice with his original linemates during the 3-on-3 overtime period, potting home a rebound on a 2-on-1 with Lundell with 3:34 to go in the frame, but Maurice may look to continue to switch things up 5-on-5.
Aside from the early fireworks that helped Florida score 5 goals in a game for the first time this season, the Panthers averaged 2.60 goals per game, which ranked in the bottom 10 in the league going into Monday’s games.
With Sam Bennett week-to-week, the Panthers’ forward group may need a change to help weather the storm until he is back.
Tkachuk and Verhaeghe have noticeably missed Bennett’s presence down the middle of their usual line.
But the lack of scoring does not come from a lack of offense.
Florida ranks near the Top 10 in high-danger chance percentage (52.67 percent) and scoring chance percentage (54.55 percent) in the NHL per Natural Stat Trick.
“Part of it is that you get all of these offensive chances and you have some guys squeezing it a little around the net, especially when we stop moving our feet,” Maurice said.
“We’ve been generating a lot of offense that isn’t going and we haven’t been giving up much that’s dangerous right now.”