George Richards, FHN Publisher
It took Claude Giroux a few games with the Florida Panthers before he got his first goal, but that did not mean he was not making a big impact with his new team.
Giroux, the biggest name moved at the NHL Trade Deadline, finally scored as part of Florida’s monster comeback against Toronto last Tuesday night.
His first goal with the Panthers cut the Leafs’ lead to one in the second period.
Giroux scored again Friday against Buffalo.
After being acquired by the Panthers on March 19, Giroux has played in 10 games with Florida and there have not been a lot of off days to check out his new town.
On Sunday, he and his family checked out what Fort Lauderdale is best known for.
Try as the Panthers might, it’s not hockey.
Not yet, anyway.
”Yesterday, I went to the beach with the family,” the former Philadelphia Flyers captain said.
“It was great.”
The Panthers’ acquisition of Giroux before the trade deadline hit was obviously big news around the NHL — especially when word leaked out that he would only waive his no-trade clause in his contract to come to Florida.
After Joe Thornton chose to sign a veteran-minimum deal to chase the Stanley Cup with the talented team Florida has assembled, Giroux’s arrival was a shot of energy into a team that frankly did not need it.
For the high-powered Panthers, adding a player like Giroux seems a little excessive.
Seriously, Giroux?
Come on.
“He’s a really nice toy to have in the garage,” coach Andrew Brunette said of adding the 15-year NHL veteran.
“He has been very open that he just wants to win. That’s it. He made that clear the first time we met and wherever we think he can help, he’ll play there. He has looked at our group and knows how deep it is. No matter where he plays, he is going to be playing with some very good players. He did not want to disrupt anything, he just wanted to play. And that’s what he has done.”
Giroux, who was close to a point-a-game player in the Flyers’ run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010, has 85 games of postseason experience and is expected to be a big part of Florida’s playoff hopes.
Even though he was not scoring goals until recently, he has been doing everything else the Panthers have asked.
Giroux, who is averaging over 19 minutes per night since joining the Panthers, has been playing either on Florida’s top line with Sasha Barkov or with Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Bennett.
He is playing on Florida’s top power play unit — which, since he arrived, has been going mostly with five forwards — as well as being pressed into service as a penalty killer.
“I have never done that,” Giroux said of the five-forward look with the man advantage. “We’re just trying to feel each other out. We can get more opportunities to put pucks on net and get more chances in one power play. We’re getting a feel for it, finding a chemistry among the five guys. We’ll keep working at it.”
Giroux is also a marksman in the faceoff circle and he has been a big addition, especially with Noel Acciari missing due to injury.
Brunette has the option of going with Giroux or Barkov in faceoff situations — and Giroux has come, for the most part, as advertised, winning 82 of his draws for a 56 percent success rate.
In the rare games in which he doesn’t find much success on faceoffs, he has bounced back the next night.
Take for instance the Chicago game where Giroux went 5-of-17 in the cirlce.
In his next game, he won 11 of 12.
“He can win faceoffs down the stretch and that gives us an opportunity to come back in games just from his faceoffs,” Brunette said.
So far, Giroux has been a point-a-game player for the Panthers with two goals and nine assists. There have only been four games since he arrived in which he was held off the scoresheet.
On Tuesday night, the Panthers play the Anaheim as they host the Ducks for the only time this season.
The last time the two played in Anaheim, Florida had not yet swung the deal for Giroux.
The Panthers lost star defenseman Aaron Ekblad to injury on his first shift of that game and his corresponding move to long-term injury reserve allowed the Panthers to finalize the trade with Philadelphia without having to trade another piece of their roster.
Florida, at the deadline, lost Frank Vatrano and Owen Tippett — but nothing else in adding Giroux, Ben Chiarot and Robert Hagg. It was important to the Panthers to try and keep their team as intact as possible going down the stretch and they were able to accomplish that.
“Obviously, when you go to a new team, there is something new to learn and this has been a pretty good transition,” Giroux said. “The coaches and the players help a lot with that. It has been pretty smooth. … We go out there and have fun and I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re successful.”
FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK
ANAHEIM DUCKS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
- Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
- TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida
- Radio: WQAM 560-AM, SiriusXM
- Last season: Did not play
- All-time regular season series: Florida leads 19-14-2, 3 ties
- Season Series — Florida leads 1-0: Florida 3, @Anaheim 0 (March 19)