George Richards, FHN Publisher
For the first two months of his season with a new team in the Florida Panthers, Sam Reinhart admits to have been pressing things.
One of the biggest offseason acquisitions by any team in the NHL last summer, Reinhart was slow to get going.
In his first 21 games, Reinhart had four goals with 12 points.
Good, not great.
Definitely not what he nor the Panthers were expecting when he came over from Buffalo in that blockbuster trade at the draft.
Then, on Nov. 30, the Panthers were down 4-1 going into the third period of a game against Washington.
The Panthers, as would be the case throughout the season, clawed their way back into the game.
It turned out to be Sam Reinhart’s Coming Out Party with the Panthers.
Florida tied the score as they outshot the Capitals 27-2 in the third period.
The last one came from Reinhart.
With just under a minute left to play in regulation and the game seemingly headed to overtime, Washington took a penalty. Florida’s top power play unit, which had not exactly lit it up to that point, came onto the ice.
With 14.4 seconds remaining, Reinhart ripped a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau past Ilya Samsonov. Panthers win.
”It feels great to be able to complete that comeback in regulation,” Reinhart said. “For that crowd tonight, it’s a big one.”
It certainly was.
Reinhart’s game took off from then on.
In the 56 games since, Reinhart is one of the top scorers in the league with 28 goals and 68 points.
He went from averaging .57 points per game heading into that game against Washington, to 1.2 points per night in the games since.
On Sunday night, he hit the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career, becoming the fourth Florida player to do so this season.
“That’s kind of what jump-started my season and kind of made me starting to feel more comfortable within the team,” Reinhart said before Tuesday’s 4-2 loss in Boston — a game in which he got his 32nd goal of the season.
“It’s bizarre going to a new organization and there was a feeling-out situation for me. It probably goes back to what I said earlier about overt-thinking things. That goal just allowed me to play and from that point on, I just felt much better with my game and I think that’s a good moment to look at.”
Playing with rookie Anton Lundell and Mason Marchment for a big chunk of the season has helped all three players.
Save for injury, it has been one of the Panthers’ most consistent lines.
Lundell was in the running for NHL Rookie of the Year before getting hurt and says playing with a player like Reinhart has been extremely beneficial for someone breaking into the league.
“He has been a very big help,” Lundell said. “Just being around him, everything he does in a game … we talk a lot. We are close to each other. From the moment I got here, he was very nice, very kind to me. The more we have been playing together, the more we have been better at reading one another.
“He has been a huge help for me, for sure. We both like playing together and it has been fun playing with him. He is a great passer and a great shooter. We both think the game the same and that makes us play even better together.”
Florida coach Andrew Brunette has made no secret of his appreciation for Reinhart being on his team.
”Just the way he sees the game, how he has a sense around the game — where everyone is, what’s coming and what’s going on,” Brunette said. “He has great hands and is a slippery player. He is quicker than you think he is. It doesn’t look like he’s going, but he has a great quick step that allows him to separate and let his skills take over.
“I have said this all year; he is one of the smartest guys, has the highest hockey I.Q. that I have been around in how he sees the game.”