Alan Greenberg, FHN Sr. Writer
A.J. Greer is one of the many under-the-radar depth acquisitions Bill Zito has acquired during his tenure with the Florida Panthers.
Greer is 28, and played for four other teams over the past seven seasons.
Two of those teams, Colorado and Boston, made the playoffs.
Only Greer never got beyond the healthy scratch list.
He didn’t see action this postseason, either, until the fourth game against Tampa Bay when Paul Maurice made some line adjustments and brought Greer in for Mackie Samoskevich.
It wasn’t until Game 3 against Toronto that Maurice brought in the Panthers ‘old’ fourth line of Greer, Jonah Gadjovich and Tomas Nosek as a unit.
At the time, Maurice explained that the line had played very well in the late season when so many guys were out of the lineup. They also had experience of playing together before the NHL Trade Deadline.
“They work so hard every day,” Maurice said when he inserted the three as a unit. “It just felt that we needed a bit of a style change. They play a different style of game. They’ve been good. … I thought that if Tomas was coming, in or A.J. was coming in, then all three of them needed to come in. There’s something there with the line.”
Indeed.
Had you not looked at the scoreboard Tuesday, you would have been surprised at the 5-2 final score.
Carolina came out strong and did everything they were supposed to do in a very physical contest. The Hurricanes outshot the Panthers 33-20. Shot attempts were 78-46 in favor of Carolina. Hits were near even.
Florida had two power-play goals which equaled the total Carolina gave up in the entire playoffs to date in 30 prior penalty kill attempts.
Florida’s two power-play goals came after a retaliatory penalty to Sebastian Aho for roughing up Anton Lundell and a delay of game penalty to Scott Morrow for clearing the puck over the glass. Tough breaks for Carolina.
When Sam Bennett scored his third period power-play goal of the playoffs, it was the Panthers’ first shot on goal in 15:14 of game time.
Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen had given up only 12 goals in 10 prior playoff games and was sporting a 1.36 GAA coming in.
It was Carolina’s 13th consecutive loss in the conference finals.
Greer’s goal at 3:33 of the second period was the game winner.
It came after a neat breakout by Nosek who slipped it to defenseman Niko Mikkola who joined the rush and then flipped a neat goalmouth pass to Greer, who now has two goals and an assist in the past four games.
Nosek and Gadjovich earn the league minimum — Greer only slightly more — but they have had a major impact since coming into the lineup as a unit.
After the game the affable Greer was grilled by TNT’s Paul Bissonette about how the fourth line was able to come in as a unit and work so well.
“There’s an identity on that fourth line. Whether you’re in or you’re out you know how to play,’’ Greer said. “You know that you’re going to get a call and you’re going to have to be ready. It was a big moment in my career to get that first playoff game under my belt. Again, I just want to come in and help the team as much as possible.”
He added what many before him have said during the buildup to a championship team.
“Knowing that identity and knowing that the guys were so welcoming to the guys who are in and out,’’ Greer said. “You know what your job is. The more I get into it, it just becomes another game. It’s the best time of year and it’s stuff that you dream about. I’m very grateful.”
Greer also learned his diplomacy very well despite the fact that he’s no stranger to physical play.
When asked his opinion of what happened in the Brad Marchand-Shayne Gostisbehere dustup, he thought for a second and said, “I have no comment on that.”
He was consistent with The Code.
There are certain things you just don’t want to be quoted on.
2025 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: GAME 2
FLORIDA PANTHERS @ CAROLINA HURRICANES
Panthers lead Best-of-7 Series 1-0
- When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
- Where: Lenovo Center; Raleigh, N.C.
- National TV: TNT/truTV
- National Streaming: Max
- Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Series Schedule (all games on TNT/tru, 8 p.m.) — Game 1: Florida 5, Carolina 2; Game 2: Thursday @Carolina; Game 3: Saturday @Florida; Game 4: Monday, May 26 @Florida; Game 5*: Wednesday, May 28 @Carolina; Game 6*: Friday, May 30 @Florida; Game 7*: Sunday, June 1 @Carolina
- This Regular Season (Panthers Won 2-1) — At Florida:Panthers 6, Hurricanes 0 (Nov.30); Hurricanes 3, Panthers 1 (Jan. 2). At Carolina: Panthers 6, Hurricanes 3 (Nov. 29).
- How They Got Here: Carolina d. New Jersey (5), Washington (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7).
- All-Time Regular Season Series: Carolina/Hartford leads 74-49-10, 11 ties
- Postseason History: Florida 1-0 (2023 ECF in 4)