George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers will have a little bit of a different look Thursday when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Not only will goalie Chris Driedger go in for Sergei Bobrovsky but Markus Nutivaara will make his Florida debut after spending four seasons with the Jackets.
On Thursday, the Panthers made a roster move to fit Nutivaara onto the 23-man roster, dropping rookie forward Owen Tippett to the taxi squad.
Tippett played in Florida’s first three games but only played 7:02 off 12 shifts in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout victory.
Of those shifts, only two came in the third period. Tippett did not play the last 13:34 of the third or any of the overtime.
“We have a lot of guys here we’re still trying to assess whether it’s performance-based, right now, we have some guys who have played better than others,” coach Joel Quenneville said on Thursday.
“We want to get a look … It’s a little bit of everything. We make decisions and ice-time is performance-driven as well. We were looking at our lineup and giving guys opportunity.
“We tell our guys that it is a competitive world out there and do what you can do to get into the lineup and, once you get there, you have to do everything you can to sustain it.
“I think Tippett has a lot of great things going for him and I think whether he watches a game or two here along the way, that’s all part of growing and gaining some experience at the pro level.”
Although Nutivaara had not officially been activated as of the end of Florida’s morning skate in Columbus, Quenneville said he was going to play tonight.
The Panthers, Quenneville said, would dress seven defensemen against the Blue Jackets.
As for Nutivaara, he finally gets a chance to play for the Panthers after missing the entirety of training camp after being on the NHL’s Covid-19 protocol list.
His Florida debut, coincidentally, comes at Nationwide Arena, a place he knows very well.
Nutivaara spent all four of his NHL seasons with the Blue Jackets before he was traded to the Panthers for a fourth-round draft pick a day before free agency opened.
His long wait to play for the Panthers appears to be finally over.
“I am really excited, it feels so long that I last played,” Nutivaara said. “I have been waiting for this day for a while and I am really happy for this day.”
As for playing in Columbus: “I don’t need any more motivation. It’s a big, big day for me individually and I want to help the team win.”
— Brett Connolly will play in his 500th NHL game on Thursday and said it has been a long road to this point.
Connolly, part of the Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup championship team, is also one goal away from No. 100 in his career.
“You go so many ups-and-downs during your career and you reflect on what I have been through it has gone fast,” said Connolly, who has been playing on Florida’s fourth line with Noel Acciari.
“I am very proud to have played 500 games in this league and very privileged.”
Connolly got some attention following Tuesday’s win after cameras caught him getting popped in the mouth with a stick during MacKenzie Weegar’s celebration after Patric Hornqvist scored in the fifth round of the shootout.
“He was excited, we were all excited and I took one in the front two teeth,” Connolly said.
“It was pretty funny that they got it on video. We had a good laugh. It was all over our video session the next day and it’s all good. My teeth are still here and we’re moving on. It was pretty funny.”