Sam Reinhart is Rolling Again with the Florida Panthers

Sam Reinhart has been on cold streaks and hot streaks when it comes to scoring goals for the Florida Panthers this season.

Boy, is he on a heater now.

Reinhart scored his 27th goal of the season on Tuesday night in Philadelphia — which would have been a career-high if not for the 33 he scored for the Panthers last season.

In his past six games, Reinhart has six of those goals — after going six without one.

And, remember, Reinhart started his season without getting a goal in his first 12 games.

He certainly has made up for lost time.

“This is the most fun time to play,” Reinhart said after scoring twice in Florida’s win over New Jersey on Saturday. “We are enjoying the battle and it was nice to (win) on home ice. … No matter who you are out there with, everyone is bought into the systems and structure and the way we have to play. We’re all trying to go.”

Reinhart did not score his first goal of the season until he netted two in Anaheim on Nov. 6 — 13 games in.

Going into that game, Reinhart had just three points. He has 54 now.

“Things haven’t been clicking,’’ Reinhart said then. “The thing is to not get frustrated, especially early on when you don’t have the numbers. There’s a lot of season to get the confidence built. At the start of the season, you almost force plays to help each other get out of a slump instead of making simple plays to benefit everyone.”

The Florida offense has been rolling of late and Reinhart has been a big part of it.

On Saturday night, with the Panthers down 2-0 going into the third period, coach Paul Maurice made the decision to flip Reinhart with Anthony Duclair.

With Duclair out with an illness Tuesday night, Reinhart was on the top line with Sasha Barkov and his usual center Anton Lundell.

“Sam Reinhart has been fantastic,” Maurice said. “The offensive part of Barkov’s line was OK but stalled a little bit in the past two but they had chances. Reino goes in there, and it is off and running again.”

Reinhart has had a knack of scoring around the front of the net as he tipped in a shot Saturday and then followed up on a rebound in the slot Tuesday night in the third period.

“Whether it is Chucky or Sammy, they are both great in front,’’ Brandon Montour said. “They have great sticks, it is great to have those guys in front. On that power play, it hit Sammy but Chucky was right behind him. We had a little laugh at that, but it was a great goal.’’

PANTHERS ON DECK

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• Season Series (Toronto leads 1-0): Maple Leafs 5, Panthers 4 OT (Jan. 17)
• Last season: Florida won 2-1
  
• All-time regular season series: Toronto leads 46-35-7, 7 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: New York Rangers at Florida, Saturday, 5 p.m.