George Richards, FHN Publisher
FORT LAUDERDALE — Sam Reinhart did not match the Florida Panthers record for goals in a single regular season. That still belongs to Pavel Bure.
Yet in Florida’s first-round series win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Reinhart did make franchise history.
By scoring three goals against the Lightning, Reinhart earned the distinction of scoring the most goals in one single season — when the playoffs are included — in franchise history.
Reinhart has scored 60 goals, thus far, in 82 regular-season and five playoff games.
Must be pretty proud of that big number eh?
“I have not thought about it once this year,’’ Reinhart said with a grin on Wednesday. “That’s the beauty of a playoff series: There is so much more on the line than any individual stats. We had a job to do in the first round, it is always a battle. We came out on top and are now refocusing for Round 2.”
Bure scored 59 goals in both the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons; the Panthers did not make the postseason in 2000-01 in which Bure scored the single-season goal-scoring record for Florida by playing in 82 games.
‘The Russian Rocket’ got 58 in 74 regular-season games in 1999-2000, and had one goal against New Jersey in the Devils’ four-game sweep in 2000.
Reinhart’s 60th goal came in Florida’s Game 4 loss in Tampa, coming in the second period of the Panthers’ failed comeback bid against the Lightning.
Regardless of how the math works out, or whether he sits atop the official record book or not, this has been one heck of an impressive season for Sam Reinhart.
“When he the 50 goal mark, I thought ‘how many other 50 goal scorers have I coached?’,” Paul Maurice said. “None. That’s how rare it is. There just are not that many. I mean, I had Mats Sundin, Brendan Shanahan, some skilled players in there. Fifty is a pretty big number.
“But there isn’t a ‘cheat’ part of his game. What’s impressive about his 60, is that he didn’t hang out on the power play. If he was out there with an empty net, it was because it was right for him — he’s a right-handed faceoff man, a No. 1 penalty killer. I didn’t put him out there to get a goal. There are skill guys who shouldn’t be out there at the end of a game, it’s not what they do for a living. … He scored 60 goals, and that clearly is the headline — but it’s not necessarily the best part of his game.’’
As he has done all season, Reinhart continues to downplay the numbers as they continue to pile up like firewood.
They really started adding up once he finally hit 40 on Feb. 29.
Before Reinhart scored against the Montreal Canadiens, he had been sitting on 39 goals for his previous seven games.
“You feel it. Especially when you’re are 19, 29, or 39,” Reinhart said after getting No. 40.
Then came No. 50, joining Bure as the only Florida players to ever hit that mark during the regular season.
Counting the playoffs, Matthew Tkachuk had 51 goals last year.
“It’s pretty cool,” Reinhart told Bally Sports Florida after he scored No. 50 into an empty net in Philadelphia. “That’s obviously a number I’ve never really thought about. I’ve been the recipient of being put in some very good positions this year while playing with some very good players, so it’s been fun.”
Reinhart came up short of tying or surpassing Bure’s regular season record of 59 goals, but he did score six in the final eight games.
His three goals in this postseason are the ones he really counts.
With the Panthers moving on to the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston or Toronto, every goal from here on out with be the most important one.
But 60 is pretty cool, right?
“Absolutely, yeah,’’ Reinhart said.
With the biggest season of his career, Reinhart has business to finish with the Panthers in the playoffs — and following the season.
As he did on Wednesday, Reinhart has put that talk to the side all season.
“There is some hunger and some experience you go through after our run last year,’’ Reinhart said. “We did not reach our ultimate goal, but learned so much. You want to be back, have that opportunity again. That has been driving our team all year. Short-term deals are nothing new to me. When you get off to a better start, it makes everything else easier. It has allowed me not to focus on any personal thing. It may have been harder if I got off to a poor start. Fortunately, I did not have to go down that route.’’
Although Reinhart has maintained he wants to remain with the Panthers and has said he thinks things are going to work out, Maurice spins a cautionary tale for any team hoping to sign Florida’s scoring machine.
For the past few weeks, Maurice has been joking about Reinhart’s dealings with teammates and more.
“His attitude sucks,’’ Maurice said, tongue planted firmly in cheek.
“And he is mean to small animals. Squirrels, especially.’’