Verhaeghe’s offense, Tkachuk’s defense and more Panthers notes from Game 1 win vs. Lightning

Carter Verhaeghe tried to explain how the play unfolded that led to his go-ahead goal in the Florida Panthers’ 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in their opening game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday.

Florida was on a power play to start the third period. The Panthers entered the zone and Verhaeghe passed the puck to Aleksander Barkov.

Barkov briefly held the puck in the right circle as the rest of the Panthers got into position. As Verhaeghe began sliding toward the net, Barkov made a pass that found Verhaeghe, who tipped the puck past Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy to give the Panthers the lead for good.

“I didn’t even see the pass,” said Verhaeghe. “I just stuck out my stick. That’s how good Barky is at passing the puck. Just put it on Barky’s stick.’

That game was important for a few reasons.

Firstly, it was the last great moment for Verhaeghe. He has 16 career playoff goals with the Panthers, a franchise record, and has scored that many. Of the sixteen, seven are in the third period or in extra time. Florida is also 12-2 in the play-offs when Verhaeghe scores a goal.

In the regular season this year, Verhaeghe scored 19 goals in the third period and had seven match-winning goals.

“Carter shows up when it matters,” forward Sam Reinhart said.

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Secondly, it reminds us that Verhaeghe did not skip a beat. The winger, who scored 33 goals in the regular season, missed two weeks at the end of the regular season due to an injury. He scored a goal in his return in the regular-season finale against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday and followed that up with the go-ahead goal in Game 1 of the playoffs on Sunday.

And third, it was a valid moment for a Panthers power play that had struggled to close out the regular season. Florida finished last in the NHL through the final 16 games of the regular season with a success rate of just 7.8 percent on the power play — four goals in 51 chances with the man advantage.

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“We had some opportunities on the power play, but they didn’t go away and you have to at least feel good about your power play,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “It has to keep the momentum going for you. That was probably the most important part of the goal. It’s just that we haven’t been able to get anyone behind anyone lately. … You want your shooters to feel good.”

Matthew Tkachuk’s defense

Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk is known for his tantalizing attacking skills and his ability to get under his opponent’s skin.

But since coming to Florida in the blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames ahead of the 2022-2023 season, he has placed an emphasis on improving his defense so he can be counted on to step up in key situations late in games will play.

The improvement reached the point where Maurice Tkachuk occasionally gave minutes on the penalty kill when the situation dictated, and had comfort with Tkachuk on the ice when the opponent pulled the goalie for an extra attacker late in the game.

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Tkachuk scored an empty net goal on Sunday that ultimately served as the winning goal. He also scored three empty-net goals during the regular season and assisted on six other empty-netters.

“I had a lot of work to do on the defensive side when I moved here from Calgary,” Tkachuk said. “I’ve been working on that a lot, and I think just during last year’s playoffs, it’s been refined a little bit, especially this time, that it’s so important to be able to play on both ends of the ice and that can be counted on in those situations. . … Hopefully both sides, my offensive and defensive side, peak at the right time.

More Game 1 notes

▪ Barkov recorded his fifth career multi-assist playoff game and his 10th multi-point playoff game overall. His 39 playoff points are the most in franchise history.

▪ With an assist Sunday, Aaron Ekblad now has 12 assists in his Florida career, surpassing Robert Svehla (11) for the most in club history as a defenseman. Gustav Forsling matched Svehla’s goal with an assist of his own on Sunday.

▪ Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 17 of 19 lightning shots for his 30th career playoff win and 19th with Florida.

▪ Maurice earned his 14th playoff victory with Florida, surpassing Doug MacLean as head coach for the most in club history.