The Panthers harnessed the excitement of the Global Series in Finland to take home the Game 1 victory over the Dallas Stars by a score of 6-4.
If the Finnish crowd was hoping for an entertaining game, they certainly got one, as the spirited battle saw a total of 10 goals scored.
It was a night from a Hollywood movie script for captain Alexsander Barkov. The hero coming back to his hometown to play a monster game in which he collected four points and was awarded First Star of the game.
As
Litter Box Cats reports:
“
Hometown hero Aleksander Barkov was named First Star after scoring a goal and collecting three assists as the Cats never trailed in yesterday’s 6-4 win. Sam Reinhart, who scored twice and picked up a helper, is now tied for second in NHL scoring with 19 points. Evan Rodrigues scored the fastest game-opening goal (28 seconds) in a game held outside North America in NHL history, surpassing Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom by three seconds. Two of Florida’s other Finns, Anton Lundell (goal) and Niko Mikkola (assist), also got on the score sheet. Eetu Luostarinen was credited with two shots and two blocks.
The Stars got a goal and an assist from Finnish defenseman Esa Lindell. Roope Hintz (3 shots) and Miro Heiskanen (2 shots) did not figure in the scoring. Rookie Mavrik Bourque notched his first NHL goal late in the third period before Jamie Benn lit the lamp with 34 seconds left to complete scoring. Tyler Seguin scored the first Dallas goal. After starting the season with four straight wins, the Stars are now 3-3 over the last six games.”
I could be wrong, but one of the things I noticed while watching the highlights was that the ice seemed kind of locked up by Dallas in terms of the goal mouth. The Cats scored from the points and around the circles. Those goals from the point were a result of forwards forcing their way to the front of the net for some distribution. It just seemed like Florida couldn’t get in too close with the puck to operate and had to attack from further out.
Today should be interesting, as I expect a pretty good pushback from the Stars. The Panthers will make one change to their lineup for this afternoon, inserting Knight into the bluepaint. This will be a big test for the young goalie. He is on the global stage (literally) playing in front of a hot crowd and against a good team.
KITTENS IN THE WILD
Prior to the start of the season, I made a joke about prospect Hunter St. Martin having such a good author name, that he should retire and start writing books.
Well…he might want to hold off on that new career path, as the young forward is currently tearing up the WHL.
He totaled five points (scoring four goals) last night, and currently has 12 goals in 12 games.
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Go Panthers!
Florida Panthers Blogger • 
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