SUNRISE — Earlier this season, Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice used the term “scratch and claw” to describe what the team had to do to stay afloat during the long-term absences of key players.
The Anaheim Ducks came to town hurting just as much due to the absences of Chris Kreider, Ryan Strome, Mikael Granlund, and Radko Gudas.
With Brad Marchand and Jonah Gadjovich joining Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Dmitry Kulikov, and Tomas Nosek out of the Panthers lineup, Maurice had to be at his creative best with more line juggling.
It wasn’t pretty on either side.
An overtime loss to Anaheim, which has missed the playoffs the past seven seasons, may not seem like much but when you salvage a point after being down by two with less than 8 minutes remaining, it is a moral victory of sorts.
Maurice never plays favorites, but has always spoken kindly about Anton Lundell’s ability to move between lines when needed.
Although he has been successful as a third liner, especially with Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen, Lundell has frequently been called on to fill in for Barkov when the captain has been out.
Lundell has always been comfortable in that role.
With Marchand out Tuesday, Maurice united Lundell with Luostarinen and Mackie Samoskevich to form what looked like a pretty solid second line.
Evan Rodrigues moved up to the top line with the fourth unit made up of players who are new to the team, Noah Gregor, Cole Schwindt, and Luke Kunin.
The move paid off when Lundell ignited a rally of sorts by scoring at 11:12 of the third, set up by Samoskevich and Luostarinen.
That set the stage for Sam Reinhart’s tying goal with just over 3 minutes remaining.
It was Lundell’s third goal of the season.
Lundell registered the Panthers’ only shootout goal, but it just wasn’t enough.
Troy Terry and Mason McTavish scored in the shootout for Anaheim. Terry’s goal appeared to be a misfire, notwithstanding Leo Carlsson’s postgame tongue-in-cheek analysis.
“He was shooting for the five-hole.”
Maurice has been happy with Lundell’s reliability, especially with Barkov out.
“He’s been good with Sasha going down,’’ Maurice said. “His faceoff numbers are real good. He’s the first guy out in the penalty kill because we need it. He’s on the number one powerplay unit for faceoff wins. He’s risen to the occasion, for sure.”
The always modest Lundell was pleased with the timing of his goal, which ignited the comeback.
“I think it was huge,’’ he said. “It was exactly what we were looking for as a team. We just wanted something to grab and keep going. Sometimes it’s hard to score but when you score, we’ve just got to get momentum which we did. I think we played a really good third period even if we didn’t get a win.”
Florida’s depth has been severely tested in this young season.
At 5-5-1 after 11 games, they sit fourth in the Atlantic Division.
There is a lot of hockey left in the season and ample time to recover.
Right now, the focus is on the next opponent, the Dallas Stars who are riding a three game win streak.
If the Panthers are going to beat the Stars and head back out on the road on a high note, expect Lundell to be a big part of it.
ON DECK: GAME 12
DALLAS STARS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
