Cooper Black made, what turned out to be, a historic NHL debut with the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
The 25-year-old, undrafted rook out of Dartmouth, played good enough to get a win in his first game.
Unfortunately for him, Black does not score goals.
The Panthers did not, either.
Black, who became the tallest goalie in NHL history at 6-foot-9, made 18 saves in what turned out to be a 4-0 loss against the host Pittsburgh Penguins.
He gave the Panthers a chance.
They did not take advantage, leading Paul Maurice to do a little soul-searching after the loss.
“I don’t know where on the spectrum of arrogance and softness that I have allowed to creep into our game,’’ Maurice said after the Panthers lost their second game in as many nights, being outscored 9-1 in the process.
”I’m going to find that out here in a couple of days. I have to figure out where it’s coming from. I think it’s coming from me. …
“I need to get their attention.’’
Maurice will have to stew on this one a little bit with the team having today off before resuming practice Saturday in Chicago before playing the Blackhawks on Sunday.
Florida has overlooked the Blackhawks in the past.
Do not expect that on Sunday. “We’re not playing good, at all, and it’s very frustrating,’’ Matthew Tkachuk said. “To have a back-to-back, quick turnaround, and lay an egg like we did. It’s a long year, but these things can’t happen. It’s not that we’re losing, it is how we’re playing. We’ll have to fix it here. Been a tough 24 hours these past two games. It’s unfortunate.’’
Black, who hails from upstate Michigan showed no nerves early on.
He told FHN on Tuesday that he would treat his NHL debut as “just another game,’’ and the guy who is the AHL Charlotte Checkers starter on paper (right now) looked strong early on by stopping the first seven shots he faced.
No. 8 make it 1-0.
That was enough for a struggling Penguins team that suddenly found their way in front of the home crowd.
“Definitely exciting for me to be out there and play with these guys,’’ said Black, who signed with the Panthers out of Dartmouth in 2024 a year after attending development camp with the team in Coral Springs.
“You look across the way, and there are some great (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, etc.) players. Great experience. Not the outcome you want, but it is what it is.’’
Said Maurice: “Very hard to win games in this league when your team scores zero in front of you and gets what it deserves. I was fine with him for his first game. Happy for him.’’
ON DECK: GAME No. 12
FLORIDA PANTHERS at CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
George Richards is the publisher of Florida Hockey Now and has been the beat writer covering the NHL Florida … More about George Richards, FHN Publisher