Before the Florida Panthers get to feel the energy inside Amerant Bank Arena for the first time this season, they’ll have to experience another team’s home opener Tuesday night when they visit the Los Angeles Kings to conclude a season-opening four-game road trip.
They opened the new campaign with a 1-0 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sept. 29, then lost 4-3 in overtime to the Sharks in San Jose’s season opener Thursday.
Florida faced another young, fast team riled up for their first home game Sunday and again rallied late, pushing the Anaheim Ducks to overtime before losing 3-2.
“Anytime you do three home openers in a row, it’s obviously tough,” Florida forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “It probably builds character for us and a good challenge for us, obviously. Other teams (are) going to come out, bring their best, and be skating and flying around.”
A lot has changed with the Panthers’ roster since they headed out west.
Team captain Aleksander Barkov suffered a leg injury against the Sharks and was placed on long-term injured reserve. The veteran center reportedly will miss 10 to 12 weeks.
Brad Marchand recovered sooner than expected from offseason surgery, and the veteran forward took the ice against the Ducks, scoring a late 6-on-5 goal to send the game to overtime.
“It was a bit of a rude awakening,” Marchand said. “The speed of the game and the intensity definitely ramped up at times, but it was great to be back out there. It’s going to take some time to get the timing and everything back, and conditioning back, but it was incredible being back out there and being part of the team again.”
Marchand played on a line with Brady Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart, feeling their potential as the game wore on, even if he felt a step slow.
“We had a few looks, but it’s tough for those guys,” said Marchand, who had been out since March 6. “They know I’m just getting back, and it’s been almost six months since I played a game and only been skating for a month now.
“So, I kind of bring them down a little bit, just with my timing and the speed and all of that, so we’re working through that together. But when I get back there, up to speed, we have great potential to be a really good line.”
The Kings are still looking for their first win after dropping their season opener 8-4 to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Wednesday and losing 5-4 in overtime in San Jose on Saturday.
“It’s tough,” Kings coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’re chasing the game a little bit. I thought that there was a ton of fight in the end (against San Jose). I really liked the way we played the overtime, and I hate the result. So, lots of things that we did well but, you know, we’re still early in the season. We’re working on things out there as well to get better at.”
Forward Quinton Byfield thought the Kings improved in preventing odd-man rushes against the Sharks, and they went 2-for-3 on the power play after going 0-for-4 against the Avalanche.
“Our power play wasn’t great the first game, so scoring two this game really kind of boosts it,” Byfield said.