{"id":6578,"date":"2017-02-14T18:30:10","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T23:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=6578"},"modified":"2017-02-15T00:57:38","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T05:57:38","slug":"florida-panthers-jonathan-huberdeau-aleksander-barkov-are-difference-makers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/02\/14\/florida-panthers-jonathan-huberdeau-aleksander-barkov-are-difference-makers\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Panthers Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov are Difference Makers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Just three games into their return from injuries and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/huberjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Huberdeau <\/a><\/strong>and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/barkoal01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aleksander Barkov<\/a><\/strong> are already reminding the hockey world not to sleep on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/panthers\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Florida Panthers<\/a> making the playoffs. They are the difference makers from the team making the playoffs last season to missing it, if the playoffs started today.<\/p>\n<p>The Panthers are three points behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/mapleleafs\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> for the final Wild Card spot. One of the biggest things holding the Panthers back from the playoffs is their ability to score. And what better way to improve on that than the returns of Huberdeau and Barkov to the line-up?<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/FlaPanthers\/status\/830564089675984896<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Watch out for flying Finns! \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddee <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JOliNWOwtS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JOliNWOwtS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; x &#8211; Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FlaPanthers\/status\/830522743556829186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 11, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Cats down in The Sunshine State were one of the biggest stories in 2015-2016, as they managed to surprisingly finish first in the Atlantic division, ranking top 10 in both goals for and fewest goals against. But a big reason why they aren\u2019t playing at the level they were last year is due to impactful injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Florida lost left winger, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/huberjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Huberdeau<\/a> before the regular season to an Achilles injury and their players seem to have continuously go down with injury after injury, the most notable victim being young centre, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/barkoal01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aleksander Barkov<\/a>. The good news for this team though is they are now back on the right track, and the big difference is these two players coming back on the ice.<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Huberdeau, 23, took a significant step in his development last season. He helped carry the offensive load with career a high 20 goals and 59 points. While Barkov, 21, is slowly turning into a very good two-way forward, and this year was having his best offensive season of his young career with nine goals and 27 points in 36 games before his back injury on December 28<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>The return of these two players means better balance throughout the lines. When Barkov was out of the lineup, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/trochvi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vincent Trocheck<\/a><\/strong> filled in and did a solid job, leading the team in points with 35. But Trochek being bumped to the top line posed problems further down the depth chart. Florida has experimented with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokinju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jussi Jokinen <\/a><\/strong>and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bjugsni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Bjugstad <\/a><\/strong>in the second centre spot, which has not gone overly well for the former \u2013 Jokinen has a 53.33% CF% and Bjudgstad a poor 49.45%. Neither have been able to generate consistent individual offence.<\/p>\n<p>The team that was known for their balanced attack last year hasn\u2019t been able to replicate it this time around. Before Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov returned, Florida was ranked 26<sup>th<\/sup> in team goals per game, 25<sup>th<\/sup> on the powerplay, and have scored more than four goals just nine times compared to 18 last season at this time.<\/p>\n<p>In their successful 2015-16 campaign, Huberdeau and Barkov were critical weapons. They contributed for almost 21% of the team\u2019s goals and combined for 11 goals and 29 points with the extra attacker. In addition, the young guns have made a difference in\u00a0the historic career of the ageless wonder, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/j\/jagrja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaromir Jagr<\/a><\/strong>, who&#8217;s only one point away from 1,900.<\/p>\n<p>Playing alongside Huberdeau and Barkov, it looked as if the 43-year-old had an extra spring in his stride. He potted 27 goals, his most since 2006-2007 with the New York Rangers, for a team high of 66 points. Jagr\u2019s 18.9 shooting percentage was the third best of his 25-year NHL career, and he has the youngsters to thank. Of his 49 5-on-5 points, 70% (34 points) came along side Huberdeau and Barkov. The line has only been back together at full strength for three games now, and they\u2019ve already found the back of the net in all three of them. In that span, Huberdeau has five points while Barkov has three.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not like the Panthers haven\u2019t held their own without their two stars. They\u2019re a top 10 NHL squad in possession and are sporting a 51% Corsi. One major problem, however, is that Florida ranks in the bottom three for produced scoring chances.<\/p>\n<p>With 29 games left in their schedule, the Panthers are still in a position to push for a playoffs spot. Huberdeau and Barkov are difference makers. Them being healthy comes at the perfect time to help the team make the postseason for the second consecutive year, a feat that the franchise has only experienced twice in their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockeydb.com\/stte\/florida-panthers-5763.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">23 year history<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/634454402\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 67.508418% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/634454402?et=ct9RbYJsQ4liJbXe_jiSnw&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=kk0l1R3yc2cR2k7PYS7Wjc2a9VsVqIjHndrhdmD_9bk=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"401\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just three games into their return from injuries and Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov are already reminding the hockey world not to sleep on the Florida Panthers making the playoffs. They are the difference makers from the team making the playoffs last season to missing it, if the playoffs started today. The Panthers are three [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1883,"featured_media":6642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[1083,106,37,410,306,1253,38,652,1252],"class_list":["post-6578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-panthers","tag-aleksander-barkov","tag-florida-panthers","tag-hockey","tag-jaromir-jagr","tag-jonathan-huberdeau","tag-jussi-jokinen","tag-nhl","tag-nick-bjugstad","tag-vincent-trocheck"],"modified_by":"Colton Praill","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1883"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}