The Florida Panthers played a total of 13 games in the season-opening month of October and compiled a 6-3-4 record that had many of us thinking playoffs.
Up for your consideration are five of the standout individual offensive performances from that autumn month. Here are the candidates…
Mike Hoffman – hat trick in 4-3 win over over Tampa Bay Lightning (10/5)
After starting the season with a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay, the two teams tussled two days later at the BB&T Center. Hoffman solved Andrei Vasilevskiy blocker-side 9:39 into first period after receiving a beautiful pass from Jonathan Huberdeau. Huberdeau would set up Hoffman again 1:26 later for another power-play goal to make it 2-0 Panthers. Hoffman completed his hat-trick seventeen seconds into the third when he deflected Aaron Ekblad’s low shot from right point by Vasilevskiy. That goal ended up being the game-winner after Bolts scored twice later in the frame to get within one.
Brett Connolly – two goals in 6-4 comeback win over the New Jersey Devils (10/14)
With the Panthers down 4-1 in the second period on the road to the lowly Devils, Brett Connolly scored his first two goals of the season to turn the tide and get his new club back in the game. He beat goaltender Corey Schneider from the high slot at 9:50 and then closed out the scoring in the period with 7.5 seconds remaining as he flicked a shot under the crossbar to get the Cats within one heading to the third.
MacKenzie Weegar – goal and assist in 6-4 comeback win over the New Jersey Devils (10/14)
After Connolly lit the comeback fuse, defenseman MacKenize Weegar scored his second goal of the season 30 seconds into the third period with a point shot through traffic to tie the score at 4-4 and then he drew the primary assist, also his second of the campaign, on Noel Acciari’s eventual game-winning goal exactly seven minutes later to give the Cats its first road win of the young season.
Aleksander Barkov – four assists in 6-3 shootout loss to the Calgary Flames (10/24)
Aleksander Barkov’s four assist performance almost single-handedly helped the Panthers pull a point out of this back-and-forth affair in Calgary. Barkov drew the lone assist on second period goals by Huberdeau and Weegar that each tied the score. He picked up secondary helpers on goals by Josh Brown and Evgenii Dadonov that allowed the Cats to come back from a 4-2 deficit. Barkov had two shots on goals and went +2 in the high-scoring, but he was stopped by David Rittich in the shootout, allowing the Flames to claim the bonus point.
Jonathan Huberdeau – two goals in 4-3 overtime win over the Colorado (10/30)
Jonathan Huberdeau allowed the Cats to close the month out on a winning note when he put on the superhero cape and tied the game with ninety ticks left on the clock and Sergei Bobrovsky off for an extra-attacker by whistling a wrister past from just above the left circle. . He secured the bonus point hen when took a pass from Barkov after a bit of broken play and slipped a backhander between Grubauer’s wickets 29 seconds into the extra session.
Who had the best offensive performance in October?
| Mike Hoffman (10/5) | 16 |
| Brett Connolly (10/14) | 0 |
| MacKenzie Weegar (10/14) | 1 |
| Aleksander Barkov (10/24) | 4 |
| Jonathan Huberdeau (10/30) | 9 |
| Other (explain yourself in the comments) | 1 |