Takeaways From the Florida Panthers Preseason Finale in Quebec

The Florida Panthers wrapped up their preseason with a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. Here are a few observations from the exhibition finale in Quebec.

Photo courtesy of KCAL Los Angeles

The Florida Panthers sent out a lineup closely resembling the one they will be rolling out on opening night for a dress rehearsal in Quebec City and they shined, defeating the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2, on Saturday night.

Florida answered an early first-period goal from Los Angeles with two-straight power play goals to take a lead that they never relinquished.

Aleksander Barkov scored the first one 9:07 into the first period, cutting into the slot and beating Darcy Kuemper with a slick backhand move. Anton Lundell put the Panthers ahead just under seven minutes later, batting the errant bounce of an Aaron Ekblad shot that hit the boards past Kuemper.

Jonah Gadjovich extended the Panthers lead to 3-1 in the dying seconds of the second period with a deflection of an Ekblad shot.

Trevor Moore brought the Kings back within a goal 8:44 into the third period with a one-timer off of a slick feed from Quentin Byfield after he walked past the Florida defense and sent the pass back through the goal crease behind Sergei Bobrovsky.

Gadjovich tacked on his second goal of the night — an empty-netter — to seal the win for Florida with 24 seconds to go.

Bobrovsky finished the game with 26 saves on 28 shots.

Here are a few observations from the Panthers’ preseason finale in Quebec City:

— Mackie Samoskevich looked sharp in his first piece of game action of the preseason. He was hard on the puck, he was quick and he drew a penalty in the offensive zone that ultimately led to Lundell’s go-ahead goal. He looks ready for NHL regular season hockey.

— Uvis Baliskis was given the quarterback role on the second unit after taking that role from Nate Schmidt in practice last week. That unit shined, moving the puck quickly and generating multiple scoring chances before Lundell got them on the board.

— Adam Boqvist locked up the role for as quarterback of the top power play unit pretty quickly, and it is pretty evident as to why. On each of their go-arounds together, that top unit looked very comfortable together and moved the puck very efficiently. Boqvist’s offensive skillset has been on display all training camp and the Panthers wrapped up their preseason with a perfect 2-for-2 on the power play Saturday night in Quebec.

— Aaron Ekblad looks primed to have a stronger offensive season this year. His shot was on full display on Saturday, leading to two goals, and he looks to have a bigger role on PP2 this year.

— Patrick Giles and Jonah Gadjovich got some time on the penalty kill as a third forward group late in the game and they did a great job of holding the Kings to the outside and limiting chances.