Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe has struggled to score goals this season.
He’s currently on track for his lowest goal total in any of his five seasons with the Panthers, although it’s certainly not for lack of trying.
In 41 games, the Panthers’ scoring specialist has only scored 10 goals.
His shots on goal and shot attempts are on par with the kind of numbers he’s put up in recent years, but his shooting percentage is much lower.
Throughout his NHL career, even before his arrival in Florida, Verhaeghe scored on approximately 14-16% of his shots on goal.
This season his shooting percentage is down to 8.3%, and that doesn’t include the many goal posts he’s hit this season either.
You would think that under the law of averages, things would soon start to balance out for Verhaeghe.
Maybe his goal Monday night at Colorado will be the spark that pushes him to score.
“It was a good battle against the wall there, and I made a play to (Anton Lundell) in the middle, and he made a great pass, really deceptive, and I think the goalie was probably thinking that he was going to shoot,'” Verhaeghe said.
It was his first goal in nine games and only his second since December 5.
Now skating on a line with Lundell and Jesper Boqvist, Verhaeghe has better utilized his outside speed and ability to drive pucks deep and use his deceptive physicality to win battles down low.
“Lundy is a great player,” Verhaeghe said. “He has very good skills and is really deceptive.”
Perhaps the trio will gain some momentum together, as the signs are starting to indicate something is brewing.
Verhaeghe scored two points in a row after making six in a row without any. Lundell has scored points in three of his last four games and a total of seven points in his last 10 outings overall, while Boqvist has been right alongside him, scoring three goals and six points in his last seven matches.
We’ll see if they can continue to establish some continuity when the Panthers play their first-ever game against the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
The puck will drop from the Delta Center at 10 p.m. ET
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