Fort Lauderdale – enough apples to bake pie.
Needless to say, Evan Rodriguez may have to open a bakery soon.
After a hit from Oliver Ekman Larson in Game 4, Rodriguez has been generously shed tears since the loss of games 5 and 6 in the second round of the Eastern Conference with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In four games since his return, Speedy Forward has chopped seven assists.
“It was a bit of a reset for me because it’s not fun to sit and play,” Rodriguez said. “You’re back to Game 7 (against Toronto), you’re back with itching and you want it to be so bad. I thought I played well in Game 7 and it’s been rolling a bit since then.”
With two assists in his 6-2 victory on Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, his third multi-assist game in game three of the Eastern Conference Finals, Rodriguez became the sixth player in NHL history, scoring multiple assists in each of the first three games of the Conference Finals.
Other names on that list are Flash Hollet (1943), Toe Break (1946), Elmerlach (1946), Weigletsky (1983), and Almackinis (1986).
I’m not in a bad company.
Rodriguez hasn’t scored goals in these playoffs yet, but he’s a big reason why the Panthers have 18 different goal-scorers leading the NHL.
“I’m just saving them,” Rodriguez said with a smile after his Game 3 victory.
Rodriguez, who led the team by scoring in last year’s Stanley Cup final, is the first to tie with the Panthers with 10 assists this postseason.
No. 17, which offers immense value on both sides of the pack, also shows two-way ability for the second straight playoff.
“Evan Rodriguez from an analytical perspective is one of Kill Play’s best forwards,” director Paul Maurice said of the Rodriguez play. “In last year’s final, he was the best forward in Kill Plays.”
Without both Sam Reinhart and Aetu Luastalinen, the 31-year-old strengthened his penalty kills during Carolina’s five-minute power play in Game 3 to maintain Florida’s early lead.
At a pivotal moment of victory, the Panthers lead the series 1-0.
I won one more time to return to the big dance.
“To kick those guys out, you’ll have (Jesper) Boqvist coming, Rodriguez coming, and (Tomas) Nosek takes a few more minutes. That’s where you’ll go in the playoffs,” Maurice said. Someone else needs to block the shot. Someone else has to do that. Then you’re on the bench and when they do it, you then get this bouncing off. We took some action on the kill in the second (period). That might have been the best chance of the game at some point.
In Panthers culture, its comfort in big moments is not surprising.
“It’s a tight knit group. When the guys come in, they feel confident when they step into the lineup,” Rodriguez said of the power of the team’s locker room. “They don’t worry about making mistakes or disappointing anyone.
Find your ticket here to be there when the Panthers are about to finish their work in Game 4.
