Skating on new line, Carter Verhaeghe search for scoring touch continues

Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe is finding goals harder to come by this season.

He’s currently on track for his lowest goal output in any of his five seasons with the Panthers, though it’s certainly not for a lack of trying.

Through 41 games, the Panthers clutch scoring specialist has racked up just 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 way down.

Throughout his NHL career, even before he arrived in Florida, Verhaeghe has scored on around 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 as well.

One would think that by virtue of the law of averages, things will soon start to even out for Verhaeghe.

Perhaps his goal on Monday night in Colorado will be the spark that gets him going on a scoring run.

“It was a good battle on the wall there, and I made a play to (Anton Lundell) in the middle, and he made an awesome pass, really deceptive, and I think the goalie probably thought he was going to shoot it,” Verhaeghe said.

It was his first goal in nine games and only his seconds since Dec. 5.

Now skating on a line with Lundell and Jesper Boqvist, Verhaeghe has been better utilizing his speed on the outside and ability to get pucks deep and use his deceiving physicality to win battles down low.

“Lundy is an awesome player,” Verhaeghe said. “He has really good skill and is really deceptive.”

Perhaps the trio will gain some momentum together, as the signs are starting to point to something brewing.

Verhaeghe has points in two straight after going six straight without any. Lundell has points in three of his past four games and a total of seven points over his past 10 outings overall, while Boqvist has been right there with him, logging three goals and six points over his past seven games.

We’ll see if they can continue building some continuity when the Panthers play their first ever game against the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday Night in Salt Lake City.

The puck drops from Delta Center at 10 p.m. ET

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