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TAMPA — Mackie Samoskevich got a taste of the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup title, but he did not get to fully experience it.
Samoskevich was a Black Ace — a reserve who fills in as an emergency backup in case of injuries to players on the active roster in the playoffs — during the Panthers’ playoff runs the last two years, but he never saw the ice in the postseason. On Tuesday night, the 22-year-old rookie was hoping to make an immediate impact in his first playoff game in the Panthers’ opener vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It (is) super exciting,” Samoskevich said before Tuesday’s game. “Today’s the day, and it’s one of those feelings that you kind of get overwhelmed with excitement. You’ve got to do a good job of calming it down a little bit and pace yourself for the game. I can’t wait.”
Samoskevich has postseason experience, but it was all at lower levels. He played in the NCAA tournament with Michigan and in the Calder Cup playoffs in the American Hockey League with the Panthers’ affiliate in Charlotte.
“At school, it’s one game and you’re done or one game and you keep going,” Samoskevich said. “It is a seven-game series, and you’ve got to realize that. You’re seeing the same team every game. … It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
The rookie played just seven games in the 2023-24 regular season but got to watch the championship run with the team up close, learning how the playoffs differed from the regular season.
“I think looking back, how physical it is,” Samosekvich said. “You see that right away from a fan’s perspective. The pace is so high right away. Try not to break open a game right away, just kind of play simple and get some hits in, get into the game. That’s some things I definitely took last year.”
The whole season has been a build-up to this point. Samoskevich played in 72 games, scoring 15 goals with 16 assists with an average ice time of 13:19. But the playoffs have always been the focus.
“We talk an awful lot about playoff hockey,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “It’s how we try to build our game to that end. We don’t want to have to say something to Mackie that he’s never heard before: ‘Hey, this is the playoffs now. We really want you to try that cross-ice pass on your back hand. This is the perfect time to bring it out.’ That line’s not coming out.”
Maurice said the speed of the game is perhaps the biggest difference between the regular season and postseason. How Samoskevich responds to it will determine how much he contributes as the Panthers try to defend their title.
“All you’re looking for from a young player in the first game is you’ll be expecting a certain amount of possibly a lack of processing time,” Maurice said. “This game just gets so much faster. You can’t explain it until a guy really gets out there. Yeah, the physicality gets noted, but for me, it’s the game speed of decisions. You’re looking for his third period to be faster than his first. That’s all.
“If you can see that in his game, then you’ve got a player.”
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