The 6 Point Club
Don’t know if you heard about this, but Mason Marchment had SIX points in Columbus on Monday night. You heard me right. Scoring 35 seconds into the game and 28 seconds into the third period, Marchment struck quick and added four assists to culminate his performance with the remarkable sextuplet.
Marchment is now part of a very exclusive club; only nine active NHL players have ever scored six points in a game: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Sidney Crosby, Johnny Gaudreau, Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, Mika Zibenajad (twice!), and Sam Gagner who had an incredible eight point night in 2012. Given how much easier it was to score prior to the modern era of the NHL, six points in this era is a much more impressive accomplishment. The only two players on this list who achieved their membership since the turn of the decade are Marchment, Draisaitl, and Zibenajad; DJ Zbad even did it twice last season (thanks to Philly).
Some notable superstars who never scored six points in a single game: Jarome Iginla, Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov, Martin St. Louis, Auston Matthews, Alexander Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos… oh, and Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. The only other player to ever score six points in a Florida Panthers uniform? Olli Jokinen, who had the same two goal, four assist statline against the New York Islanders on Mar. 17, 2007.
The Starting Line
Not long ago, Mason Marchment was in the ECHL, Anton Lundell was in Finland, and Sam Reinhart was in Buffalo. They have turned one anothers’ fates around by forming the most formidable big three in south Florida sports since LeBron James took his talents to South Beach. Sure, the sample size still isn’t enormous, but get a load of their stats together in 67 minutes of time on ice at 5v5:
Corsi: 72 for, 47 against, 60.50%
Shots on Goal: 42 for, 27 against, 60.87%
Expected Goals: 4.33 xGF, 2.49 xGA, 63.5% (NST); 5 xGF, 2.7 xGA, 64.9% (MoneyPuck)
Scoring Chances: 43 for, 20 against, 68.25%
High Danger Scoring Chances: 16 for, 14 against, 53.33%
Zone Starts: 20 O-zone faceoffs, 23 n-zone faceoffs, 36 d-zone faceoffs (35.71% ZSR)
Oh and here’s the best part:
Goals: 12 for, 0 against
On-Ice percentages: 28.57% SH, 100% SV, 1.2857 PDO
What had been put together as a quasi-shutdown line has become a tour de force for Andrew Brunette and his Panthers. This line has the best goal differential of any of Florida’s forward lines in their mere 67 minutes of ice time. Now, a 28.5% on-ice shooting percentage is not gonna last, but the chances this line routinely puts together are very dangerous and unsurprisingly end up in the back of the net.
Mas Hombre Sam
Sam Reinhart had a slow start to life as a Panther, but that’s the past. Now, he can’t be stopped. Jonathan Huberdeau’s exploits are well-known, but what Reinhart did last month while he was healthy was unbelievable. Reinhart had 6 goals and 13 assists in January for 19 total points in the Panthers’ 15 games, 2nd on the team in that stretch. What’s remarkable is that 17 of those points were primary points, as 11 of Reinhart’s 13 assists were primary assists. The even more remarkable part is that Reinhart missed 3 of those games in COVID protocol, so he put up those 17 primary points in 12 games. Only Jonathan Huberdeau had more, and he just had one more primary point in three more games played. Reinhart has been a phenomenal player around the net on the power play, adding to his prolific scoring at 5v5 as of late.
Don’t forget amongst all this that Reinhart’s defense has also been stellar; Reinhart ranks 4th lowest amongst Panther forwards in on-ice xGA/60, with the only three forwards above him in Lomberg, Luostarinen, and Marchment commonly seeing softer competition than Reinhart. It’s a bit of a slight to call Reinhart a utility player, though it’s fitting of his ability to fit in anywhere the Panthers play him. Reinhart’s impact and production is simply inevitable. With a hat trick Monday night in Columbus, he continued to show how much value he brings after his trade from Buffalo.
Could the best be yet to come? Reinhart is yet to play a playoff game in his NHL career. There is a good chance we see Sam go a level up in the postseason. After all, it’s what Sams do.