Is it time for concern about Spencer Knight? ‘We’re not worried about him,’ Panthers say

It’s basically impossible to find a goaltender who started his career better than Spencer Knight. He made his fourth ever NHL start in an elimination game in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs and held the eventual-champion Tampa Bay Lightning to one goal on 37 shots to keep the Florida Panthers’ season alive for a few more days.

Knight was only 20 at the time — he’s still only 20 — and less than two months removed from playing his last game with the Boston College Eagles. He was anointed as the sport’s next great American goalie when he shut out Canada in the gold medal game of the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and he made the Panthers out of training camp this season, ready to potentially push Sergei Bobrovsky for a timeshare in net for a Stanley Cup contender.

Year 2 — which is still basically Year 1 for the rookie because he only played in four games last season — has not been quite as charmed. After giving up five goals in 31 shots in Florida’s 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, Knight’s save percentage is down to .891 and his goals against average is up to 3.51 — both numbers rank among the four worst in the league for qualifying goaltenders.

“We all struggle at some point or another,” star defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a rookie or not.”

With a back-to-back set coming up this weekend, the Panthers (26-8-5) will have a chance to run Knight back into goal quickly, unless they want to let Bobrovsky start two nights in a row for the second time in a week. Florida continues its five-game road trip Friday at 9 p.m. against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton, then travels even farther west to play the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

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Knight, contrary to what his NHL track record suggests, has actually struggled at some point before.

In his first postseason game last year, he gave up a goal on his first shot, then stopped 36 in a row to beat the Lightning in Sunrise. In his first game of the 2021 WJHC a few months earlier, he gave up four goals on 13 shots before getting benched in less than 12 minutes and he, of course, came back to become the United States’ Player of the Game for the gold medal-clinching victory. He even had multiple games with six goals allowed as a freshman at Boston College before he became a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as a sophomore.

His track record and demeanor — his understated confidence and perpetual stoicism are what coaches always rave about — are why the Panthers still trust him.

“We’re not worried about him,” Ekblad said, “at all.”

Still, he has been far from the Calder Memorial Trophy contender Florida thought he might be this year.

Part of it is because of the circumstances: Bobrovsky is finally playing at an All-Star level again and has started 27 of 39 games this year. Knight is a true No. 2 to Bobrovsky, rather a 1B to his 1A, and his start Tuesday in Calgary came 19 days after his last appearance, with a stint in COVID-19 protocols in between them.

Still, Knight hasn’t been good enough when the opportunities have come. The goalie has been in net for three of the Panthers’ four multi-goal losses this season and three of their four games with five or more goals allowed.

Right now, Florida doesn’t need him to be excellent. Bobrovsky is playing well enough to relegate Knight to reserve duty, but Bobrovsky’s track record with the Panthers is sort of the opposite of Knight’s. There’s always a concern about when the good times might end.

For Knight, there’s a feeling — a hope — they could start at any moment.

“He’s going to have to go through some of these things that are just going to make you stronger,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said Tuesday. “It’s a growth and a mindset for him here, and we support him.”

Gustav Forsling enters COVID protocols

Second-pairing defenseman Gustav Forsling won’t be available for Florida on Thursday against the Oilers (18-15-2) after testing positive for the coronavirus. Fellow defenseman Lucas Carlsson will slide into the lineup in Forsling’s absence, Brunette said.

Patric Hornqvist also remains day-to-day after sustaining an upper-body injury Tuesday in Alberta. Fellow right wing Owen Tippett will likely rejoin the lineup Thursday, Brunette said, after scoring four points in two games for AHL Charlotte over the weekend.

“I think he’ll be in,” Brunette said. “I was excited for him that he was able to go down there and play well and produce. For a young player to get some touches and get some points down there is definitely going to help his game up here.”