“I’m playing with my food here a little bit,” the Florida Panthers’ veteran coach said.

Count the Florida Panthers’ Mackie Samoskevich and Paul Maurice among those cheering for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

With the Panthers earning nine seconds of a 5-on-3 power play early in the third period, Aleksander Barkov made the most out of that limited time by winning a faceoff draw in the offensive zone, going to the net and scoring to make it 2-0 at 4:43.

Rookie Mackie Samoskevich has been playing quite well and may have earned himself a longer look in the top six

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Detroit Red Wings right wing Jonatan Berggren (48) skates with the puck as Florida Panthers right wing Mackie Samoskevich (25) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla.

The final NHL game on Wednesday's schedule will pit the defending champion Panthers against the Kings out on the West Coast.

Sam Reinhart snapped a three-game goal drought and the Florida Panthers beat the Anaheim ... Sam Bennett and Uvis Balinskis added goals. Mackie Samoskevich and Tomas Nosek each had two assists ...

Verhaeghe stole the puck from Anaheim defenseman Jacob Trouba behind the Ducks' goal before putting it into the upper right corner of the net to extend the Panthers' lead to 3-1 with 1:11 remaining in the first period. Florida has scored three times in the first period four times this season which trails only Tampa Bay and Ottawa (both five).

Bennett’s goal 4:55 into regulation came when he took a feed from Tkachuk across the goal crease and sent a wrist shot high as Kings goaltender Dary Kuemper was sprawled down on the ice.

The Florida Panthers will celebrate some milestone nights on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings. Not only will Dmitry Kulikov play in his 1,000th NHL game, but Paul Maurice will coach in his 1,900th game.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots for his second shutout of the season, and the Florida Panthers beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0.