Seth Jones has eight points in five games, and The Hockey News asked this morning whether the Panthers defenseman can keep it going.
He added to the pile last night in Florida's 5-3 win over Chicago. Jones scored through Spencer Knight's five-hole to make it 3-0, a little ironic since Knight was drafted 13th overall by the Panthers in 2019.
The season line is loud: 16 games, 3 goals, 16 assists and 19 points, with a +3 rating. One of those goals came on the power play and one was a game-winner.
Only Matthew Tkachuk is ahead of him on the team, with 22 points. Brady Tkachuk has 17 and Sam Reinhart has 16, so a defenseman is sitting above two of the forwards the Panthers lean on most. We saw Matthew Tkachuk and Seth Jones sharing the spotlight a few days ago, and it hasn't cooled.
The Hockey News put the question right in its morning newsletter, noting that Jones sits second in Panthers scoring after eight points in five games.
Last night wasn't just a goal. He fired 4 shots on goal and logged 21:36 of ice time, which tells you how much Paul Maurice trusts him in a game Florida needed to put away.
BR_OpenIce flagged the 3-0 goal in real time, pointing to 19 points in 16 games.
How this run stacks up against Jones's career
The career numbers make this season look even odder. Jones has 492 points in 928 NHL games, so 19 points through 16 games is a quick start against that backdrop.
The plus-minus is the other jump. His career mark is -139, and he's at +3 this year. That's a real shift in how Florida's games are going when he's on the ice, and it's why the run gets noticed beyond the point totals.
The Panthers are 9-5-2 and 7-3-0 over their last 10, so the team results back up the individual ones.
The Panthers also have a lot of production elsewhere, as the Panthers leaning on Tkachuk and Jones earlier this week made clear. Whether the defense can keep matching the forwards is the open question.
Florida gets its next test Saturday, November 7, when the Panthers visit Washington.
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