Lundell has ‘just gotten better each year’ for Panthers 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Anton Lundell has gained a lot of experience in a short amount of time for the Florida Panthers. The 23-year-old center has already played 76 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

“Going three times in a row to the Final, I know it's not normal,” Lundell said. “It's not many teams that have done that. At the same time, you try to enjoy it. You try to kind of soak in everything around here.

“But at the end of the day, it's hockey. That's what I love to do, and that's what we're here to do. We just try to execute as good as we can our game on the ice and try to have fun.”

Lundell’s love for the game shows on the ice. He played a key role last season when the Panthers won the Stanley Cup for the first time in their history, and he’s doing so again this season.

The Panthers can repeat as champions in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Florida has a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series after a 5-2 victory in Game 5 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday.

Lundell’s 45 points (12 goals, 33 assists) in 76 playoff games with the Panthers includes 17 (six goals, 11 assists) in 22 games this postseason. He had 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 24 playoff games a year ago.

He’s on a four-game point streak (five points; one goal, four assists) entering Tuesday and was named the player of Game 5 by his teammates.

“Obviously I’m happy, but I feel like we have some pretty good guys here,” Lundell said. “Every single one is important, and we have a lot of guys stepping in and out of the lineup and everyone is working hard every day. So, it’s amazing to see how hard we work as a team. We really give everything every day.”

Lundell has been part of a third line that includes left wing Eetu Luostarinen and right wing Brad Marchand, who scored twice Saturday and has six goals in the Cup Final. Lundell had the lone assist on Marchand’s first goal in Game 5 at 9:12 of the first period.

“He’s an incredible player; very good 200-foot guy,” Marchand said. “He competes all over the ice, shows up in big moments. That’s one of the biggest things about him that I love -- he shows up in big moments.

“He competes hard. He’s a great person (and) very talented. He’s kind of hidden a little bit in this lineup because there’s so much depth. He’s a top-line guy all day and (we’re) just very fortunate to have him playing where he is. He’s a great player and there are not enough good things to say about him.”

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Lundell’s foundation is a version of captain Aleksander Barkov, their top-line center who has won the Selke Trophy three times as the League’s top defensive forward, including the past two.

“He doesn’t cheat the game; he stays on the right side of it,” Maurice said. “There’s an enticement to young players to produce offense. There’s a big one in all sports and almost at potentially the detriment to the team.

“To Anton’s credit, he joins this team when it’s just arching up into hitting its prime and there are a lot of places for offense. Everybody’s scoring, I don’t know what the number is, but they led the League by a bunch. But he never continued that path. He was more than willing to grind and then he’s just gotten better each year.”

Bill Zito was hired as Florida’s general manager on Sept. 2, 2020. The Panthers selected Lundell in the first round (No. 12) of the NHL Draft one month later.

“Before I came for the first training camp (Zito) said, ‘Wait until you see this kid, he's going to be great. It just takes some patience to let him develop his game,’” Maurice said. “Anton Lundell is a Bill Zito draft, and he was his champion for the last two and a half years and he was right.”

What Zito saw was how Lundell fared with HIFK of Helsinki, the top professional men’s league in Finland. Lundell managed to hone his craft while being one of the team’s leaders.

“He wore a letter in IFK Helsinki, which is the New York Yankees of the Finnish league, at 19,” Zito said. “So, he was already sort of in that big stage. He played a very high level of hockey, and he was bestowed a pretty significant amount of leadership at a young age. Then, before he came, he was already drafted (by us), but he’s on team Finland in the (IIHF) World Championship as a 19-year-old and with a significant role on the team.

“So, I know the NHL is a different thing, but if you look at the evolution of his career, he’s managed to step up in pressure, tight situations.”

Lundell and the Panthers are on the cusp of winning a second Stanley Cup championship. It’s a big-time moment, a pressure moment. They know the Oilers are going to be fighting to stay alive, much like they did in last year’s Cup Final when they came back from a 3-0 series deficit and forced Game 7.

But Lundell has handled these moments well throughout his young career.

“I feel like last year we learned a lot,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is to stay in the moment, not think too much ahead or think behind.

“So, stay in the moment, rest and prepare for a new game because we know it’s the hardest one.”