Notebook: Sateri's Star on the Rise; Malgin Fitting In

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -It took less than a week for Harri Sateri to go from earning his first NHL victory to garnering his first accolade, as the 28-year-old rookie was named the NHL's second star of the week on Monday morning.
With both Roberto Luongo and James Reimer nursing injuries, Sateri has been outstanding since being thrust into a starting role, leading the Panthers to a perfect 3-0-0 record this past week behind his 1.67 goals-against average and .946 save percentage.

"There's a lot of firsts for him in the last couple weeks," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said after Monday's practice at the Panthers IceDen. "First win, then he got on his first run, now he's a star of the week. Amazing story for him and well earned."
Sateri was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the fourth round of the 2008 NHL Draft, but had never played a game in the NHL before this season. After spending four seasons in San Jose's minor-league system, he spent three years in the KHL before inking a one-year, two-way contract with the Panthers this summer.
"It's obviously a great thing," Sateri said of his second-star honors. "It's nice to get a little gift from your work and what you've done. But most important is those points that we got as a team. Obviously, the team helped me a lot for this, too."
Sateri also had another reason to smile on Monday, as Reimer returned to practice for the first time since pulling his groin on Jan. 23 in Dallas. A friend and mentor, Reimer has spent his time on injured reserve helping Sateri by going over details with him immediately after games.
"Reim's is a great guy," Sateri said. "He's been helping a lot. It's great to see him back on the ice."
Boughner said Reimer won't be in the lineup against Vancouver tomorrow, but could be cleared to return to the lineup when Los Angeles visits BB&T Center on Saturday. Luongo, meanwhile, faced shots from a trio of teammates after practice, but has still not participated in a full practice since suffering a lower-body injury on Dec. 4.
"It's Harri's net right now," Boughner said. "I think that he's done a great job in the last few games and we want to let him run with that. At some point, there's going to have to be a decision made and when our guys get back healthy, obviously. Harri's done a great job in replacing those guys, but nothing changes. Louie is our one and Reims is our two. Kudos to Harri for doing the job he's done."
Sateri will look to make it four wins in a row when the Canucks visit Sunrise on Tuesday.
"The game's have given me confidence," Sateri said. "It's a great situation."

MALGIN FITTING IN

Denis Malgin swears that it's not what it looks like.
After Jonathan Huberdeau scored with 8.9 seconds left to lift the Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, Malgin tackled him to the ice and, despite a few precarious pictures circulating around the internet, that's all that happened.
"I was so happy we scored," Malgin said. "I just pushed him to the ice and I was just screaming. I was just screaming at him. It looked like I kissed him, but I was just screaming." Huberdeau, however, isn't so sure. "He tried to kiss me," he said, chuckling. "You saw the picture. It's funny."

Whether or not the two teammates got a little bit closer than expected, there's no question that Huberdeau and Malgin have shown good chemistry since being deployed together on Florida's revamped second line with center Vincent Trocheck.
Malgin, who turned 21 on Jan. 18, has scored three goals in four games since the pairing came together on Jan. 25 against Washington. Of those three, two have been assisted by Huberdeau, who has recorded five points (2-3-5) during the same span.
"I always knew he was a good player," Huberdeau said. "He's a small player, but he's not scared to go into the corner. He's a skilled player. He has good vision. I like playing with players like that. They find you and create some offensive chances. That's what we've been doing with our line. Of course, Malgy's also a goal scorer. If you give him the puck, he's not going to miss."
The 5-foot-9 forward also isn't afraid to throw the body.
"Why not? I can still hit the guys," said Malgin, who despite being the smallest player on Florida's roster has the fifth-most hits on the team over the past four games. "I try first to separate them from the puck. That's my goal."
In the midst of his second season with Panthers, Malgin, a fourth-round pick in 2015, has already set new career highs in goals (8) and points (12), numbers that will likely continue to rise quickly if his new, successful line can stick.
"Right now, I think I have good confidence," Malgin said. "I'm trying to get better every game and just score more goals."

MONDAY'S PRACTICE LINES

Evgenii Dadonov - Aleksander Barkov - Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau - Vincent Trocheck - Denis Malgin
Jamie McGinn - Jared McCann - Maxim Mamin
Micheal Haley - Derek MacKenzie - Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle - Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson - Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar - Alexander Petrovic
Harri Sateri
Samuel Montembeault