Q&A: Huberdeau Reflects on Opening Night Win

SUNRISE, Fla. - Jonathan Huberdeau picked up right where he left off in the scoring department.
After leading the Panthers with 78 points (23 goals, 55 assists) in 69 games last season, the 26-year-old winger was back to his old - and very effective - tricks in Sunday's home opener at BB&T Center, leading the team with three points (one goal, two assists) during a thrilling 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
When asked about Huberdeau's performance, Joel Quenneville said he's "got the knack" on the offense.

"He made a couple nifty plays there, a couple important goals as we went along there," the Panthers head coach said. "As far as when he has the puck, not too many guys in the league have that playmaking ability in a tight area, with people on him and through sticks and skates. Whether it's 5-on-5 or on the power play, he has tremendous patience and play recognition. Usually something big develops out of it."
With the Panthers going for a sweep of their two-game series with Chicago on Tuesday, Huberdeau hopped on the phone with FloridaPanthers.com's Jameson Olive to talk about the team's good start, playing in front of fans, how he expects players will kill time on their upcoming road trip and more.
OLIVE: After an incredibly long and unusual offseason, how did it feel to get back on the ice last night?
HUBERDEAU: It was good. A little rusty myself with it obviously being our first game and stuff. It was good to get a nice win and I thought overall we had a good game as a team. We obviously have a lot of new faces and stuff. I like the atmosphere and I like our group. It's going to be a great year. We were fortunate to get a win in our first game and now we just have to focus on our next one.
OLIVE: You mentioned there being some rust, which is understandable after so much time off. Was there one point during the game when you started to feel like you really had your legs back?
HUBERDEAU:Yeah, but it wasn't so much the legs. It was more control of the puck and stuff. For the first game, you can't panic. Personally, I have to be way better. I think it's just going to come along. Overall, it's just a focus of winning every game. That's what I want to do.
OLIVE: On a personal level, how did it feel to get your first goal out of season out of the way?
HUBERDEAU: Yeah, it was nice. It felt good to get the first one out of the way. It felt good to be back. Obviously, the points were coming, but I've got to be way better. I've just got to keep things simple for the first half of the season and then keep going.

OLIVE: Patric Hornqvist made a nice play on your goal to get the puck to Aleksander Barkov, who then set you up for the score on the power play. Playing on a line with Hornqvist early on, what stands out about him on the ice and in the locker room?
HUBERDEAU:He's really good. I've never seen a guy work this hard. He's a vocal guy. I think he's a guy that will go get the puck and, like you said, on that goal he worked so hard to go get that puck and give it to Barky. After that, Barky made a nice play. He's the kind of guy that's going to work really hard, go get some pucks. As a net-front guy, he's really good. He's going to tip every puck. He's just a great asset to our team.
OLIVE: Hornqvist is one of several players that general manager Bill Zito brought in during the offseason. With so many new faces, do you already feel some chemistry developing early on?
HUBERDEAU: Yeah. It's been good. We want to change the culture and be more confident. I felt that's what we were yesterday.
OLIVE: The Panthers are one of only a few teams beginning this season with fans in the stands. As a player, how much of a boost did you get having the home crowd cheer you on last night?
HUBERDEAU: We were talking about that after the game. It's so nice. Even if it's only 4,000, it's so nice just to get some fans. It changes the atmosphere. It's nice to score goals and see people in the stands. It won't be that often that we'll have them, so I think we're fortunate to have some fans at home.
OLIVE: After the home opener, I saw some fans on social media talking about how your three-point game helped them win their fantasy hockey matchup. As you've started to really rack up big numbers over the past few seasons, have you started to notice fans talking to you more about things like that?
HUBERDEAU: It's more my buddies back home [laughs]. They do fantasy and now I'm getting picked a little earlier than usual. Obviously, it's fun. A lot of my buddies talk to me about that more now. On social media, I see I've been getting some more tags about that. I don't really focus on that though. I just try to do my part. I guess if I'm helping in fantasy that means that I'm helping the team, too.
OLIVE: Following Tuesday's game against the Blackhawks you'll hit the road for a six-game game road trip. How excited are you to hop on the plane and head out of town for the first time this season?
HUBERDEAU: It's going to be good. We're going to focus on Tuesday, play well and then go on our first road trip. We're going to take it one game at a time and try to win every time.
OLIVE: With all of the added safety precautions being taken due to COVID-19, I imagine you guys will be spending even more time in your hotel rooms than usual while on the road. How do you imagine you'll spend your downtime?
HUBERDEAU:I think we're going to be bringing our gaming consoles [laughs]. Mostly, you're not going to be able to do a lot of things. The protocols are there to keep us safe, and if we want to play we have to respect that. It's good. We'll probably stay in the room, game a little bit and just relax. We're going to be playing a lot of games in a short period of time, so being able to just get some rest will be important.
OLIVE: As we're having this conversation, the Panthers just announced the dates that you guys will be wearing your new "Reverse Retro" jerseys this season. Given that you entered the NHL in 2012-13 with that old leaping panther logo, how excited are you to turn back the clock and wear it again?
HUBERDEAU: It's going to be a lot fun. I really like our jersey and I'm excited to wear it. I like that old logo. It's going to be fun to get back out there and wear it again.