There are times when Mackie Samoskevich still has to pinch himself when he thinks about where he is right now. At this time a year ago, he was on the tail end of his first full season of professional hockey with the Charlotte Checkers,

The Florida Panthers have to love what they see in Mackie Samoskevich lately. Well, all season, actually. Since moving him to the top power-play unit, Samoskevich has unleashed what the Panthers have been anticipating.

Samoskevich notched a power-play assist, took two shots on net and had five hits in Monday's 2-1 win against the Lightning. Samoskevich made the primary pass to linemate Aleksander Barkov on a power-play tally in the second period.

Florida wasted no time opening the scoring. On the power play, a severe defensive breakdown by the Predators left Sam Reinhart and Bennett alone in front of the Predators’ Juuse Saros (21 saves); Reinhart dropped the puck for Bennett to easily bury 1:23 into the contest.

Mackie Samoskevich scored with 3:52 left to seal the win, Florida's eighth in 10 games heading into a Monday showdown with Tampa Bay. The Lightning topped Washington 3-1 on Saturday for their ...