When a Toronto columnist inquired about what Evan Rodrigues would have said prior to the Stanley Cup Final if he had known two games in advance that he would be outscoring Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman—who together scored 127 goals in the regular season—he grinned broadly on Monday night.
“It’s pretty cool,” the Florida Panthers forward said, then shifting into wise-veteran mode and showing some humility in not giving the Edmonton Oilers, down 0-2 in the best-of-seven championship series, extra motivation going back home.
“I’m not too worried about the point totals or goals. At the end of the day, we’re looking for wins here and, yeah, that’s all I care about. It’s nice to contribute. It’s nice to contribute to a win.”
Two games into the Final, the 30-year-old Rodrigues is doing more than just outscoring those three talented players 3-0 on the goal blotter. By the same margin, he is scoring more than the 13 forwards for the Oilers who have dressed.
Playing on his fourth team in five years after being undrafted out of Boston University, Rodrigues’ three goals through his first two Cup Final games are tied for the most in NHL history. Rodrigues made Panthers history on Monday night by scoring two goals in the third quarter of the team’s 4-1 victory over Florida. This made him the first player to ever have multiple goals in a Finals game. He has equaled his total from Florida’s 17 games in the first three rounds with three goals in two games this series.
EVAN RODRIGUES GIVES THE PANTHERS THE LEAD 🚀 pic.twitter.com/WoDRxlpFMa
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 11, 2024
After a mistake by Evan Bouchard, Rodrigues scored his first goal three minutes into the third quarter, severing the 1-1 deadlock. It was Rodrigues’ first game-winning goal in his 35 postseason appearances. With his second goal, he ended Edmonton’s 12-game stretch of 34 straight penalty kills.
“So happy for him, proud of him,” said Matthew Tkachuk, whose line Rodrigues joined during the Eastern Conference final series against the New York Rangers. “Playing with him the last few games, he reads the game so well. That’s two games in a row scoring some big goals for us. He’s a super smart player and I’m really happy to see him get rewarded right now.”
Tkachuk thought Rodrigues’s contribution in Game 2 went beyond his objectives. He forechecked, skated with good footwork, and played consistent hockey. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Panthers had more than 70% of the predicted goal share with him on the ice during five-on-five situations.
After graduating from college, Rodrigues signed with the Buffalo Sabres, but it was not until the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired him that he had a breakthrough season. In 2021–2022, the Penguins had to cope with early-season injuries, which gave Rodrigues extra playing time. He took advantage, earning 43 points and a career-high 19 goals. Even so, he was unable to sign a long-term agreement in free agency and accepted a one-year, $2 million contract offer from the Colorado Avalanche, the reigning champions. He averaged a career-high 17:51 of ice time per game when playing in the Avalanche is top six, further demonstrating his value to the team.
“He’s super underrated and can do a lot of different things in a lot of situations,” said Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel, who played with Rodrigues at Boston University and in Buffalo.
“The more opportunity he’s gotten over his career, the better he’s done,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, who credited Rodrigues with being able to play alongside top players. “I think he’s really comfortable in his own skin, knows what his strengths are.”
Yet until this season, Rodrigues was unable to go far in the playoffs. He was on the ice in 2022 when Artemi Panarin’s overtime victory in Game 7 of Round 1 eliminated the Penguins. In the closing seconds of Colorado’s Round 1 Game 7 defeat to Seattle, he was back on the ice the following year.
Prior to joining the Panthers, Rodrigues had never advanced past the first round. He expressed his excitement for the Stanley Cup Final to begin, saying he wishes Game 1 could have begun at 1 p.m.
The longest and most lucrative contract of Rodrigues’ career was signed by Florida general manager Bill Zito last summer. It was a four-year deal with an average annual value of $3 million. He has shown himself to be worthy of the effort. Following a 39-point regular season (his third consecutive season with more than 35), he has contributed six goals and eleven points in 19 postseason games for the Panthers.
“He’s a bit of a chameleon,” said Kyle Okposo, who also played with Rodrigues in Buffalo. “If you look at the teams that he’s played on and who he’s played with, it’s not an easy thing to go play with some of the top players in the world.
“He has a unique confidence about him where at times when guys are playing with those top guys, they just want to give him the puck and get out of their way, and Evan is a guy that he makes a lot of plays and he has the confidence to keep it on a stick and make the right play at the right time. And I think that that’s why he’s had so much success everywhere he’s gone.”
EVAN RODRIGUES AGAIN 😱 pic.twitter.com/PC75upGTco
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 11, 2024
That was the case on Monday night. He began the third period on the second line with Sam Bennett and Tkachuk, but Barkov’s injury midway through the period forced him to go up to the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart.
In brief spurts of play, coach Paul Maurice has stated throughout the postseason that he prefers to play Carter Verhaeghe next to Barkov; nevertheless, these plays typically have an expiration date. During Game 2, Maurice noticed something that led him to give Rodrigues more credit.
Throughout the regular season, Rodrigues embarked on what Maurice referred to as “a globe tour of our lineup.” He was initially in Barkov’s line, but the coach felt that he was, naturally, too submissive to his teammates. He is now got his game together and can contribute wherever Florida is needed.
“It’s something I’ve taken pride in my whole career, being able to play up and down the lineup, power play, penalty kill,” Rodrigues said. “It’s nice to contribute to wins. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who it is. … We’re looking for wins here, and we’re happy with the results.”
Before the season began, Rodrigues witnessed the Avalanche raise their 2022 Stanley Cup banner while he was a member of the squad in 2022–2023. Despite not being a member of the team that won the championship, Rodrigues got chills watching the banner rise into the rafters as tribute videos play.
Thanks in large part to his exploits early in the series, he is now two wins away from another memorable night, one in which he will be included in the festivities.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
