How Evan Rodrigues has elevated the Panthers’ third line — just in time for the playoffs

The play started behind the Florida Panthers’ net, with Evan Rodrigues digging the puck out of the corner and sliding it around the bank to Eetu Luostarinen.

Luostarinen then flicked the puck all the way toward center ice, where Rodrigues was charging down the left flank for a potential breakaway with Anton Lundell. As he corralled the puck, Rodrigues surged past his defender as he found his way into the offensive zone. Rodrigues slowed down as he entered the left circle and saw two defenders crashing toward him. He slid a pass to Lundell, who quickly sent the puck back to Rodrigues for a backdoor wrist shot and a goal.

“All of us work hard,” Rodrigues said. “All of us are smart. As long as we don’t get too cute with the puck and turn it over, we usually have success when we get in the O-zone. We’ve done a good job of finding open areas and being able to find each other.”

This sequence from late in the second period of the Panthers’ 4-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday was a shining example of that — and a shining example of the impact Rodrigues has brought to Florida’s third line.

Lundell and Luostarinen have played together all season. Rodrigues, however, has seen his role change several times throughout his first season with the Panthers after signing a four-year, $12 million deal with the club this offseason.

With the Panthers wrapping up the regular season and the playoffs on the horizon, Rodrigues appears to have found a home on the right wing of Florida’s third line with Luostarinen on the left wing and Lundell at center.

It’s a line Panthers coach Paul Maurice toyed with a few times early in the season but has steadily rolled out since the NHL trade deadline when the Panthers acquired Vladimir Tarasenko, who has joined Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart on the top line — a spot Rodrigues has also occupied at times this season.

“Anton Lundell made a comment a few months back that he liked when Evan played on that line, and you can tell they like playing with each other,” Maurice said. “They’ve each got a little something different. They’re on the puck. They generate and they’re just starting to get used to each other.”

The numbers back that up.

In about 203 minutes of ice time together at 5-on-5 this season entering Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, the Luostarinen-Lundell-Rodrgiues line has outscored opponents 10-1 while controlling 61.56 percent of shot attempts. They have produced a 128-71 edge in shots on goal and 103-60 advantage in scoring chances (including 44-24 in high-danger chances). The one goal allowed comes despite the fact that opponents’ expected goals for against the trio is 5.98.

Those numbers since the trade deadline, in about 70 minutes of game action together: Outscoring opponents 3-0, controlling 62.42 percent of shot attempts, 48-21 edge in shots on goal and a 36-16 advantage in scoring chances (including 18-6 in high-danger chances).

“I thought our line’s been been really good as of late,” Rodrigues said. “We’re not giving up much and as long as we play a smart, simple game I think we’ll continue to have success.”

Rodrigues has had success just about wherever Maurice has put him this season.

He enters Saturday with 12 goals, a career-high 27 assists and 39 points (four shy of a career high). He has a plus-minus rating of plus-27, meaning the Panthers are outscoring opponents by 27 goals when he’s on the ice at even strength.

“The base with Evan is speed,” Maurice said. “He’s quick and gets into holes and he can create. He plays a real smart game on his off side, but I like him on the right side — his natural side — the best because he can make that inside play and he can get up the ice faster.”

He began the year on the top line with Barkov and Reinhart, and the trio found some instant chemistry.

But as the season progressed and Maurice tinkered with his forward lines — sometimes out of necessity due to injuries, sometimes out of curiosity to see what groupings might work — Rodrigues became one of the primary forwards to bounce around. His ability to adapt on the fly to new linemates and versatility to play on either wing gave Maurice options.

“I’ve kind of done in my whole career,” Rodrigues said. “It’s one of the keys to my game and something I’ve always relished, being able to adapt to different linemates and play different styles. It’s something that I feel like I’m good at.”

That has led Rodrigues to the third line with Lundell and Luostarinen.

“He’s a great player and I feel like we read each other very well,” Lundell said. “We’re similar players. We both want to find a good pass and want to play the give-and-go. Overall, we love to talk a lot about hockey. We’re trying to build our game all the time with small stuff that can help us and our whole line.”