Sam Bennett ‘excited’ to face former team as Florida Panthers start five-game road trip

Sam Bennett has played his share of games at the Scotiabank Saddledome, home of the Calgary Flames.

Tuesday will be the first time he does so as a visitor.

The 25-year-old center is making his return to his former home arena when the Florida Panthers face the Flames, a little more than nine months after Calgary traded Bennett to Florida. Puck drop is set for 9 p.m. It’s the first game of a five-game road trip for the Panthers that also includes stops against the Edmonton Oilers (Thursday, 9 p.m.), Vancouver Canucks (Friday, 10 p.m.), Seattle Kraken (Sunday, 9 p.m.) and Winnipeg Jets (Jan. 25, 8 p.m.)

“It’s gonna be weird,” Bennett said Friday. “It’s gonna be a little different for me but really excited just to be back in that building. It’s gonna be weird playing them for the first time, but the game I’m really excited for and I’m just looking forward to that.”

This is Bennett’s first time facing the team that selected him fourth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft. Bennett was serving the first game of a three-game suspension when the Panthers beat Calgary 6-2 on Jan. 4 at FLA Live Arena.

So Bennett’s first matchup with his former team instead comes at the venue where he has played 197 of his 441 career NHL games.

It also comes with an uptick in Bennett’s performance on the ice. When Calgary traded him to Florida, Bennett called his move to the Panthers a chance for a “new fresh start and a fresh opportunity.” In 402 games for Calgary, Bennett has scored 67 goals and had just 140 total points.

“Obviously, my career hasn’t gone the way I expected and I think I have a lot more to prove, and I have a lot more to give,” Bennett said then.

He has certainly made the most of his time with the Panthers. He has 21 goals and 38 points through 39 regular-season games with Florida, 10 at the end of the 2020-2021 season following the trade and 23 through 29 games this season.

Bennett has scored six goals during his past four games and has points in five of six contests he has played in since the Panthers returned from a nearly two-week break of games. He is now in a three-way tie for second place on the team with 15 goals, a mark that matches Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov and trails only Anthony Duclair (16).

Bennett recorded his second hat trick of the season in Florida’s 7-1 rout of the Dallas Stars on Friday.

“He’s been awesome,” said Duclair, who is the right wing on Florida’s second line that includes Bennett at center and Huberdeau at left wing. “Every time he’s in the lineup — if he’s not suspended — he’s a threat. He’s obviously a big part of our team and when he gets rolling like that and he’s confident, he’s as good as anyone.”

That can be said for Florida’s second line as a whole. Bennett, Huberdeau and Duclair have a combined 46 goals — almost 30 percent of the Panthers’ 157 goals this season. In nearly 83 minutes on the ice together in 5-on-5 situations this season, the Panthers are outscoring opponents 12-1 and have a 63-45 edge in scoring chances (including a 32-26 advantage in high-danger chances).

It’s a fun brand of hockey to play, Bennett said.

And he hopes it continues as he faces off against his former team.

“Any time you can generate some personal success and help the team win, it’s a great feeling,” Bennett said. “I’m enjoying my time in South Florida, that’s for sure.”