The Panthers keep finding out-of-nowhere contributors. Lucas Carlsson is the latest

The Florida Panthers were waiting for a week like this one for Lucas Carlsson because they knew he was capable of it. It turns out, all he needed was an opportunity.

When the Panthers needed a jolt for one of their patented comebacks Thursday, Carlsson gave them one when he fired a slap shot from the point and scored the first goal in their come-from-behind win against the Buffalo Sabres.

Two days later, he was in the middle of another comeback, too. Two days after he put together his first ever two-point game against the Sabres, Carlsson put together another one to help lead a 4-3, shootout win Saturday against the St. Louis Blues.

“He looked fantastic out there,” star defenseman Aaron Ekblad said Thursday.

“He’s been great,” fellow defenseman MacKenzie Weegar added Friday.

“He’s kind of taken the ball,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said Thursday, “and he’s not letting it go.”

Carlsson entered the week with just three NHL points in his career. In the last two games, he has accounted for four, including his first NHL goal Thursday.

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His role has grown massively for Florida (17-4-3) in the week since fellow defenseman Gustav Forsling went on injured reserve and Carlsson is doing the best impression he can of his fellow Swede.

He has been a willing shooter — with at least two shots on goal in each of the last six games he has played — and, at times, a legitimate offensive engine.

In the first period Saturday, Forsling led the rush and drew four Blues skaters toward him as he raced toward the net. St. Louis knocked him off the puck, but no one was there to cover forward Maxim Mamin, who gathered the loose puck and scored a game-tying goal without any defensemen near him.

In the nine games he has played this year, the Panthers have significantly outplayed opponents when Carlsson has been on the ice, to an extent they weren’t even with Forsling. While Carlsson has been on the ice for 5-on-5 action this year, Florida has a 161-72 edge in shot attempts and a 96-42 advantage in scoring chances.

“I think I’m creating some chances offensively and that’s why I’m here,” he said Thursday. “I’m an offensive player, so that’s what I need to do to be successful.”

It has been the latest off-the-radar, out-of-nowhere find for second-year general manager Bill Zito.

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Carlsson was a fourth-round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and came to the United States in 2018 on a three-year, entry-level deal with the Blackhawks. He spent his first three years mostly playing in the American Hockey League with a handful of NHL stints before Florida landed him as part of a five-player trade in April. Carlsson never played for the Panthers last year, but they’ve needed him this season.

At the start of the year, Florida had three defensive pairings it felt good about with Ekblad-Weegar as the top grouping, Radko Gudas-Forsling as the second and Brandon Montour-Markus Nutivaara as the third. Nutivaara, though, only played in one game before a lower-body injury knocked him out for at least the rest of the regular season, turning the final defenseman spot into an open competition.

Kevin Connaughton got the first crack and fellow defenseman Matt Kiersted got a look, too. When Forsling went on IR last weekend, it created a need for two reserve defensemen to log big minutes and Carlsson has given the Panthers what they usually look for.

Florida’s top-10 defense is largely a product of their offense, which controls possession to limit opposing scoring chances, and their emphasis on speed to win in the neutral zone.

It’s what has made Forsling — a speedy, offensive-minded defenseman — such a good fit with the Panthers and it’s why Florida has been waiting for this turn from Carlsson, too.

“Him playing with confidence is exactly what we need,” Ekblad said, “especially with Gus out.”