The Florida Panthers are in bother, and it’s loopy to assume they aren’t after Wednesday night time. It’s the type of bother they’ve gotten out of in a manner that makes their previous couple of playoff springs so memorable.
It’s bother nonetheless to be down 2-0 after dropping Recreation 2 in Toronto 4-3. That’s two one-goal video games towards Toronto, the sort the Panthers like to play. And so they misplaced the each video games in a fashion that’s both a lesson for them and a credit score to Toronto.
Right here’s the bigger drawback in these two video games: The Panthers haven’t appeared just like the Panthers. Not likely. The always-disciplined Panthers had three first-period penalties in Recreation 2, the ultimate one letting Toronto tie it 1-1.
The defense-first Panthers gave up extra odd-man rushes once more in Recreation 2. You possibly can rely the objectives towards, although. 9 Toronto objectives in two video games isn’t the Panthers Method. Credit score Toronto’s William Nylander, who has three of these objectives.
“It’s important to know your sport,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice mentioned. “We speak about that quite a bit. There’s loads of stuff with our sport that we expect we will enhance on and do extra with. We’ll take a look at it and get higher.”
Possibly most worrisome of all for the Panthers is Matthew Tkachuk doesn’t appear to be Matthew Tkachuk. You possibly can repair the self-discipline and protection. However is Tkachuk wholesome?
He’s been the spirit of the Panthers’ skillfully nasty type the earlier two springs. He’s trying like a man who was out for 2 months with an obvious groin damage and, after a pair good moments towards Tampa Bay, hasn’t been his impactfully ornery self.
“I believed he was good tonight,” Maurice mentioned. “He was producing. That’s what I prefer to see.”
Is Toronto enjoying nicely? Certain, it overcame the lack of beginning goalie Anthony Stolarz in Recreation 2 and opened this Florida protection up with all of the odd-man rushes.
Has Toronto’s house ice meant that a lot? No likelihood. The Panthers simply gained all three video games in Tampa.
Have three lengthy seasons caught as much as the Panthers? That could be at work right here, too. They’ve performed extra hockey than anybody between two journeys to the Stanley Cup Last and eight gamers within the 4-Nations Faceoff event in February.
“I don’t know what to say,” Maurice mentioned. “Seventh sport in about three weeks. It’s half the schedule we’re used to have coming into the playoffs . That’s not a difficulty for us.”
Nonetheless, there’s a tax on all three years of expended emotion and bodily pushing, and perhaps it’s coming due within the micro-differences up to now this collection. The puck battles. The profitable blueprints. And, after all, getting some puck luck with a bounce or rebound.
When Aaron Ekblad fed Anton Lundell early within the third interval to tie the sport at 3-3, it was a second for the Panthers to take the night time and even the collection. You’ve seen them do it sufficient the previous couple of years it appeared like a pure inflection level.
Seventeen seconds later, Toronto’s Mitch Marner threw a shot from the purpose that Sergei Bobrovsky couldn’t see and someway hit the web. Toronto regained its footing in addition to the lead.
Generally a playoff collection is about who will get most to their sport. Toronto has accomplished that the primary two video games.
Recreation 2 was an evening you anticipated the Panthers to take, too. They’d stewed over the Recreation 1 to feed their urgency. They’d heard a pair days’ speak of how they performed soiled after the Stolarz damage.
They confronted backup goalie Joseph Woll, too. Hockey is stuffed with tales of back-up goalies changing into playoff people heroes. Nonetheless, Stolarz led the league in save proportion. Woll was made the backup for a motive this season.
But there was Woll making the save of Toronto’s night time. Some tic-tac-toe passing from Tkachuk to Bennett to Mackie Samoskevich had the Panthers ahead in conjunction with an open web. However it took a break up second to corral the puck on his stick and that was sufficient for Woll to stay his leg out for the save. On such performs nights are gained. And misplaced.
Bobrovsky had his moments. He stopped breakaways of McMann and Nylander. He caught on his proper leg to cease a mis-directed shot when down 4-3 to maintain the night time alive. However that solely underscores all the possibilities Toronto had, lots of them off the type of odd-man rushes the Panthers often stop.
None of this implies they’ll’t come again on this collection. After they got here again from down 3-1 towards a powerhouse Boston two years in the past, nothing is an excessive amount of. Coming house can’t harm. Down 2-0 will make them focus.
They’re in bother. It’s the type of bother they’ll get out of. However to do this the Panthers need to look extra just like the Panthers once more beginning Friday night time in Dawn.
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