Panthers have struck back, but can they carry the momentum further?
SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers are coming off Thursday’s 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, and a dramatic, comeback win can do a lot to swing the momentum of a series, which stands at 2-1 going into Game 4 at home on Saturday.
However, through two games, Vegas was rolling, even knocking Conn Smythe Trophy contender Sergei Bobrovsky out of the game on Monday.
History is on the Golden Knights’ side, too. Teams in the Stanley Cup Final that go up 2-0 in a series end up winning the series 90.6% (48-5) of the time. And when the home team wins its first two games, that record rises to 92.7% (38-3).
But the way these playoffs have gone for the Panthers, it makes no sense to count them out. So many people did when the Panthers were down 3-1 in the opening series against the Boston Bruins before the momentum shifted.
“Emotionally, supercharged, momentum (is) for sure a little bit there with us,” center Eric Staal said Friday. “But also, it’s a reset. We get today to recover and get our minds right for tomorrow, because nothing else matters behind tomorrow when we start the game.”
Florida certainly didn’t sprint its way to victory in Game 3. It was a drag into the muck without a high volume of shots hitting either net until Matthew Tkachuk tied it late and Carter Verhaeghe ended it in overtime.
The Panthers also toned down the physicality, straying away from throwing their bodies around like rag dolls, which they did at times in Games 1 and 2.
“I thought last night we did a lot better job maybe having our stick on the puck a little bit more and maybe not going out of our way to get a hit,” center Nick Cousins said. “I think when you do that, you have more energy to create offense.”
The Panthers will need to shore up their special teams to even the series at 2. Vegas has scored two power-play goes in each of the series’ first three games, converting at a 35.3% rate. That’s 3% higher than Edmonton’s historically good power play during the regular season.
Meanwhile, Florida’s power play is 0-12 in the series, as the Vegas defense has packed it in tightly and laid its bodies out for numerous blocked shots.
“Special teams are so important,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “We saw what we could do there in the third period and overtime with the PK. And the power play obviously is rolling right now in terms of building momentum for us, even if we don’t score.”
Added Panthers coach Paul Maurice: “It’s also our history in the playoffs that our power play has taken two or three games to make the adjustments we need to make, because we’re seeing such extremes — differences in styles. From Carolina to Vegas is opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of pressure and opportunities.”
Maurice isn’t wrong.
In the Boston series, Florida didn’t score its first power-play goal until the third period of Game 4, an 0-11 start. In the Toronto series, the Panthers scored their first power-play goal in Game 3, although they only had one chance in each of the first two games. And against Carolina, the Panthers power play went 0-3 in Game 1 before finding a way to click and score a power-play goal in three consecutive games en route to the sweep.
For what it’s worth, Maurice said he counts Tkachuk’s equalizer last night as a power-play goal, since it was scored at 6-on-5, when Bobrovsky was pulled for an extra attacker. But, the box score won’t read it that way.
Regardless, the Panthers have scratched and clawed their way back into the series. Saturday will tell if they’ve captured any serious momentum to force a Game 6.
“We got some real key saves at key times by (Bobrovsky),” Cousins said. “Now we have a chance to go out in Game 4, tie the series up and head back to Vegas, and our group’s really excited about that.”
