Panthers drop playoff opener after slow start. Takeaways from a rocky performance
Everything the Florida Panthers spent the last week worrying about — the slow starts, the early deficits, the defensive mistakes — was playing out in real time Saturday.
The Panthers knew exactly what the New York Islanders were going to try to do in the first game of their qualifying series for the Stanley Cup playoffs in Toronto and, because it’s a five-game series, they worried about how one game might shift the balance of their postseason hopes.
Now Florida is running out of wiggle room. The slow start — exactly what they worried about — doomed the Panthers in Game 1 of a best-of-5 game series at Scotiabank Arena. The offense took too long to find any rhythm, the defense made a few too many mistakes and Florida is now two games from elimination following a 2-1 loss to the Islanders in Ontario.
“It was kind of like what we expected,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “It’s going to be tight — not a lot of scoring chances, although there might’ve been more than we anticipated both ways, but you’ve got to expect a low-scoring game and be patient and find a way to fight through it.”
The Islanders took an early lead with a goal midway through the first period, then added a second on a power play early in the second period. With a 2-0 lead, New York could play the way it wanted the rest of the way, even after Jonathan Huberdeau scored in the opening seconds of the third period. The Islanders spent almost the entire game playing with the lead and they’re at their best when they can.
Florida gifted New York this opportunity with the way it played across the first 10 minutes. Less than 90 seconds into the game, the two teams went to 4-on-4 action because of a pair of penalties. About a minute later, the Panthers faced a 4-on-3 penalty-kill situation. Less than 30 seconds after it finished killing off the second penalty, Florida went on the penalty kill again.
Florida spent four of the game’s first 7:12 playing short-handed and it kept the Panthers playing almost entirely in their offensive zone. Florida didn’t put its first shot on goal until 9:20 remained in the first period. The Islanders were outshooting the Panthers, 7-0. When New York center Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the first goal of the game with eight minutes left in the first period, Florida had only put two shots on net. By the time they figured out how to play the Islanders, the Panthers were already playing from behind.
“It takes a little momentum off,” center Aleksander Barkov said of the penalties. “A bunch of guys could not go on the ice and sit on the bench for a while. It’s tough to get back in the game when half of the guys are playing, half of the guys are not. Penalties — we’ve got to be better with that.”
Now, Florida has to win three of its next four to advance into the traditional 16-team postseason. A shot to bounce back will come Tuesday in Canada.
The good: They got better
When the Panthers gathered in their locker room for the second intermission, the deficit had swelled to two. New York finally capitalized on its third power play in the second period when forward Anthony Beauvillier beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a slap shot.
Florida came to an obvious consensus: The Panthers needed to get the first goal of the third period, ideally quickly.
It took all of 22 seconds for Huberdeau to deliver.
The newly reunited top line of Huberdeau, Barkov and winger Evgenii Dadonov started on the ice, and set up a rush from behind its own net. Huberdeau streaked up the left side of the ice and passed to Barkov as he entered the zone. The center tapped a pass back to MacKenzie Weegar while Huberdeau sneaked behind the defense and the defenseman found Huberdeau on the left side of the net. The All-Star left wing beat goaltender Semyon Varlamov for Florida’s first goal of the expanded postseason.
“After that, I think we pushed really hard,” Huberdeau said. “We just didn’t find the back of the net, but I thought the third was good. Second half of the game we were a good team.”
Even after the disastrous first 10 minutes, Florida ultimately matched the Islanders with 28 shots on goal. In the second period, the Panthers outshot New York, 14-7.
The bad: Playing Islanders’ pace
The Islanders, however, are comfortable getting outshot.
Florida and New York present a series of contrasts. The Panthers boast one of the most prolific offenses in the postseason. The Islanders have one of the worst. New York has a top-five defense. Florida has the worst defense of anyone still playing.
The Islanders are patient on offense, content to pass a lot and only pounce when the opportunity presents itself, either through a counterattack or an opponent’s mistake. The Panthers want to shoot a lot — and, ideally, score a lot — to make up for its porous defense. In the series opener, New York forced Florida to play its style.
Bobrovsky summed it up perfectly: “2-1 is their score.”
The Islanders committed to a persistent forecheck and it took the Panthers more than half a period to solve it. With eight minutes left in the period, Riley Stillman tried to chase down a puck deep Florida’s zone, but New York winger Tom Kuhnhackel pressured the defenseman and knocked him off the puck. Islanders forward Derek Brassard gathered the loose puck and centered a pass to Pageau, who slipped past the Panthers defense and knocked in the opening goal.
Florida’s defense was OK and Bobrovsky was excellent with 26 saves, but all New York wants is one or two mistakes to pounce on. In Game 1, it was one botched clear and one penalty, and an uphill climb the Panthers couldn’t manage.
In the regular season, Florida lost to the Islanders three times by a single goal. The margin has been slim all along, but the Panthers are running out of time to close it.
“You’ve got to expect a low-scoring game and be patient, and find a way to fight through it,” Quenneville said. “We did what we wanted to do in a lot of ways, but, hey, we’re in a tough spot. Let’s be excited about going into the next game.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2020 at 6:40 PM.
