The Panthers face another must-win Friday. Here’s why they think they’ve turned a corner
There were always moments in the Florida Panthers’ first two games against the New York Islanders in the qualifying round they could treat as positive signs for the future.
There was the second period of Game 1, when the Panthers dominated possession and the shots battle. In Game 2, Florida actually started strong and even took a lead deep into the second period.
For two games, those positive signs didn’t actually yield anything. The Panthers never led in Game 1 and blew their lead in the second period of Game 2. They crashed into an often-insurmountable two-game deficit in the best-of-5 series.
“In this series, we’ve been very good in a lot of ways,” coach Joel Quenneville said, “but learning how to win is an acquired taste.”
They took their first step toward climbing out of their hole Wednesday, when they played their best game of the qualifying round and beat the Islanders, 3-2, in Toronto. It was encouraging not just because it was a victory in a must-win situation, but also because it was a complete effort.
This time, Florida never trailed. This time, it responded with a goal after New York tied the game in the second period. The still-young Panthers finally figured out what it takes to win in the postseason and there’s a renewed confidence as Florida prepares for another must-win situation in Game 4 against the Islanders at noon on Friday at Scotiabank Arena.
“Playoff hockey is new right now for some of these guys and it’s nerve-wracking,” center Noel Acciari said. “Once we got the confidence as a team where we knew we could play our game, I thought we responded well.”
Ever since they arrived in Ontario to play games inside one of the NHL’s COVID-19 “secure zones” for the expanded postseason, the Panthers have improved. Their lone tune-up, an exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Lightning last week, was a disaster. Game 1 against New York on Saturday was mostly uninspiring and it took Florida five periods of hockey in Canada to finally score. In Game 2, the defensive-minded Islanders managed to outshoot the Panthers as Florida spent more than 10 minutes playing shorthanded.
The Panthers want a high-scoring game with lots of offensive opportunities. The Islanders want to keep the scoring down and clog up the center of the ice to slow the pace. For the first two games, playing from behind and committing too many penalties forced Florida to play New York’s game.
On Wednesday, the Panthers still mostly played the Islanders style, they just beat New York at its game. Florida won the penalty battle and scored first in the second period. Even though shots were ultimately even at 22-22, the Panthers scored twice on the power play and created the better chances, while also blocking more shots and winning the possession battle.
Florida blended what it did best in the regular season, when it had one of the top five offenses in the NHL, with the identity Quenneville knows is needed in the postseason to get its first playoff win since 2016.
“Playoff hockey — you’ve got to take on a tone of a defensive type of mindset. A commitment to play without the puck and simplicity sometimes put you in the right fashion,” Quenneville said. “We’ve got some lessons over the course of the season of playing a run-and-gun game and late before we stopped playing there, we started playing a game that was, Let’s just play a simpler game.
“We had better results when we do that type of game and against the Islanders — they’re a team that that’s the way you’ve got to play if you want to be successful.”
If the Panthers truly learned their lesson from the first two games and can implement what they’ve gathered, they’ll have a chance to reach the traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs for just the fifth time in franchise history.
They’re playing with no margin for error now, though, and All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau’s status is in question for Game 4. Even if Florida wins Game 4, it’ll stare down another must-win in Game 5 on Sunday.
The short series meant the Panthers fell to the brink of elimination quickly. It means they can climb back into contention quickly, too.
“We’re trying not to get too high or too low. Obviously, going down 2-0 is heartbreaking at times, but, at the end of the day, we’re going to take it one game at a time,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said Wednesday. “That’s the only way. You can’t really dwell on what happened in those first games. You have to move forward and we did.”
