Florida Panthers rise to occasion in ‘measuring-stick game’ against league-best Bruins
The Florida Panthers, stuck at .500 almost a quarter of the way into the 2022-23 NHL season, don’t believe they’re as bad as their mediocre record indicates.
Their 5-2 win against the league-leading Boston Bruins on Wednesday in Sunrise might have been proof.
Matthew Tkachuk called it a “measuring-stick game” for the Panthers and the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners certainly measured up. Florida handed the Bruins only their third loss of the season, their first since Nov. 5 and their most lopsided defeat of the year so far. The Panthers scored three times on the power play, only gave up goals on 5-on-3s and outscored the Bruins, 1-0, in 5-on-5 play.
It was as emphatic a victory has Florida has had so far in this often-frustrating season.
“A win against a team that’s as hot as they are,” coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday, “goes a long way.”
The Panthers (10-8-2) never trailed and only allowed 11 5-on-5 scoring chances in the last two periods to snap a three-game losing streak, and win for only the second time in six games.
It was also the first time in the last six games Florida got outshot by its opponent and, based on expected goals, the Panthers probably should have lost. Boston piled up 39 shots, 33 scoring chances and 17 high-danger chances, yet goaltender Spencer Knight turned aside nearly every one of them and Florida won by scoring more efficiently than it has all season, shooting 17.3 percent — a season-best.
Part of it is some “puck luck” finally breaking the Panthers way, as star defenseman Aaron Ekblad admitted. More so, it was Florida playing the style it believes will work.
All three of the Panthers’ power-play goals came at the net, with two on tip-ins. A fourth came off an aggressive forecheck by forward Sam Reinhart and the type of pretty passing play this skilled team knows it can execute. An empty-net goal by Ekblad with 2:10 left locked up Florida’s win at FLA Live Arena.
Ultimately, there was only so much luck — the Bruins’ expected goals finished at 3.53 and the Panthers’ at 3.34, indicating a relatively even game — and Florida triumphed by winning the key moments of the game.
“We needed some wins because we’ve been outshooting opponents and playing really well, but just not getting the wins,” star center Aleksander Barkov said Wednesday. “Today, I think we deserved the win.”
It started with the effort on special teams. The Panthers went 3 for 7 on the power play and Boston went 2 for 6, but both of its goals came on 5-on-3s, which were immediately followed by close to four minutes of additional power-play time because of double minor penalties; Florida killed off the extended power play both times.
The Panthers also got stronger as the game went on. The Bruins outshot Florida, 19-9, in the first period and the Panthers responded by matching Boston in shots 20-20 the rest of the way, despite playing with a multi-goal lead for the entire third period. The first period wasn’t even so bad, Tkachuk and Ekblad both argued, and Florida got out of it tied 1-1.
“They’re probably the best team in the league so far at the start of the season, so it definitely felt good to play solid, especially kind of the way we did it, too,” Tkachuk said, “giving one up late in the first, and coming out in the second and getting a big enough lead where you just play smart in the third.”
Now, the Panthers will try to build off it. They’ll wrap up a quick two-game homestand Saturday before hitting the road for five straight and they’ll have a win against the best team in the league to look at as evidence they can still be a Stanley Cup contender.
At the end of an underwhelming first quarter of the season, Florida got its most encouraging win yet.
“We’re not where we want to be in the standings, we haven’t been winning that many games as we want to, but, at the same time, I think it’s all about building the game, and feeling more and more comfortable on the ice later in the season,” Barkov said. “We’re building the game and, at the same time right now especially, we need to win some games and against Boston—it was a huge one.”
