Panthers showcase all the traits of a Stanley Cup contender in series win over Lightning
Three years ago, during the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Florida Panthers saw their season mercifully end at the hands of their in-state rivals in the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers’ high-flying, rush-heavy offense was bottled up as the Lightning’s defense took over the series, a four-game sweep. Florida knew it needed to make changes if it wanted any chance of contending for the ultimate goal.
The tide has since turned.
For a second consecutive year, the Panthers eliminated the Lightning in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by utilizing a suffocating defense, heavy forecheck, stellar goaltending and enough offense at just the right time.
Florida sealed the series Wednesday with a 6-3 win in Game 5 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, taking the lead for good late in the second period before shutting the Lightning down in the third. It’s the second consecutive year Florida has eliminated Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs.
“They’re an exceptional team,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
If any opposing coach would have a chance to appreciate that, it would be bench boss of the Panthers’ cross-state rival.
Tampa Bay had reached three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, winning it all in 2020 and 2021, before Florida’s recent surge to become a perennial contender in the Eastern Conference.
The teams didn’t face each other in the playoffs in 2023, but Cooper knew the Panthers had something brewing in their first season under coach Paul Maurice when they upset the Boston Bruins, that year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners as the top team in the regular season, on their way to reaching the Stanley Cup Final. Florida went on to win its first Stanley Cup a year later and now looks poised to be able to repeat.
“If they don’t win that series [against Boston in 2023], who knows what happens to that team?” Cooper said. “They come back, they win, they get a good vibe about how to win because it is something that’s learned, and it’s an art. ... They built a team, they got a sniff of it, they went to the Final, didn’t win, came back, went to the Final and won. Who knows what they’re going to do this year? They’re primarily the same team, but they know how to do it. There’s only a few teams in the last little while that really know how to do it. We were one of them, and now they’re one of them.”
The Panthers showcased throughout the series that they can win in multiple ways.
▪ Game 1: Florida scored early and often, aided by three power-play goals and aggressive work in front of the net, to cruise to a 6-2 win despite only putting 17 shots on goal.
▪ Game 2: Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky carries them through a defensive struggle, stopping all 19 shots he faced while his defense in front of him blocked another 20 Lightning shot attempts in a 2-0 victory.
▪ Game 4: After losing Game 3 5-1, the Panthers showed their ability to rally with two goals in an 11-second flurry late in the third period of Game 4 to turn a one-goal deficit into an eventual 4-2 win.
▪ Game 5: Florida and Tampa Bay were locked in a back-and-forth affair that saw the game get tied three times in the first 30 minutes before the Panthers took over. They scored the go-ahead goal with 4:47 left in the second period when Sam Bennett scored on a two-on-one breakaway after getting out of the penalty box. Florida then added two more goals in the third and held the Lightning to just seven shots on goal in the final 20 minutes to preserve the series-clinching win.
“Where you really appreciate it is on the bench,” Maurice said, “by what gets said and the composure part of it.”
Experience goes a long way with that.
Ten players on Florida roster have been part of both Cup Final runs, and 14 were with the team when they won it all last year. Then the Panthers bolstered its roster with a couple more former Stanley Cup winners at the trade deadline in Brad Marchand and Nico Sturm plus a top defenseman in Seth Jones to round out the team.
They understand the pressure that builds with each postseason win, the challenges presented as they get further in the playoffs. They know the extra gear that has to come into place to close out a series.
“You have a goal every round, and it’s to play at your best and take control of moments and be big when opportunities present themselves,” Marchand said. “There’s so much experience in this room, a lot of guys that have been there and been through it and realize the importance of closing out a series when you have that opportunity.”
Added forward Carter Verhaeghe: “You’re trying to end someone’s season, and any time you try to end someone’s season, they’re playing free. They have kind of nothing to lose. They’re not going to go down easy, that’s for sure.”
The Panthers aren’t going to make it easy for opponents either. Their depth punishes foes on a nightly basis. They’re able to roll four lines consistently and don’t have to rely on a singular star to decide the series.
Florida had 15 players tally at least one point in the Lightning series. Ten players scored at least one goal, with six scoring at least twice and three (Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Nate Schmidt) each scoring three times.
The defense was stout. Tampa Bay averaged just 22.4 shots on goal per game, and its top-end power play was held to just two goals on 18 tries.
“This team is extremely hard to face,” said Marchand, who was eliminated in the playoffs by the Panthers each of the past two years in the playoffs while playing with the Bruins, “and I appreciate more after being in the room and seeing the work that goes into it. When you play against it, it’s not fun and frustrating at times. They come with waves, and they just completely match you. Now being here and understanding the way that we practice every day and what’s being pushed in detail and structure that guys have every day, I have a lot more respect for it and understand why they do it, the way they talk about it in the room and how we play. It’s very easy to buy into.”
And it’s easy to see it translate to success. The Panthers have made deep postseason pushes each of the past two years under this system. They’re one step into what could be another after eliminating their in-state rival to begin this playoff run.
“Obviously we’re doing some things right,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We know what it takes, and we’ll keep working at it.”
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