As they try to clinch series, will Panthers’ ‘desire’ outmatch Toronto’s ‘desperation?’
The Florida Panthers, once seemingly with their backs against the wall in this second-round Stanley Cup playoffs series, on Friday have their first opportunity to knock out the Toronto Maple Leafs and advance to the Eastern Conference final for a third consecutive year.
The Maple Leafs, trying not to drop a fourth consecutive game after taking a 2-0 series lead, will enter Amerant Bank Arena with nothing to lose.
And that’s the stage set for Game 6 after Florida rattled off three consecutive victories, most recently a 6-1 rout on Wednesday in Game 5 to take the 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.
The Panthers understand there’s still work to do to close out the series and that the Maple Leafs are going to try to have the game played on their terms as they try to keep their season alive. How Florida manages that will dictate whether it can close out the series or if a winner-take-all Game 7 takes place in Toronto on Sunday.
“You’re getting flat-out the other team’s very best,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after morning skate Friday. “We would have possibly a desire advantage in that you’re right there for a prize. They clearly will have a desperation advantage. It’s the team that controls those things the best that has the best chance to win. It’s almost the same manifestation of what happens in a game. When you want it that bad, you start making plays to get it. You want to win the game every time you touch the puck. When you’ve got that desperation, it’s the same idea you get it. You want to make something happen every time. Control those emotions a little bit. Keep the energy.”
The Panthers did just that the past three games to turn the early series deficit into a lead. After dropping the first two games 5-4 and 4-3, Florida won Game 3 (5-4 in overtime), Game 4 (2-0) and Game 5 (6-1). They played to their identity the past two games with a strong forecheck and excellent goaltending — Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 54 of 55 shots he faced — and letting their defense create offense.
The Panthers aren’t resting on their laurels though, especially since they now how quickly a game and a series can change.
Veteran forward Brad Marchand, who has played — and won — four previous playoff series against the Maple Leafs while with the Boston Bruins, said Florida’s 6-1 win “wasn’t that one-sided.” Each team had 32 shots on goal and Toronto actually had more high-danger chances (13, to Florida’s 11). For that, Marchand believes the 6-1 score from that game could light a fire under the Maple Leafs as they try to keep their season alive.
“If anything,” Marchand said, “it’s going to make them hungrier to have a bounce-back game and prove a lot of people wrong, which is a very dangerous combination.”
That puts the onus on Florida playing to its strength one more time to advance.
“This is the time of year when you really find out what you’re made of,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “And I find this game tonight’s gonna be the toughest. It’s not gonna be any shades of last game. It’s just gonna be a lot more intensity to the game. We’re at home. We’re ready for that.”
No lineup changes
The Panthers will not have any lineup changes for Game 6 on Friday, Maurice said after morning skate.
That means Jesper Boqvist, who had a goal and an assist in Game 5, will remain in the lineup on Florida’s top line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, while Evan Rodrigues will be out for a second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.
As such, Florida’s lineup should look as follows at puck drop...
Forward lines
Jesper Boqvist-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer-Tomas Nosek-Jonah Gadjovich
Defense pairs
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt-Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
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