Cote: Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup hopes were in trouble. But Reinhart’s OT goal saved season | Opinion
Nobody in the Florida Panthers camp would say it out loud, even though it was obvious to all. Wouldn’t use the words.
It wasn’t true literally, of course. Not mathematically.
But it was true, realistically, at gut level, and in every other way.
This was (all but) must-win.
The Cats had to win Tuesday night at home in Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference final, or see their realistic Stanley Cup championship hopes skate away from them.
“I mean, it’s a big game,” Sam Bennett had said going in. “It’s crucial. We know how important this game is. I think in the playoffs every game feels like a must-win game.”
This one actually did.
And Florida played like it.
The Panthers’ 3-2 home victory in overtime leveled the series 2-2 as it heads back up to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 Thursday night.
It was a third straight OT game this series -- and finally a Cats win.
The alternative was a 3-1 series deficit, and that would have felt devastating.
In NHL history teams trailing 3-1 go on to win the series and advance only 9.2 percent of the time. Granted, Florida accomplished that rare feat just last year, in the first round vs. Boston. But this time it would have meant those three straight wins would have necessitated two at MSG against the team that won the Presidents Trophy with the best record in the league.
Now, new life with a series knotted 2-2, and fresh momentum to pack for the flight back north.
The Panthers won it just 1:12 into overtime and 13 seconds into a power play on Sam Reinhart’s goal. No shock. The Prince of Power Plays led the NHL in man-advantage goals this season.
“When he’s open, we want to look for him,” said captain Aleksander Barkov,who did just that and fed him the puck. “He’s scored a lot from there.”
The Cats’ first two goals were not works of art, but rather what the players call ”greasy.” The third to win it was a beauty.
Said Reinhart: ”We were playing at a faster pace, limiting [the Rangers’] time and space. Playing like that, we’re going to generate chances.”
Florida had been 40-0-3 this season including 5-0 in the playoffs when leading after two periods -- unbeaten in the regular season, their only three losses in overtime when leading entering the third period.
They kept that rather astounding record intact.
The Rangers had tied it three minutes into the third period on Alexis Lafreniere’s wrist shot. (He’d scored twice in the previous game.)
The Panthers had rallied from one down with a pair of goals around the middle of the second period, when they outshot New York 15-6.
Bennett’s tip-in tied it from a scramble in front of the net to make the home horn sound for the first time.
“You wake up, the sun is shining,” he’d said after Monday’s practice. “Everything is good here.”
Cats had their first lead on Carter Verhaeghe’s backhander on a power play -- his team-leading ninth score of this postseason.
“Power plays are huge,” he said after Tuesday’s morning skate, as if fortuitously. “Anytime you get momentum from that, it’s huge.”
Florida trailed early.
Cats had been a perfect 8-for-8 in penalty kills this series but that changed after Anton Lundell was sent off for high-sticking in the first period. Ranger Vincent Trocheck scored on a slap shot 16 seconds before the penalty expired to make it 1-0 8:51 into the game. There haven’t been that many Rangers fans here, maybe 10 percent of the crowd? But enough to sound like more after a goal.
A third straight OT loss might have been spirit-crushing.
“Is huge relief,” said the always succinct Sergei Bobrovsky.
What made that 5-4 Game 3 overtime loss so brutal? Teams that score four goals in an NHL game almost always win. It shouldn’t surprise.
Much fan and media talk after the previous game had focused on how on Earth the Panthers could have possibly lost despite such a glaring advantage in shots taken. It was 108-44 in overall shots and 37-23 in shots on goal.
The problem, of course, was on the other end of the ice.
“We gave up five goals. So we don’t like that,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice.
Florida again easily led in shots taken in Game 4, but this time the defense was much better Tuesday night.
The Panthers chances of surviving this series got much better, too.
Comic relief came toward the end when the Rangers’ Chris Kreider snatched Matthew Tkachuk’s well-chewed mouthguard from his maw and flung it into ther air.
“I told him that was the best play he made all game,” said Takchuk.
Now the series is where it should be.
“A best of three [from here]. You start at home for a reason. They finished ahead of you,” as Maurice put it. “I think it’s been phenomenal hockey. It’s tight. Great saves at both ends. A very disciplined series, not overly physical. Two really good teams with great skills. And it’s 2-2. If you’re a fan of hockey, you’re entertained.”
Reinhart’s winning goal in overtime dramatically rewrote that scenario -- and Maurice’s mood.
For the Panthers it was the must-win that wasn’t, literally, but was in every other way.
This story was originally published May 28, 2024 at 11:23 PM.
