SUNRISE, Fla. — The Vegas Golden Knights snapped straight from a six-game series with Dallas hosting the Stanley Cup Final, while the Florida Panthers took a ten-day layoff with wins over Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston and top teams Toronto and Carolina. The significant time since they were swept by the Hurricanes seemed to be a tort.
Vegas played a good hand with two convincing home victories, winning 5-2 in the first game and 7-2 in the second, with the latter chasing Sergei Bobrovsky from the crease 7:10 into the second frame. The star of the Panthers is dead
Huw Tkachuck has over 10 minutes of offense with three points, just one, over the first two games.
The penetrating sounds of slot machines spinning and roulette wheels spinning will now give way to waves crashing on sandy beaches and checking cheetahs. Florida will make its first Stanley Cup Final appearance on home ice in 27 years.
That was when the team was only three years into existence, skating at Miami Arena and losing three times in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche. Former Quebec Nordiques won with the power of Uwe Krupp’s right-point shot. The Cup-clinching goal secured a four-game sweep to Rocky Mountain High
This first home game is pivotal in the return to the series, with mental fouls made outweighing physical fouls common in high-stakes games due to two months of fatigue and exhaustion. Mental errors are what left the Eastern Conference Champions in position to win four of their next five games to lift their first Stanley Cup.
To reverse course, Florida would have to acquire a dominant Golden Knights team. The Western Conference champion has scored 12 goals from nine players in just two games. Three of those goals were out of the hands of the defenders. Depth shows its worth in Vegas and it’s getting harder and harder for Florida to stop.
Matthew Tkachuk talked about how Florida will have to return to its disciplined style, and stay outside the box. He leads the team in scoring this postseason, his first as a Panther.
Sam Bennett echoed his teammate’s remark and the need to get back into their style of play, stay out of the box and continue to play hard, which was not presently present in the first two matches.
His return to form for Florida begins in the blue as Sergey Bobrovsky has to give his team confidence. Karolina was furious trying to solve the Russian talent. Bobrovsky should take on this role and inspire his teammates.
Florida’s top attackers need a physical, controlled offense. Punitive attack, but not to the point where the penalty minutes table indicates you crossed the line. Add to that the need to avoid the 10-minute misconduct penalty and, instead, keep the difference-makers in the game by flooding the score sheet with shots that lead to goals and assists.
In the early morning media availability before tonight’s game, Panthers head coach Paul Morris talks about the Boston Series being more physical than the Final Round. Morris also talked about how line matches depend on where on the ice the encounters take place.
On the importance of going home, Morris explained that everyone is running on adrenaline and that the crowd will play a big part in today’s game.
It’s up to the Florida Panthers to fight this important battle and get back into the series. With South Florida fans bringing in the noise, the Eastern Conference champions will have to skate their best game of the playoffs to signal to Vegas that there’s more hockey to play.
Dennis Morrell has developed a deep passion for the great game over many decades as a writer, photographer, goaltender coach, net spotter, and USA Hockey Certified Active Referee with more than 2,000 appearances on the ice. His passion for the game began in the early 1970s with his first glimpse of skaters fighting for the puck at Clayton Shaw Park. He has covered nine Stanley Cup Finals and dozens of ice hockey special event games. He can be reached at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com and you can follow him on Twitter at DMMORRELL.