Having two or three players perform in the playoffs won’t get you to the end goal. There’s no mistaking the significance in an entire team effort to win you multiple playoff series, and eventually the Stanley Cup. 

 

In the Florida Panthers case, they’ve had the necessary contributions up and down the lineup that’s brought them within two games of playing for hockey’s biggest prize . 

 

Whether it was Zac Dalpe’s Game 6 tying goal against Boston or Nick Cousins’ series winning OT goal in Toronto, Florida has had success running all 18 skaters this postseason. Look at Carter Verhaeghe, his 13 even strength points is tied for most in the playoffs. Go down the lineup to 21-year-old Anton Lundell — he’s played a huge role as the center of Florida’s third line. 

 

When your whole team is going that’s great — but when you pair that with your “big-time” players rising to the occasion — it’s a recipe for success.

 

Tkachuk, Barkov, Bobrovsky. The trio are the highest paid players on the Panthers and as you’d expect, an integral part to Florida’s operation. 

 

In his first season with the team, Matthew Tkachuk has done everything you’d expect of the superstar, and then some. 

 

Last night’s Game 2 win in Raleigh, N.C. saw Tkachuk score his third overtime winning goal of the playoffs, with the last two coming back-to-back in the Eastern Conference Finals.

 

He’s been a playoff performer or “gamer”, as Head Coach Paul Maurice has referred to the 25-year-old winger.

 

Tkachuk has been the catalyst of the Panthers’ offense in the playoffs — as demonstrated by his team high 18 points this postseason — which is second most amongst active players in the playoffs.

 

“He’s been huge for us,” Panthers captain Sasha Barkov said when speaking about Tkachuk. “Not just scoring goals (or) making plays. Everything about being a hockey player in the team, being a leader in the team… he’s been unbelievable.”

 

Florida’s captain has continuously praised Tkachuk for his play, and leadership role. But maybe the humble Barkov should look in the mirror — because he’s been just as important to the team. 

 

This being his fifth go at the playoffs, Barkov has played like the dominant Selke Trophy center he is. 

 

Defensively, he’s been one of the top players in the postseason. In the second round he ranked first in numerous defensive categories including total blocked passes, d-zone loose puck recoveries, stick checks, and d-zone puck battle wins. 

 

And well, this absurd 5-on-5 stat as mentioned by Jackie Redmond. 

 

The first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals saw Barkov flash the clutch offensive part of his game. In Games 1 & 2 with the Panthers trailing 1-0, Barkov came to the rescue — scoring in both matches to tie the game for the Cats.

 

His goal in Game 2 where he faked a between the legs shot was met with admiration across the hockey world, even from the Great One.

 

“That was one of the greatest moves I’ve seen in the Stanley Cup Playoffs,” Wayne Gretzky said on TNT’s broadcast. 

 

Barkov’s response to Gretzky’s praise — “Well I’m pretty sure he’s scored bigger goals. But yeah, it means a lot coming from him so it’s nice to hear, for sure.”

 

Paul Maurice also got his fan moment when Barkov scored that goal.

 

“I’m watching [Barkov’s goal] on the monitor, I’m like oh my god he just did that, that is so awesome,” Maurcie said after Game 2.

 

The contributions from Tkachuk and Barkov this postseason have played an immense role in getting the Panthers into the position they are today. Despite that, the Panther who elevated his game higher than anyone else on this run is without question the most important man on the ice — Sergei Bobrovsky. 

 

The two-time Vezina winner is having by far the best postseason of his Panthers’ career, and he very well may be playing at a higher level than he was during the 2019 postseason with Columbus. 

 

Through 12 games, Bobrovsky has a 2.32 GAA, .931 SV% and six overtime wins. 

 

You don’t win in the playoffs if your goaltender isn’t performing, Bobrovsky is doing more than performing, he’s owned the net. 

 

“All the credit goes to him. His preparation before the game, the way he takes care of himself, he’s a true pro,” Nick Cousins said about Bobrovsky. “He’s a real leader for our team.” 

 

When you see a guy making as much money as Bobrovsky does, with the accolades he holds including the Vezinas and international hockey appearances, one would think that guy knows he’s different from other players. I can’t say if Bobrovsky knows after all these playoff games that he’s the best player on the ice, but one thing is certain — he remains humble through all the glory.

 

“I’m fortunate to be here and happy to play playoff hockey,” Bobrovsky said after Game 2. “I just want to thank god for the opportunity, for the result.” 

 

This isn’t the first time Bobrovsky has talked about being ‘fortunate’ or grateful to be in this situation, and if the results continue to be favorable, it probably won’t be the last.

 

His teammates truly seem to have all the confidence in the world for him. He’s quite literally saved them multiple times this season, whether it was his Game 5 save on Brad Marchand as the Panthers faced elimination or his 63 save, quadruple OT win in Game 1 against the Canes — they know how crucial he is to their success. 

 

“I think tonight in particular… [Bobrovsky’s game] allowed us to take the time we needed to get going because we knew he was going to hold the fort for us,” Tkachuk explained about Bobrovsky’s play in Game 2.  

 

“We’re just super lucky to have him as the backbone of the team.”

 

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SUNRISE — The vibes have been good in South Florida over the last few days and rightfully so. The team that everybody wrote off is still fighting for the Stanley Cup and now they are just a day away from Game 1 of the third round. 

 

Both the Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes won their second round series last week in five games, so the two sides have had to sit around and wait until the west sorted out their conference final representatives. 

 

“It feels like you’ve been playing every other day for the last two months, you get a couple days (off) it’s kind of nice,” Carter Verhaeghe said. “We’re ready to get back at it.”

 

Verhaeghe and the rest of the Panthers will be back at it tomorrow. 

 

The team will fly to Raleigh today ahead of Thursday’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It will be the first time since 1996 that the franchise will play in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

 

This whole run for the Panthers has been nothing short of eventful. Everyone knows how they snuck into the playoffs by just one point after going on a 6-1-1 run to end the regular season. They one upped that by defeating the Presidents’ Trophy winning Boston Bruins in Game 7 overtime after being down in the series 3-1. The most recent chapter in this story book run was less drama-filled but nonetheless impressive, taking down the Toronto Maple Leafs in five very close games.

 

Now the Panthers turn the page as they look to continue this postseason story in Carolina. 

 

“It’s the dream everybody dreams of when you were a kid growing up. You always watched the NHL Playoffs, that’s the biggest thing of the year,” Anton Lundell said on being in the postseason. “I’m really excited to be here and get the opportunity to still play hockey, we want to make the best of it.”

 

Getting the opportunity to live that dream hasn’t been a walk in the park for the Panthers, or for any team that still remains in the dance for the cup. As the final four is set to kick off, the Panthers are keeping the same mentality that has gotten them to this point.

 

“We have a lot of belief in our group and I think we showed that in the past two series,” Josh Mahura said. “Going into this series we know we are preparing the same way, same mindset. Nothing really changes that.”  

 

Florida has yet another difficult opponent standing in their way of hockey’s greatest treasure and the Canes could be the toughest foe yet.

 

Carolina were the Metropolitan division winners in the regular season and came out on top of that division in the postseason as well, defeating both the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. 

 

They continued their regular season play in the postseason, sitting atop many of the playoff statistics leaderboards, which Panthers head coach Paul Maurice pointed out. 

 

“Analytically, Carolina is the best team in the league, that’s just a fact.”

 

Florida has been the underdog all playoffs long, and if they were to advance, they’d probably still hold that title. 

 

The team knows the public opinions on them and frankly, they couldn’t care less. 

 

“We just go out there and try to play, we don’t think we’re underdogs,” Verhaeghe said. “We don’t really focus too much on who was favored to win or what people are betting on.” 

 

Not focusing on outside factors has worked just fine for the Panthers and they’ll get to continue this story tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in Raleigh, North Carolina for Game 1. 

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SUNRISE – Playoff hockey came early today in Sunrise, with the Panthers and Bruins facing off in an afternoon Game 4.

 

The Bruins had their way for a second straight game at FLA Live Arena in a 6-2 win, taking both of their road games.

 

Boston now leads the series 3-1, with a chance to close it out Wednesday night at home.

 

Takeaways:

Bruins Power Play was dangerous

Boston’s power play this series has been more than a step ahead of the Panthers. 

 

The opening minutes of the game was flat out dominated by Florida – with the shots at one point being 10-0 in favor of the home team. 

 

At 9:11 into the first, Colin White called for interference, putting the Bruins on the man-advantage. 

 

Boston got some juice being a man up and eventually opened the scoring. 

 

After two huge saves by Sergei Bobrovsky, Brad Marchand poked in a loose puck, putting the Bruins up 1-0.

 

The Bruins started the second period on the power play after Matthew Tkachuk got called for cross-checking Garnet Hathaway behind the net following the conclusion of the period.

 

With just eight seconds remaining on the Tkachuk penalty, a great zone entry by the Bruins led to Jake DeBrusk’s second goal of the series. 

 

Paul Maurice made multiple lineup changes in Game 4

Panthers head coach Paul Mauric kept everyone out of the loop pre-game when he had his media availability. 

 

We didn’t know who would be the starting goalie, who would be in the lineup and who would be out. 

The most we got was that either Bobrovsky or Alex Lyon would be in net… obviously.

 

When the teams came out for warmups, Aaron Ekblad was not on the ice. The Panthers’ defenseman was injured in Game 3. Despite skating yesterday in Florida’s optional practice, the former first-overall pick was absent for tonight’s game.

 

Casey Fitzgerald filled in for Ekblad tonight on the blueline. 

 

The bigger surprise omission from the Cats lineup tonight was Anthony Duclair. Duclair took warmups tonight and was part of the normal line rushes – so it seemed like he would definitely be in the lineup… that wasn’t the case.

 

Duclair, who is pointless in the series, was scratched tonight. He was replaced by Zac Dalpe, who spent the majority of the season in AHL Charlotte. Dalpe has been with the team all postseason, but he didn’t play in a game before tonight. 

 

And finally, Sergei Bobrovsky made his first start of the playoffs tonight. Alex Lyon got the nod in games 1-3. After a short relief appearance in game 3, Bobrovsky got his first full game of the series tonight. 

 

Taylor Hall with a big four-point game

The Bruins forward may not be the same player he was when he won the Hart Trophy a few years back with New Jersey, but he definitely played close to that level tonight. 

 

Hall finished the game with two goals and four points, while icing the game with Boston’s fifth goal off a nice move in front of Sergei Bobrovsky.

 

Hall has seven points through four games in this series, which is the most on the team this postseason.

 

Florida drops both at home 

Coming into the arena on Friday night, the Panthers were in pretty good shape. 

 

Riding off a dominating win in Boston, Florida had the chance to shift the series in their favor at home. They didn’t.

 

Now onto Sunday, Florida once again could have made this series interesting by tying it up ahead of Game 5. They didn’t.

 

The Panthers dropped both of their home games and now have to play with their season on the line in Boston against a team that only lost seven times in their building throughout the regular season. 

 

Bennett, Tkachuk, Montour and that’s about it

The three best skaters in this series, offensively at least – have been Sam Bennett, Brandon Montour and Matthew Tkachuk.

 

The offense tonight was almost all on them again. 

 

Bennett had a good showing with his power play goal, which is the first one the Panthers scored all series. 

 

Tkachuk did what he’s done all season – get points in the score sheet. He scored the first Panthers goal of the game off a between-the-legs shot to cut the Bruins lead to 2-1. He picked up a helper on the Bennett goal.

 

Montour grabbed his third point of the series and had six shots on goal, which led the Panthers blue line. 

 

The Panthers captain looked about as aggressive as he has all series, getting seven shots on net, but we are through four games of this series and he has yet to score a goal. 

 

Florida had chances around Linus Ullmark’s net, both too many loose pucks were left unfinished by the Panthers as the Bruins’ goalie turned away 41 of Florida’s 43 shots.

Trailing 1-0 in the series, the Florida Panthers returned to the TD Garden in an attempt to even things up before they make their return to Sunrise. 

 

The return of Sam Bennett was instrumental for the Panthers tonight as they were able to bolster the forward depth and comfortably take down the Bruins tonight in a 6-3 win, evening up the series at 1-1.

 

Here’s tonight’s takeaways.

Playoff Sam Bennett is back

Sam Bennett last played March 20 in Detroit – almost a month to the day. 

 

The Panthers received great news today when it was announced that Bennett would be in the lineup.

 

The 26-year-old forward has had quite the success in his playoff career, putting up 27 points in 45 career playoff games ahead of this one. 

 

Bennett’s game is made for the playoffs and it was on full display tonight.

He was one of, if not the most noticeable Panther on the forecheck. He didn’t miss the opportunity to land a hit or put pressure on the Bruins defenders.

Bennett’s tenacity eventually led to the first goal of the game, where he slipped the puck, and himself, past Linus Ullmark to give Florida a 1-0 lead.

 

He once again fit perfectly alongside Matthew Tkachuk on line 2, and the old Calgary pals made sure to fill in the stat sheet tonight. 

 

Brandon Montour scores… twice

Enough can’t be said about Brandon Montour’s record-breaking offensive season.

 

Florida’s top point-producing defenseman showed NHL fans tonight why he had 73 points this season.

 

Montour broke the 2-2 tie early into the third period, rifling a shot past Ullmark to give Florida the lead.

 

12 minutes later, Montour put a stamp on the game with his second goal, putting Florida up 5-2 with under 10 minutes to play in regulation.

 

Montour finished the night with two goals in 22 minutes of ice time.

 

Still no power play luck

Florida got out of this game with another empty night on the power play. The team went 0/3 tonight on the PP, making that 0/5 on the series.

 

To make matters worse they gave up a shorthanded goal while leading 1-0 in the first period.

 

The Panthers have scored just one goal on the power play dating back to last year’s playoffs – that goal came in the second round against Tampa. 

 

The goose egg on the power play didn’t end up hurting them tonight,  but they’ll need to find the back of the net during this series on the man-advantage.

 

Florida was able to play their game

Playoffs are a different animal from that of the regular season.

 

When you see team’s get into a dominant groove during the 82 game year, it doesn’t necessarily translate to the postseason.

 

Tonight the game was an entertaining back and forth battle for the first 40 minutes of play. Both teams played each other pretty tight and didn’t give each other much breathing room to breakaway.

 

That all changed when the final period began. 

 

Florida was able to jump out to the early lead because of Brandon Montour’s first goal. Boston was still keeping it pretty close up until Carter Verhaeghe gave Florida a two goal cushion. 

 

After Florida got the breathing room, they began to control the game. 

 

The team was locked into their brand of hockey; controlling the puck and activating the blueline in the offensive zone. 

 

For the first time really all series, Florida looked to be the clearly dominant team in the late stages of the game.

 

Not having to play catch up calmed the Panthers down tonight. It opened up their game and possibly their confidence against the Bruins.

 

Alex Lyon’s tale continues

Another game, another win for the Lyon King.

 

Alex Lyon was locked in from the jump – as seen on NHL network’s pregame show where he was staring down the camera. 

 

The Panthers’ goalie got the nod again tonight from Paul Maurice after he lost Game 1.

 

Lyon took the crease again for the tenth straight game and second of the playoffs. 

 

He was able to stop 34 of the 37 shots he faced, giving up a short handed goal, a power play goal and a late five-hole squeaker as the game was 6-2. 

 

It’s safe to say that Lyon’s job as the starter will live to see another day after two impressive starts in Boston. 

 

Games 3 & 4 will be at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise.

When all hope seemed lost, the Panthers found a hero in the king of the jungle

 

Last week in Ottawa, the Panthers season looked all but finished.

 

The team was outclassed in almost every way by the Senators as they lost their fourth-straight game, and slipped from the playoff spot they held just a week prior.

 

With three more games to follow on the road trip, and an already playoff secured Toronto Maple Leafs next on the schedule, Florida was looking for any form of life to get them back on the right track with less than 10 games to go in the season.

 

Prior to the Leafs-Panthers game last Wednesday, the problems seemed to only get worse for Florida. Panthers’ head coach Paul Maurice didn’t announce his starting goalie for that night, which was suspicious as he has always let the media know who would be in net this season. 

 

The belief from the outside was that starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky wasn’t ready to go and backup Alex Lyon would have to come into the net.

 

When the Panthers took the ice at Scotiabank Arena, that theory was correct. Lyon took the crease in a must-win scenario for his team.

 

In Lyon’s five previous games with the Panthers, he gave up a total of 23 goals, with a 1-3-1 record. 

 

Lyon, who had given up five goals just a week prior  to Philly, had to face a top-10 offensive team in the league while his team was riding their worst losing-streak of the season. The optimism wasn’t too high for Panthers fans.

 

However, when the 30-year-old took the crease, he looked like a different goalie than the one we saw in his previous appearances. 

 

Florida did not look good against Toronto. The team was getting outplayed in the offensive zone and couldn’t generate their usual number of chances at the other end. The only person keeping them in the game was Lyon.

 

At the start of the season, Lyon was in the AHL playing for the Charlotte Checkers. With Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight already locked into the team, he wasn’t in the discussion for the Panthers’ backup job – just as an option for the third-string.

 

Well the third-string goalie pushed his team to overtime in Toronto, and possibly saved their season. 

 

Moments after robbing Auston Matthews from point-blank range with a glove save, the Panthers flipped the ice and won the game with Brandon Montour’s 14th goal of the season.

 

Lyon, who is referred to by his teammates as the “Lyon King” stopped 38 shots in a 3-2 comeback win, snapping a four-game losing streak.

Following the game, as we do every night,  the media headed to the locker room. When we got to the doors we heard a song blasting from the inside. It was “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” from “The Lion King”.

 

Lyon’s teammates spoke highly of their goaltender who backstopped them to their first win in over a week. 

 

“You guys saw it yourself, he gave us every chance to win the game,” Panthers’ captain Sasha Barkov said last Wednesday in Toronto. “He brings the joy to the locker room, to the ice.”

 

 Lyon broke the Panthers out of their slump, but there was still work to be done with them still sitting a ways away from a playoff spot.

 

With Bobrovsky still out of the lineup with an illness, the Panthers returned to Lyon on the back-to-back the following night in Montreal. The Lyon King defended his net, or in this case his “jungle”, picking up the win against the Canadiens.

 

And once again, the locker room was blasting their new post-game song about their king of a goalie.  

 

With the quick turnaround of wins in Toronto and Montreal, the Panthers had some life with their final game of the trip in Columbus on the horizon. The team went with Lyon for the third-consecutive game since Bobrovsky was still out. He picked up his first career shutout in a 7-0 win against Columbus.

 

A few days off after the road trip allowed for some scoreboard watching, with the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins who both held Wild Card spots in action.

 

The Panthers were given a lifeline from the Carolina Hurricanes, who defeated the Islanders in regulation. Florida now controlled their playoff destiny with a game against a surging Sabres team looming. 

 

In what would be the biggest game of the season to this point (all of them are now), Florida turned to Lyon again with Bobrovsky still out. A win against Buffalo would see the Panthers leapfrog the Islanders into a playoff spot, with a chance of also jumping the Penguins depending on their result that night.

 

Seven days after his 38 save performance in Toronto which kept the Panthers playoff hopes alive, Lyon picked up 39 saves in a 2-1 regulation win against the Sabres – putting Florida into the first Wild Card spot in the East.

 

“He battles… there’s no quit in his game,” Matthew Tkachuk said of Lyon after the game. “It brings so much positive energy and it’s really been huge for our team down the stretch going into playoffs to have that type of energy.”

 

Lyon spoke about his teammates “celebrating” him following games.

 

“It’s awesome, it’s a testament to the locker room and the culture of the Florida Panthers. I take a lot of pride as well and being a good teammate and being accountable,” Lyon said postgame on Wednesday. “There were games this year where I didn’t play well and they still supported me, [I’m] really appreciative of them.”

 

Until Wednesday night’s win against Buffalo, Florida had not won four-straight games all season. Their best winning streak of the year came at the perfect time, as they brushed off their four-consecutive losses from the week prior.

 

In seven days, Lyon has a 4-0-0 record, posting a .959 save % and a 1.25 GAA. He has given up just five goals over that span. 

 

When the Panthers looked like they reached their end, the king of the jungle found his way to the crease, roaring his way towards the playoffs.