Aleksander Barkov carries the Prince of Wales Trophy after the Florida Panthers earned a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

Pressure Point: Barkov the reliable engine that drove Florida Panthers to the Cup Final

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The two most glaring reasons the Florida Panthers are headed to the Stanley Cup Final are named Matthew Tkachuk and Sergei Bobrovsky.

The indomitable duo, goalie and forward, has supplied the drama at opposite ends of the ice with heart-stopping saves and mind-boggling goals time and again.

The glue between those two, the cohesive link holding it all together, is Aleksander Barkov, the highly skilled workhorse filling every need along 200 feet.

Gratifying to see the captain and longest tenured Panther skating off with the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference champs after Tkachuk’s goal with 4.9 second remaining completed a four-game sweep of Carolina to send Florida to its first Cup Final in 27 years — and not giving a damn about the supposed superstition about touching the semifinals trophy.

Barkov has been around for 10 of those seasons, most of them frustrating and forgettable.

He is finally getting recognition from a wide audience that eluded him while playing in one of the most overlooked NHL outposts.

Barkov impresses The Great One

It would not be correct to say that Barkov has been underrated. He won a Selke Trophy as the best two-way forward in the league and a Lady Byng given to the top scoring player who commits the fewest penalties.

This year he’s up for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy that goes to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

But seeing is believing. No less than Wayne Gretzky called Barkov’s highlight-reel goal in Game 2 of the Eastern finals “one of the greatest moves I have seen in the Stanley Cup playoffs.”

Barkov faked sliding the puck between his legs, getting goalie Antti Raanta to commit, then pulled it back and flipped a backhand into the net.

Paul Maurice, in his first year as Panthers coach, said he’d never seen anything like it. But those of us who have watched Barkov for a decade have seen him pull several through-the-legs tricks in shootouts as well as one dazzling in-game goal in 2019 against Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, a likely Hall-of-Famer.

Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas said, “I would not even think of doing anything like that. He is our leader for a reason. He is stepping up in big ways for us. You know, he is the man for the job.”

Barkov’s contributions multifaceted

Theatrical moments aside, the way to best appreciate Barkov is to focus on him throughout a shift. Watch how he powers up and down the ice, as aggressive in the defensive zone as leading a rush. It’s no coincidence that the rest of the Panthers forwards have similarly sold out in support of Bobrovsky.

They needed to in Game 3 after Barkov exited in the first period with a lower-body injury and were able to hold on to a 1-0 win. The Panthers dodged a catastrophic blow to their Cup chances as Barkov was able to return for Game 4 — after a pregame sniff of smelling salts, his line scored in the first 41 seconds on a goal by Anthony Duclair with Barkov getting the primary assist.

It was Barkov who put the puck on Tkachuk’s stick for the series-sealing goal — his 14th points (including four goals) in 16 playoff games.

His contribution extends well beyond the scoresheet. Not only vital to the offense, Barkov is the Panthers’ best penalty killer. His presence is felt in so many areas.

In the four-overtime marathon win in Game 1 of the Eastern finals, Barkov took 50 faceoffs and won 28 (56 percent) while playing over 44 minutes. He had a goal and an assist, three shots on goal, five hits and three takeaways.

Barkov first Finnish Cup captain

Maurice said, “He has the size, really fine hands and the ability to make plays. He is just a very powerful man. Whether it’s an explosion into holes, a puck that gets off his stick hard and we’ve also seen some pretty nice physicality in the playoffs this year.”

Someone on Twitter pointed out that in the Eastern finals, the Panthers outscored Carolina 6-0 with Barkov on the ice while the Hurricanes had a 6-4 edge when he was off.

Barkov is one of those special athletes that fans deserve to see compete for a championship. He was visibly moved when informed that he will be the first Finnish player to captain a team in a Stanley Cup Final. (He is an ethnic Russian who grew up in Finland).

“Wow, I didn’t know that. That means a lot. … It feels great right now. Maybe later, after the season or after the career, maybe I’ll understand what really happened,” he said, adding, “It’s not just [Tkachuk] leading, me leading, it’s everyone in our room, solid brothers. Those guys are the leaders as well.”

Typical of the unassuming star, who Maurice — after the flashy goal in Game 2 — said was “the least showboating player I’ve ever coached by far. Most times he scores, you kind of expect him to skate by the goalie, tap him on the pads and say, ‘Sorry about that.’ But he pulled that move because that was the only move that was going to work. There’s no one-upmanship or showmanship in that man.”

Now an NHL-wide audience has the chance to see what Barkov is all about on the biggest stage.

Barkov was a big reason Tkachuk lobbied for the trade that brought him to the Panthers from Calgary for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar.

Panthers find winning playoff formula

At his introductory news conference in South Florida, Tkachuk called Barkov “a top-3 player in the NHL. That’s a fact.”

His is certainly one of three indispensable components of this Panthers drive to the Cup Final as a No. 8 seed. But it extends beyond Tkachuk, Bobrovsky and Barkov, throughout the ranks including gritty forwards such as Sam Bennett and fourth-liners Ryan Lomberg and Eric Staal.

The vibe is completely different than a year ago when the Panthers got swept in the second round of the playoffs after winning the Presidents’ Trophy.

“It’s about being able to wear a team down,” Tkachuk said of the winning formula that surfaced in the first-round series upset of the Boston Bruins, this year’s Presidents’ Trophy winner. “The physicality, and our forechecks are really solid. We’ve got a bunch of speed up front and a bunch of heavy players that can play that way. I think we have 12 forwards that play that way.”

All following the example of their captain.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Panthers, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

 

The lights shine bright on the Florida Panthers’ stars this postseason

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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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Matthew Tkachuk scored the winning goal for the Panthers in the fourth overtime against Carolina.

Pressure Point: Panthers, Heat have S. Florida soaring on remarkable playoff ride

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Most of the time watching sports is a grind, often more heartbreak than happiness.

Right now for fans in South Florida, it’s an absolute gift.

The reward for sitting through nearly 140 minutes of Game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference finals was seeing a Florida Panthers victory rat tossed on the ice in Raleigh, N.C., at 2 a.m.

Matthew Tkachuk’s goal ending the sixth-longest Stanley Cup playoff game came 12.7 seconds before the end of the fourth overtime early Friday morning.

The Panthers’ win against the favored Carolina Hurricanes came on the heels of the Miami Heat shocking the highly favored Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern finals the previous night in Boston.

The Heat followed suit Friday night with a 111-105 comeback win, sweeping the first two games of the series at Boston’s TD Garden, the same building where the Panthers eliminated the record-breaking Bruins in the first round of this amazing playoff journey.

Panthers, Heat fans seeing double — in good way

It’s a challenge for fans to keep up with two teams playing like destiny’s children at the same time and you can’t help but hitch a ride for as long as it goes. That means nightly dinners in front of the TV and abbreviated sleep, hopefully continuing for awhile.

But hopefully not another marathon ice dance like had the Panthers and Hurricanes in a standoff that seemed as if it might last until dawn or the ice melted.

Four overtimes was an excess of hockey even for Mr. Hockey, Wayne Gretzky. The Great One, on the TNT studio panel, remarked before the fourth overtime that he hoped someone would score in that period because “enough is enough.”

Tkachuk scores goal for ages

Tkachuk obliged just before the end of that fourth 20-minute extra session with a quick snipe from the right circle.

It took a moment to register that the Panthers had finally penetrated the Great Red Wall of Carolina, goalie Frederik Andersen.

“Probably my favorite [goal] I’ve scored in my life,” said Tkachuk, who has more than met expectations from the trade that brought him to Florida from Calgary for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar.

GM Bill Zito swung the deal as part of a plan to transform the Panthers from a freewheeling offensive team into one that could play the tighter, grind-it-out style needed to succeed in the playoffs.

The transition took half the season to gain traction under coach Paul Maurice and allay doubts, but Ka-Chuckie and Co. have revived the Spirit of ’96 in South Florida, when the lovable third-year expansion Panthers took the region on an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Finals. That ended in a triple-overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Panthers believe in ‘Bob’

This Panthers team has the talent and an upwelling of confidence that just might finish the job this time.

Since falling behind Boston 3 games to 1 in the first round, the Panthers have won eight of nine. Five of those wins have come in overtime. They have won seven away games in a row.

It took till tomorrow to score the winning goal in Game 1, but the Panthers put priority on making sure they didn’t give one up.

Veteran goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who started the playoffs backing up journeyman Alex Lyon, is finally playing up to his $70 million contract. He set a franchise record with 63 saves — including all 34 he faced in overtime — and didn’t allow a goal for the final 97 minutes of Game 1.

The Panthers believe in ‘Bob’ like never before, and he’s earned it while going 8-1 since an overtime win over the Bruins in Game 5 of the first round.

Heat inspired by Panthers’ win

While the Panthers rest up for Game 2 on Saturday, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo led the Heat back from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter, combining for 17 points down the stretch that also saw key contributions from Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and others. Caleb Martin kept the Heat in the game with 25 points off the bench.

Friday morning, veteran forward Udonis Haslem told reporters at the Heat’s shootaround that he stayed up for the entire hockey game and was inspired by the Panthers’ dramatic win.

“Those boys got heart,” he said. “I loved the look on the fans’ faces after the game, too. That was amazing.”

Had to feel for the dejected Hurricanes fans who still had a traffic jam and a drive home ahead of them before an early wake-up call. Panthers fans had the most uplifting winning afterglow to carry them through work on Friday.

Tkachuk expressed that he feels kinship with the Heat’s Butler, who wore the Panthers star’s jersey at practice Thursday and plays a similar emotional style.

The impulse is to say that South Florida has never seen the likes of two teams simultaneously playing in the semifinals of their sport. Yet it was only about six weeks ago that the Miami Hurricanes and FAU Owls both made it to the college basketball Final Four.

The rarity of what the Panthers and Heat are doing is heightened by both barely making the playoffs as No. 8 seeds and beginning by knocking off the top teams of the regular season.

Both remain underdogs in their respective Eastern finals — incredibly, the Celtics are favored in Game 3 in Miami despite their 2-0 deficit in the series — but neither believe it.

Best time to be South Florida sports fan

If winning is contagious, it has caught on with multiple teams in South Florida like never before. Even the under-the-radar Marlins are second in the National League East and just got the first major league win from 20-year-old pitching phenom Eury Perez.

The Miami Dolphins have amassed a roster of talent to raise expectations for the fall. The football Hurricanes appear on the rise as well.

But right now, the Panthers and Heat are the gift that keeps on giving.

Get ready for more late nights at the local arenas or in front of the TV. This could take awhile.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

The Florida Panthers are ready to write the next chapter of their playoff story in Carolina

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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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Panthers stay focused with series lead ahead of Game 2 against the Leafs

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TORONTO — The Florida Panthers are in a position that they haven’t been in for years, decades actually. For the first time since 1997, Florida leads a playoff series 1-0. They are also doing that while being on the road. 

 

For years the Panthers have been chasing teams in a series and for years it didn’t amount to any success. Before last year against the Washington Capitals, Florida hadn’t advanced past the first-round since their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996. They also had to chase the Caps in that series after dropping Game 1 at home. 

 

This year’s first-round was similar to that of 2022. Florida dropped Game 1 in Boston, and ended up in a 3-1 series hole before taking three straight from the Bruins to knock out the Presidents’ Trophy winners. 

 

On Tuesday night in Toronto, Florida walked out of the arena in a position this roster hasn’t been in before – they led the series after Game 1.


Panthers’ defenseman Gustav Forsling has made the playoffs in all of three seasons with the team. While Forsling and the Cats lead early in the series, they still go into Game 2 with the same mentality that they’ve had all playoffs. 

 

“We want to have the same mindset always, but we are still hunting here,” said Forsling on Thursday. “We want to get two wins here and go home to Florida.”

 

Road teams have dominated so far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Florida is no different. The Panthers won four of their five games on the road entering Thursday night, with those four coming consecutively.

 

“We like it, we like to be the underdogs and starting on the road is not a bad thing for us, it seems like,” Forsling added. 

 

Ever since the Panthers started their miraculous turnaround in Toronto last month to sneak into the playoffs, the team has been playing freely and it’s probably because nobody thought they’d be in this position. 

 

“You look at a year like last year, [it was] so easy for so long, then you look at a year like this year, [we were] really trying for so long,  I think we’ve grown a lot,” said Sam Reinhart. “The pressure isn’t really there for us, we’re just showing up and playing and we’re loving doing it beside one another.”

 

“Every night’s a Game 7 for us and it really has been that for a while.”

 

Every game being a Game 7 has been echoed throughout the Panthers room, at least to the media, since they were down 3-1 to Boston. The players and the coaching staff have been saying that a lot, even with the Panthers holding an early series lead in Toronto. 

 

“We’re trying to get to Game 7 in every series we can,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said in Toronto on Thursday. “This isn’t a marathon for us, we’re not here for two months, we’re here for tonight.” 

 

The Panthers will try to take a 2-0 series lead tonight in Toronto before they head back to Sunrise for their home stand for Games 3&4. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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Five Takeaways from Panthers Game 4 loss to Bruins

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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.

Five Takeaways from Panthers’ Game 3 loss to Bruins

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SUNRISE – The Panthers-Bruins series shifted to South Florida for Game 3 on Friday night. 

 

After a 6-3 loss at home on Wednesday, Boston returned the favor tonight at FLA Live Arena, taking down Florida in a 4-2 win.

 

Here’s the takeaways.

Florida fell asleep in the second period

After a fairly even opening frame, The Panthers trailed by a goal entering the second period thanks to a Taylor Hall shot that cleanly beat Alex Lyon.

 

It was a one shot game going into the second frame – however the Panthers only got four.

 

Florida’s best scoring period of the regular season was the second. They found the back of the net 101 times in the middle frame.

 

The Panthers came out of the break flat. They couldn’t generate any momentum going forward while the Bruins controlled the tempo.

 

Boston doubled their lead in the period off of Charlie Coyle’s first goal of the playoffs.

 

Florida was lucky to only be down by two entering the third.

 

Alex Lyon’s night ends early – Sergei Bobrovsky makes 2023 playoff debut

Florida’s goaltender Alex Lyon didn’t have the best of starts to his night. Just 2:26 into the first, a quick shot by Taylor Hall beat Lyon up high, giving Boston an early lead on the road.

 

Lyon was able to shake off the early goal against and get back into a rhythm with multiple cross crease stops on the Bruins. 

 

Florida’s offense was non-existent until the last five minutes of the game, while Boston kept piling on the chances. Lyon kept the came close for as long as he could, but after David Pastrnak beat him cleanly 8:32 into the third, Lyon’s night would come to an end.

 

“He’s played heavy pressure games and a lot of them,” Maurice said. “It was not a critique of Alex’s game (pulling him), it was if we are going to come back in this game it’s not because our goalie’s going to bail us out, it’s going to be because we are going to get a lot more action then we had, so what the hell.”

 

Paul Maurice switched to Sergei Bobrovsky, who started the majority of Florida’s games this season, but has not seen the ice this postseason. 

 

Bobrovsky finished the game with a goal against and eight saves. 

 

Florida still can’t score on the power play

In what is becoming a repeat of last season’s first round, Florida is three games into the playoffs without a power play goal.

 

Dating back to last season, Florida has scored just one power play goal in the playoffs, and have not scored a first round power play goal since 2021.

 

Florida went 0/2 tonight on the power play – pushing them to 0/7 in the series.

 

Sasha Barkov quiet offensively 

The Panthers captain has been quiet this series, too quiet for the skill he has.

 

Entering Game 3 he had just one assist and one shot on goal. 

 

Tonight it was much of the same story for him in the first 50 minutes of the game.

 

All of the Panthers lacked the drive that they showed Wednesday night in Boston for the majority of the game.

 

But it was clear that Barkov wasn’t making the impact you’d expect him to make.

 

Barkov didn’t get his shots towards the net until late in the game and he didn’t get on the score sheet until Florida’s last goal of the game with the goalie pulled. 

 

“It’ll be a five man game always, find the right combinations,” Maurice said about getting Barkov going. “I’m not worried about how many shots he gets there. When you’re not generating offense you’re looking for those kinds of players. Coach has to find the right combination.”

 

Through the first three games, Barkov has two assists, four shots and is a -1.

 

Boston came out hard

It was no surprise to see the Bruins come out of the gates strong after their performance in Game 2. 

 

After getting completely dominated by Florida in the third the previous game, the Bruins looked like the Presidents’ Trophy winners. 

 

They scored all of their four goals tonight even strength while outshooting the Panthers 35-31.

 

Until the last five minutes of the third, which had Florida throw everything towards Linus Ullmark in a last ditch effort to get back in the game, Boston didn’t look phased all night.

 

The Bruins played well defensively in front of their goalie, had another outstanding night on the penalty kill and followed their defensive efforts with offensive results.

 

Boston was clearly the better team tonight. Florida needs to respond on Sunday — otherwise they will be facing a 3-1 series deficit at the TD Garden.

Five Takeaways from Panthers’ Game 2 win over Bruins

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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.

2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs preview: Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers

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The first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs is set to begin Monday, April 17. Today we preview the Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers series.

 

(1A) Boston Bruins vs (WC2) Florida Panthers 

Boston: 65-12-5, 135 points (Presidents’ Trophy)

Florida: 42-32-8, 92 points (WC 2)

Head-to-Head: BOS 2-1-1; FLA 2-2-0

 

The battle of the last two Presidents’ Trophy winners will begin Monday night at the TD Garden in Boston, with the Florida Panthers taking on the best regular season team in NHL history, the Boston Bruins.

 

Florida’s last minute 6-1-1 regular season run was just enough to get them into the playoffs as the final wild card team in the East. Last season’s top-seed struggled to find their game as they finished the 2022-2023 campaign with 30 points less than they did the previous season. 

 

The Bruins on the other hand breezed through the league this year, winning 65 games in the season, which is the most in NHL history. They also set the league record for points with 135. 

 

Despite the 43 point difference between the teams, history has shown us that the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a 16 team race – with every series up for grabs. 

Goaltending

A hot goalie can steal you a series in the same way a bad goalie can lose you one. 

 

BOSTON: Going into the series, it is clear that Boston has the advantage over Florida. Linus Ullmark made a strong case this season as one of the Vezina favorites. The Bruins starting goalie led the league in multiple categories including save percentage with .938, goals-against average  with a 1.89 and tied for wins with 40 in his 49 games (48 starts). 

 

His backup Jeremy Swayman also had a nice season, finishing with a 24-6-4 record,  a .920 save percentage and a 2.27 GAA. 

 

The duo combined to win the William M. Jennings Trophy, which is awarded to the goaltending duo who conceded the least amount of goals against in the season. The one area this duo lacks in his playoff experience, with the two only having a total of seven postseason starts under their belt. Other than that, Boston really shouldn’t have any issue in net going into this series.

 

FLORIDA: The Panthers have a much more interesting goaltending situation compared to their opponent, which has been the story of Florida’s playoffs for the last three seasons. 

 

For the majority of the season, two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky has held the Panthers’ net to himself. Bobrovksy had a record of 24-20-3 with a 3.07 GAA and .901 save percentage in 50 games (49 starts) in 2022-2023. 


Bobrovsky has a plethora of playoff experience with his 51 games played (46 starts). The 34-year-old started all 10 playoff games last season for the Panthers. 

 

However, the man who Florida may turn to, at least at the start of the playoffs, could very well be the wild card backup, Alex Lyon.

 

Just a few weeks before the postseason, Florida was on the outside looking in for a playoff spot and Bobrovsky was sidelined with an illness. Alex Lyon had to step in and he clawed Florida into the playoffs with a 6-1-1 record in their last eight games, while putting together a six-game win streak. Lyon,30, has no NHL playoff experience, however he did win a Calder Cup last year with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL.

 

Bobrovsky hasn’t played in a game since March 27 in Ottawa, while Lyon has played in the last eight games. It should be Lyon to start the series, but don’t be surprised if head coach Paul Maurice turns back to his $10M goalie. 

Scoring

This area of the game is a lot more even than it is in the crease. Both teams were top 10 offenses this season, with the two sides scoring at over a 3.5 goals per-game rate.

 

BOSTON: Boston’s offense is carried by superstar David Pastrnak, who finished second in the league in goals with 61. The Bruins winger had the third most points this season with 113. He will be the most dangerous player on the ice for Boston.

 

After Pastrnak’s astounding numbers, the Bruins don’t have another “stand out”, what they have is a balanced team offense. Eight of their players scored 50 or more points this season, five of whom had 20+ goals (including Pastrnak). 

 

FLORIDA: Florida’s offense is a little more top heavy compared to the Bruins. The Panthers offense is spearheaded by two 40 goal scorers in Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. Before this year, Florida only had one player ever hit 40 goals in a season. That was Pavel Bure who got 50+ twice in South Florida. Tkachuk finished sixth in the NHL in points with 109, while Verhaeghe’s 42 goals was top 10 in the league. 

 

A large portion of Florida’s offense this season came from the blueline, with Panthers defensemen scoring 53 times – second most in the league.

 

Both teams relied on offensive contribution from their back end this season. Boston’s d-men had 205 points, while Florida’s had 204 — this was the second and third most points by defensemen in the NHL.

Two-way game

BERGERON: This series will be an entertaining one on the other side of the puck because of the two teams’ captains. Boston’s Patrice Bergeron will go down as one of the best two-way players of all-time. Bergeron has won the Selke Trophy five times, most recently last year and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he takes home his sixth trophy as the league’s best defensive forward. 

 

BARKOV: Florida’s Aleksander Barkov is the perfect counterpart for Bergeron in this series. The 27-year-old Panther captain is a one-time Selke winner himself and just finished another impressive campaign with 78 points in 68 games. Barkov will log a lot of minutes for the Panthers as they try to shut down the explosive Bruins offense. 

 

The blueline for these teams both boast entertaining players. Charlie McAvoy continues to be a top defenseman in the league on both sides of the puck for Boston while Florida’s Brandon Montour had a Panthers record setting season with 73 points.

 

With these two juggernaut offenses getting contributions from everywhere on the ice – yes even Linus Ullmark scored a goalie goal this season, it should be a fun back and forth series. 

 

Boston was the best team in the NHL this season and you can see why. They had spectacular goaltending, offensive help up and down the lineup, and they were led by a well-established veteran presence. Florida struggled to find their way to the playoffs, but now that they are at the dance, they have some top players who can steal them a series.

The “Lyon King” roars as the Florida Panthers close in on the playoffs

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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.