There were 48 penalty minutes and three misconducts called on Florida during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final
The Florida Panthers are used to being behind the eight ball.
Even during the team’s impressive stretch of 11 wins in 12 games, a run that was snapped during Saturday’s 5-2 loss in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, Florida has dealt with its fair share of adversity.
The Cats gave grown accustomed to having to scratch and claw their way out of bad situations, whether it be inopportune penalties, surrendering late leads or playing through several sudden death overtime sessions.
That’s why it’s no surprise the Panthers have remained their relaxed, confident selves despite dropping the first game of the Final in Vegas.
“I thought it was pretty competitive,” Florida forward Eric Staal said of Game 1. “We've got to learn a little bit with the penalties. That’s too many. We can't take that many penalties this time of year and expect success offensively. It's tough, it's tight out there. I think we can learn from some of that, and we will, and we'll be ready for Game 2.”
Florida has found success during the postseason by playing on the physical edge, punishing opponents with a bruising and relentless forecheck.
Does playing with a more hard-nosed mindset lead to a bit more of the extracurricular, post-whistle aggression? Perhaps.
But the Panthers are comfortable with how they play and the reputation that comes with it, and why not? It’s gotten them this far.
“That's kind of who we are at this point,” said Lomberg. “We'll learn from (Game 1) what we can, but at the same time, at the end of the day, we're a hard team, so we're going to stay hard.”
“We’re not going to pull off the physicality,” added Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “We can’t. It’s what we do well.”
Finding the balance between being that violent, antagonistic team on the ice and one that remains loose and relaxed off the ice has been the key for Florida.
Of course, that has always been a bit easier with seemingly everyone picking against the eight-seed Panthers throughout their remarkable playoff run.
Now here they are, trailing in a series that few picked them to win.
“We are definitely comfortable in these situations,” said Panthers forward Zac Dalpe. “What it stems from, I think it's just the room. I know that's kind of a run of the mill answer but we're a light group in there. We like to have fun. And I think that kind of calms the nerves down a bit. We went down one-nothing against Boston, trailed behind before, we're definitely comfortable and just treating (Game 2) like another game.”