Florida allowed Vegas to score more goals in Game 2 than they allowed during the entire Eastern Conference Final
The Florida Panthers know they have to keep the puck out of the net.
Everybody knows this.
Allowing the Vegas Golden Knights to score 12 goals in two games is no recipe for success.
"Obviously you can't let in seven goals in a game and expect to win," said Panthers defenseman Marc Staal.
If they were playing lacrosse, maybe.
But this is hockey, and the Stanley Cup Final no less.
The Panthers need to get their stuff together, and in a hurry, if they are going to climb out of their 0-2 hole and make this Final a series.
"We've had three really tough series," said Florida captain Sasha Barkov. "Boston is a good example, we were down, we started playing a little better and we found a way to come back and get outta there. Same thing here. We just have to work a little harder, work a little smarter and find the ways to win games."
When discussing the amount of goals Florida given up, the first place most people would look is at the goaltender.
Panthers starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had been lights out during the second and third rounds but has seemed a bit more human against Vegas.
To be fair, the play in front of him has left something to be desired.
"He was outstanding in Game 1, and he was as good as our team in Game 2," Florida Head Coach Paul Maurice said of Bobrovsky.
It has certainly felt like Vegas figured something out in terms of cracking the code that has been the Panthers defense.
The Golden Knights have done an excellent job of using Florida's players as screens while keeping strong gaps and using an aggressive rush game to exploit some weaknesses in the Panthers defense.
"They feed off their offense, that's the strength of their team," said Florida defenseman Brandon Montour. "(Giving up) five and seven goals, it's tough to win games like that."
Entering the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers had been playing lights out defensively.
Florida held the 52-win Carolina Hurricanes to six goals in four games during the conference final. Against Toronto in round two, the Panthers gave up just two goals in each of the five games.
Maurice was asked on Wednesday how the Panthers can get back to playing defensively as a team the way they did during first few rounds.
"Exactly, get back to it," he said. "I felt that in Game 1 there was offense there, we kind of traded offense, both teams. But I think we were looking for that almost to a focus. And it's interesting, right? I think Boston, Carolina and Toronto are top five defensive teams in the NHL, but we got enough offense in those games, but the defensive part of our game was lacking certainly in Game 2 (against Vegas).”