Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said he was pleased with his team's ability to play a 'basic game' when adversity strikes
It’s been quite a run for the Florida Panthers of late.
Thursday night, the Panthers played their first game at Amerant Bank Arena since the calendar flipped to 2024.
In what proved to be a full team effort, Florida overcame the expected lag that comes with the first home came after a long road trip and earned a resounding comeback win over the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 in overtime.
It was Florida’s ninth consecutive victory.
Now the Panthers will play their next four games on home ice, all coming against teams currently not holding playoff positions.
Before looking ahead and thinking of the potential of what’s to come, let’s get to Thursday’s takeaways.
A “mature” win
There has been a theme that has popped up in several of the Panthers recent wins.
It’s come in different ways, but there has seemed to be some sort of adversity that the team has had to battle through.
Whether its fighting through injuries, leaning on special teams, falling behind early or having to come back late, Florida is proving that by staying the course and not opening up their game is leading to a lot of victories.
“That was a mature game by our team, that was a heavy game,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said after Thursday’s win over Los Angeles. “We weren't at full speed, and I don't hold that against them at all. For the last two games I have been so very impressed by their ability to minimize their game in some ways, kind of get rid of some extra pieces to their game and get it down to a basic game.”
Cats lean on bottom six
Another trend that has emerged in Florida’s latest victories is crucial contributions from the bottom six forwards.
On Tuesday in St. Louis, it was the fourth line that was the spark that got the team going and scored Florida’s first goal.
Against the Kings, you may have noticed the third and particularly the fourth lines on the ice more often late in the game than usual.
That was by design, and it paid off in a big way for Florida.
“I thought the game that the Lundell line had and the game that the Stenlund line (had) gave us a chance to win the game, because we made a change in the third to run those two lines against (the Kings) best, and those are two really good lines they played against and held them and actually got us going with some momentum,” Maurice said. “It freed Barkov and Bennett up to play against some lines where they could get some action, and they did. I know how tired (the bottom six) are and how much energy they’ve got in the tank. I really liked the way they played that game.”
Bob keeps rolling
Sergei Bobrovsky quietly had another solid game between the pipes for Florida.
After not playing for five days, Bob came up with several key saves in the early stages of the game to keep the Panthers within reach of LA.
Bob finished with 32 saves, including all five high danger shots sent his way by the Kings.
He’s now won seven straight starts and is tied for second-most wins in the NHL with 21.
“I thought their action came early, and then after that, he’s had busier nights but there's a lot of traffic to the night, so even though there’s not necessarily a lot of big pucks that get to the net, he has to fight and scratch and claw,” Maurice said of Bobrovsky. “It’s like he's been looking, right? He's patient and efficient in the net, he’s explosive in the net, but we did a pretty good job with what we have in the tank, keeping the net clean for him.”
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