Three takeaways: In-game adjustments, stellar goaltending propel Panthers to win over Pens
Florida didn't dominate the Penguins on Friday, but they played their style of hockey enough to scratch out a victory
The Florida Panthers faced a proud and desperate Pittsburgh Penguins squad on Friday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
Pittsburgh was looking to avoid a fourth straight loss and held a players-only meeting following their 3-1 defeat in Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
A talented Penguins team trying to play its best game was a great test for Florida, one the Cats would end up passing despite a wonky start and some questionable decisions.
The Panthers received a combination of tough, hard-nosed play and excellent goaltending, while some different line combinations were utilized to spark the team into playing the way it intends to on a nightly basis.
Ultimately Sergei Bobrovsky and the Panthers went home happy following an impressive 3-1 victory.
Playing their game
One of the big adjustments that Florida’s players had to make last season was transitioning away from being a team that leaned heavily on the rush game.
While the Panthers have shown they can master the defensive systems that Head Coach Paul Maurice has asked them to play, there are times they have slipped back into old habits.
Friday was one of those times.
Fortunately, the veteran roster was able to snap back into form.
“It’s a hard thing to do in the NHL, to not be where you want to be or playing the game you want to, and then be able to right it,” Maurice said. “The first period was more even that I would want, I think they might even have been a little bit better than we were, we had a post, but when you're home, you want to come out and kind of set the tone. I didn't care for our second period. I think we just got very happy in the up and down (game), which isn't a good recipe, and then I think we fixed it.”
Playoff-Bob between the pipes
Perhaps the main reason the Panthers were able to make their adjustments and earn two big points on Friday night was the play of Bobrovsky in goal
He finished the game with 26 saves, including 7 of the 8 high dangers shots that Pittsburgh sent his way.
The Penguins’ expected goals was 2.27, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Over his past four starts, Bobrovsky has a perfect 4-0-0 record to go with a tidy 1.50 GAA and sterling .963 save percentage.
“I think our goaltending has been really good this year, but there haven't been a lot of nights where we asked them to be the dominant player,” Maurice said. “There's been nights they've been very, very good. He said some great games for us, but tonight, Sergei had to be the difference in the second period, because that game's over and there's no coming back if he isn't as good as he was, then when we got to the third, than we were right.”
Shaking up the lines
Late in the second period Maurice began shaking up Florida’s forward lines.
Carter Verhaeghe was moved to the top line with Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart, Nick Cousins was moved up to the second line alongside Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk, and then Evan Rodrigues took over Cousins’ spot on the third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.
The change appeared to be the spark the Panthers needed, as the game began shifting in Florida’s favor when the Penguins started to find it much more difficult to control the puck and move through the neutral zone.
Asked about it after the game, Maurice played off the idea that it was the line changes.
“I think our game as a group just got better,” Maurice said. “At the end of it, when you're bad, it doesn't matter what your line combinations are, and when you're good, it probably doesn't matter much either.”
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