Three takeaways: Tough game for good goaltending, timely penalty kill highlight Panthers road win
Florida scored five goals, but much of the Cats success started in their own end
The Florida Panthers kicked off their five-game road trip in brisk Columbus, Ohio with an early afternoon workout with the Blue Jackets.
A game that was quick and mostly quiet for two periods exploded into a contentious battle that appeared to be between fierce rivals, one in which the Panthers came out on top by a 5-2 margin.
It was the third straight victory for Florida, and it extended the Panthers’ road points streak to five games (4-0-1).
Solid road win
Considering the Panthers were the visiting team on Sunday, they had to be pleased with how much of the possession they controlled.
They struggled with limiting odd-man opportunities for Columbus early in the game, though the majority came immediately off either extended zone time or a high-end scoring chance, as opposed to off turnovers and bad line changes.
“We were pretty darn consistent. I don't think we had a lull, we had a handful of extended offensive zone shifts, they had a couple on us, but it was pretty consistent,” Maurice said afterwards.
Penalty kill comes up big
Florida’s penalty killing unit was only called upon twice, but those two kills came at a crucial time for the Panthers.
There were no penalties called in either of the first two periods, but boy did things change during the third.
The Panthers were forced to kill a pair of minor penalties during the first five minutes of the period, doing so while clinging to a one-goal lead.
After the game, Maurice explained the success started at the start.
“It was really good, we were in a pretty good rhythm,” Maurice said. “They were strong on faceoffs. That was a little bit different than our two previous games where we got hemmed down a little bit on the PK, but we won most of those draws, got the clear, and then we were able to keep them out of any kind of rhythm.”
Stolarz solid when it counted
Maurice called upon his backup goaltender for Sunday’s early afternoon road battle with the Blue Jackets.
It’s a non-traditional situation, playing an NHL game at 1 p.m., and having to do it on the road just compounds the situation.
What also didn’t help was that the Panthers controlled the majority of the possession, which can sometimes make it difficult for a a goaltender to remain engaged in a game.
Anthony Stolarz finished with 17 saves for Florida, including four of the five high danger shots he faced, according to Natural Stat Trick.
“Those games are tougher, especially for backup guys, because they get in and they don't get a lot of work. So (Columbus) had shot attempts, but they didn't have a lot of pucks that got to the net tonight. We gave up 19 (shots),” Maurice said. “So it’s mentally hard to stay (in the game), and then you get into third and it's a one goal game and you really feel that the next goal is absolutely a momentum goal. If they tie that game on the first two power plays they had in the third, we’ve got a real problem. He made big saves there. That was his piece, that five-minute block at the start of the third period where he did his part to help us win the game.”
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