Game 4 in Tampa finds Panthers with opportunity to sweep Lightning

David Dwork

Apr 27, 2024, 11:00

David Dwork

Apr 27, 2024, 11:00

Florida is expected to roll with the same lineup that skated to a 5-3 victory in Game 3

The Florida Panthers will look to accomplish something that’s only been done once before in franchise history.

They’re looking to complete a Stanley Cup Playoff sweep.

Florida leads their best-of-7 with the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 following Thursday’s 5-3 victory at Amalie Arena in Game 3.

Now the Cats will try to wrap up the series and give themselves some extra time to rest and recharge, but nobody is expecting things to be easy.

Several Panthers players spoke after Thursday’s game about the fourth game in a playoff series being the most difficult to win.

Going back to last year’s postseason, Florida was 3-1 in games where they could eliminate their opponent.

Two of those series – the second round against Toronto and the Eastern Conference Final against Carolina – saw the Panthers take a 3-0 series lead.

One ended in a sweep, and one did not.

Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said he will draw on those experiences when speaking to the team on Saturday, but the way he delivers the message will depend on the players.

“I’ll walk around the room in the morning and get a feel for – are they talking, are they not talking, is it tense, is it loose – I’ll get that feel, and then I will relate in my own mind how they reacted to the two Game 3’s (last season) and take my approach from there.”

At the end of the day, it will likely come down to Florida’s desire to win and Tampa’s desperation to stay alive, and which one will be able to show it more.

“Usually, these games are played very fast and very hard, but not necessarily any different than any of the other games,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “It’s the decisions with the puck. If you can control the desire, you play smart. If you can control the desperation, you can be very effective. It’s about controlling that emotion.”

Regarding the lineup, the only question regarding a change was whether forward Ryan Lomberg would get back into the lineup.

Lomberg has missed each of Florida’s last two games due to an illness, and while Maurice said he’s feeling better, it sounds like the Panthers will be rolling with the same lineup they used on Thursday.

“I wouldn’t be moving anything, I was pretty happy with the way they looked,” Maurice said of Thursday’s fourth line.

And on that note…

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 4 in Tampa:

Vladimir Tarasenko – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen – Kevin Stenlund – Evan Rodrigues

Kyle Okposo – Steven Lorentz – Nick Cousins

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdYWdIVQgEA[/embed]

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