Florida finishes regular season 42-32-8
The Florida Panthers wrapped up their regular season schedule on Thursday at FLA Live Arena with an eye on the future.
Florida was chasing the game for most of the night and fell 6-4 to Carolina.
That means the Panthers will face the Boston Bruins when they open the first-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs next week.
It will be the first time the two teams have met during the postseason since 1996, a series Florida won in five games to springboard their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Thursday’s game was perhaps an indication of why facing Carolina in the first round may not have been the best thing.
The Hurricanes trapping style kept Florida’s offense sputtering and struggling to build out of their own zone for much of the night.
By the time things opened up during the third period, the Panthers couldn’t maintain an edge, as the scoring chances went from few and far between, on both ends of the ice, to a back-and-forth style that would’ve been fun for a full sixty minutes.
Alas, we move on.
Time for the playoffs.
FIRST PERIOD
In the opening seconds of the game, Brandon Montour was called for tripping. Seven seconds into the game Florida was already shorthanded.
A tone-setting penalty kill followed by the Panthers.
Alex Lyon’s first big save came at the expense of Jordan Staal after he was left alone at the top of Florida’s goal crease. Lyon snapped his pads to the ice and closed off all available entrances to the net, keeping the game scoreless.
It wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Right off a defensive zone draw, the puck found its way to Brent Burns at the point, and he blasted a shot that eluded Lyon to open the scoring.
The puck appeared to have glanced off Carter Verhaeghe, who was trying to block the shot.
Carolina was making it difficult for the Panthers to break out of their own zone thanks to the Hurricanes utilizing a two-man forecheck, or a 2-1-2 setup, throughout the game, mixing it up with a more traditional 1-2-2.
If the Panthers were going to generate offense through the middle of the ice, Florida’s wingers would have to get more involved and carry the puck more.
The Cats were granted their first power play with about four minutes to go, but it would be cut in half after Sam Reinhart was called for a high stick in the offensive zone.
Florida killed off the abbreviated power play and took a 1-0 deficit into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
Carolina quickly went up 2-0 just 72 seconds into the period. Jesperi Kotkaniemi picked up the puck atop the right circle and sent a weak wrist shot into the air that Lyon somehow missed, though Martin Necas was waiving his stick across where Lyon’s eyes were tracking the puck.
It was nearly 3-0 a few minutes later but Lyon made back-to-back saves on Jack Drury, who got in alone on the Panthers netminder after a bobble at the Florida blue line by Marc Staal.
Lyon continued to stand tall through the Hurricanes’ third power play of the game after Matthew Tkachuk was called for a cross check on Jordan Staal in which the veteran Staal brother seemed to embellish a smidge.
A big sequence had the fans buzzing after Jordan Martinook hits Radko Gudas at center ice, immediately after which Barkov hit Martinook. The puck ended up in Florida’s zone and Lyon had to make a big save on a Brady Skjei backhand. This all happened in the span of a few seconds.
Martinook appeared to get hurt on the hit by Barkov, skating gingerly off the ice, but he would later return to the game.
Once Carolina took a two-goal lead they really parked the bus on Florida, limiting the Panthers to just five shots during the middle frame.
THIRD PERIOD
The Panthers got the start they needed when the third period began.
Actually, it wasn’t until Florida’ second shift that they got things going, but it was the Barkov line that sparked things.
Barkov took a drop pass from Sam Reinhart, walked into the left faceoff circle and ripped a wrister past Andersen’s glove to get the Panthers on the board.
Two minutes and 19 seconds later the game was tied.
Anderson came out of his net to play the puck after a Panthers shoot in and Gudas came flying into the zone, forcing Anderson to give up the puck below the goal line.
Gudas pounced on the puck behind the net and sent a centering pass to Lomberg in the slot. He went top cheese on Anderson to tie the game, and FLA Live Arena came alive.
The tie game wouldn’t last long.
Just when momentum appeared to be shifting in the Panthers favor, Carolina scored goals 21 seconds apart to re-claim their two-goal lead.
A late Panthers power play brought some home but it would not result in a gap-closing goal. Quite the contrary.
An ill-timed Barkov pass through the neutral zone went straight to Shayne Gostisbehere as he exited the penalty box, leading to an easy empty-net goal for Carolina.
Anthony Duclair added his first goal of the season (scored on a goalie) to make it 5-3, and then 39 seconds later Verhaeghe scored with 1:23 to go, but that would be as close as the Cats would claw.
Sebastian Aho scored Carolina’s second empty-netter of the period, and this time the two-goal edge would stick.
GAME NOTES
- Lomberg’s new goal song is “Oops I did It Again” by Britney Spears
- In six April games, Barkov logged three goals and ten points.
- Florida went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill against Carolina, but 0-for-2 on the power play.
- Gudas finished with a season-high three assists. He was the only Panthers player to record multiple points.
- Reinhart finished the regular season with 22 points over his last 17 games.
- With six goals in April, Verhaeghe finished the season with 42.