Florida trails the Bruins 3-1 in their best-of-7 opening round playoff series.
Florida trails the Bruins 3-1 in their best-of-7 opening round playoff series.
Cue up the cliché machine.
Backs against the wall. Do or die. Nothing to lose.
When the Florida Panthers suit up for Wednesday's Game 5 against the Boston Bruins, it's truly a win or go home situation.
A victory would keep the Panthers alive for another day, forcing a sixth game in the best-of-7 series.
A loss and their season is over. Florida's players will fly back to South Florida, pack up their lockers and retreat to their respective corners of the globe.
"It's essentially three Game 7's coming up," said Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura.
First things first: win the next one.
Boston finished the regular season with a historically good 65-12-5 record.
They only lost three consecutive games once.
It was three games in four nights, all on the road, against Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina.
One thing the Bruins did not do all year was lose back-to-back home games, boasting a 34-4-3 record at TD Garden.
Now, for Florida to come back and win this series, they'll need Boston to lose three straight home games (remember, they already lost Game 2 at home).
"You definitely always want to get at least one (win) at home, but we're not out of this series," said Panthers center Sam Bennett. "We've still got a lot more in our locker room."
During the first four games of the series, Florida has shown they can play at the Bruins level, and at times, have out-worked and out-skated them.
The Panthers have also made more mistakes than their division rivals, taking undisciplined penalties and coming out of their systems when trying to chase the game instead of letting it come to them.
Facing elimination, forget about razor-thin, Florida has absolutely no margin for error anymore.
"There's a certain freedom and focus that comes with an elimination game," said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. "You push as hard as you possibly can. There's all the clichés, there is no tomorrow…that helps you build your mindset going to the rink, especially when you've invested as much as this group has to get there. They've paid for a better result, and that's what will drive them in the game."
EKBLAD, DUCLAIR UPDATES
Florida held an optional practice on Monday at FLA Live Arena, with most players coming in for off-ice work and treatment.
Aaron Ekblad, who left Sunday's Game 4 during the second period, briefly returning before leaving again for good, was on the ice Monday in a yellow, non-contact jersey.
Maurice said afterward that Ekblad is improving and that he would be reevaluated on Tuesday, but did not say anything about a status for Wednesday night.
Another player whose status for Game 5 remains up in the air is speedy winger Anthony Duclair.
He was held out of Sunday's game after an injury apparently occurred, or was aggravated, during pregame warmups.
"There's not a mechanism for the injury," said Maurice. "He had some pain that he didn't feel he could play at 100%, or close to it."
Duclair also skated on Monday before getting checked out by the team's medical staff.
"We don't know what it is," Maurice explained. "It may be something that puts him back in the lineup tomorrow and we don't think about it, or it may be something that keeps him out.
Zac Daple took Duclair's spot in the lineup in Game 4 and recorded three shots, a hit and a blocked shot in 10:11 of ice time.
TKACHUK FINED
The NHL's Department of Player Safety announced on Monday that they were fining Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk $5,000.
The punishment stems from a cross-checking incident that occurred at the end of the first period, after the final buzzer had sounded.
During a scrum behind the Panthers net, skated up behind Boston forward Garnet Hathaway and gave him a hard cross-check to the lower back.
Hathaway went down to the ice and Tkachuk was handed a two-minute minor penalty, one which Boston eventually scored on.
The $5,000 fine is the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The money will go to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.