The Panthers were able to gradually snap into form on Monday in New York, finding their rhythm and grinding the Rangers down as the game progressed
The Panthers were able to gradually snap into form on Monday in New York, finding their rhythm and grinding the Rangers down as the game progressed
There was certainly a postseason feel to Monday night’s matchup between the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers.
Florida was able to withstand the expected bursts from New York, which came out full of energy while playing in front of a packed house at Madison Square Garden.
As has been the norm with the Panthers, they were not negatively impacted by falling behind.
In a game that was under the league’s spotlight as a potential matchup of the Eastern Conference Finals, Florida showed why it’s a team that is just as strong mentally as they are physically.
Let’s get to the takeaways.
Improved as game progressed
Getting off to strong starts has been something the Panthers have, for the most part, done a good job of over the past couple months.
Monday against the Rangers was more of a neck-and-neck start, with both teams generating chances and controlling some of the puck.
That’s not what Florida is looking do to, though. They don’t want a back-and-forth game where both teams trade blows and we see who is left standing at the end.
The Panthers want to grind you down into nothingness, making it incredibly difficult just to get into the offensive zone, let alone hang onto the puck if and when you get there.
Once third period arrived on Monday, the Rangers were learning this lesson firsthand.
“We got faster as the game went on, which we really liked,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “There were some similarities to our last game. The power play goal that got us to even was really important because we seemed to have better legs after that. I thought we built as the game went on, and by the time we got to the third period, I thought we looked the way we like to look, and I thought our speed was right. We got to skating then.”
The magical Sasha Barkov
By now, you’ve probably watched what Panthers captain Sasha Barkov did last night a few times.
If by chance you haven’t, here is a link to a few angles of the play.
Those who have seen Barkov on a regular basis know he capable of doing things like that on a regular basis.
His puck skills are on another level.
It also must be mentioned that Barkov is having an excellent season that has probably been overshadowed by the eye-popping numbers being put up by his linemate, Sam Reinhart, though there is a chicken and egg argument to be had there.
Barkov has 15 goals and 62 points through his 56 games so far this season, with nearly half of his points coming on the power play.
Still only 28 years old, it makes you wonder what else could end up on Barkov’s highlight reel when he eventually hangs his skates up.
"I would say Barkov is slightly under appreciated in the season that Reinhart is having,” Maurice said. “Sam has been brilliant. He's a fantastic player for us. Sasha as well, he just doesn't have as many goals, maybe it's a little bit of a quiet numbers year, but it's the line and the idea that you make players around you better. Sam Reinhart has done almost the same thing for Barkov in that way, but Sasha just had a great year for him, and Sam has been fantastic."
And as for Barkov's unreal assist...
“Like most of the things with him, you have to go back and watch it on video because you just don't appreciate it live,” Maurice said. “The running joke in the coach’s office is we work on that in practice, but we don't. He’s a pretty amazingly gifted young man.”
Another soild road game
On the surface, Florida went into a very tough building and beat one of the best teams in the league on their own ice.
The Rangers two goals came on the power play, which leads to an initial thought of the penalty kill struggling.
That’s fair. The PK has been lights out for months and set the bar high in terms of expectations, so going 2-for-4 is more than likely just an off night.
It does help that the Cats picked up a power play goal of their own (the aforementioned Barkov assist).
But that also means the Panthers owned the game at even strength, outscoring New York 3-0 when the teams were skating five on five.
And as always, good goaltending was a must.
Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves on a night the Rangers’ expected goals against was 3.15, according to Natural Stat Trick.
All these are ingredients of a successful road effort.
“Sergei made a couple of real good saves tonight,” Maurice said. “I didn't think we asked him to be brilliant the whole night, but against that team, you're gonna have to make a couple. It was a good road game. (We were facing) a good team. They were moving pretty good, and we were I thought a little behind the pace that we play at, but I thought we got better as the game went on.”
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqwwQpRjVpc[/embed]
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