Quick mistakes and failure to capitalize have led to Florida trailing 2-1 in conference final

For the second game in a row, the Florida Panthers left the arena feeling like they played well enough to win.

They also know that good feelings and participation medals get you exactly nothing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After winning 11 straight postseason overtime games, the Panthers have lost two in a row and now find themselves trailing the New York Rangers 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Anytime you lose a close one like that, it’s obviously frustrating,” said Panthers forward Sam Reinhart. “You could say we dominated, but you look at the mistakes that led to their goals so there’s areas of improvement for sure.”

That’s the thing about this Panthers team.

They have found ways to zero in on specific elements of their systems and made one or two adjustments that snaps the squad back into place.

Have they lost two straight games in the conference finals? Yes.

Were they a pair of one-goal, overtime losses that easily could’ve gone either way? Indeed.

Yes, Panthers fans are well aware they’ll get no sympathy from the Raleigh region. It is what it is.

On to the Game 3 takeaways.

Left a bit on the table

Looking at the statistics, yes, it certainly appears that Game 3 was a bit Panthers-leaning.

Whether it’s simple stats such as shots on goal, attempts and zone time or more advanced metrics like slot shots and chances off entries, Sunday had all the symptoms of a game that should’ve ended with a Florida win.

But as the saying goes, that’s why they don’t play the games on paper.

New York carried a surprising two-goal lead into the third period, and while the Panthers were able to battle back and force overtime, it was still a spot they don’t normally expect to put themselves.

“You’ve got the adrenaline, you’ve got the jump, you’ve got the crowd behind you, and you get a real hard push going from 2-4 to 4-4,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “I don’t know that we should expect to win the game outright in that third period just because we played real well. Our expectation at home is that we can keep it to two and maybe three (goals) that we give up, not four, at the same time, I don’t know how many pucks we put to the net, but lord knows we left most of our offense off of shin pads or wide of the post.”

Pleased with the team defense so far

After seeing the Rangers pop five goals in the net on Sunday, Florida has now allowed seven total goals through three conference final games.

Despite the shutout victory in Game 1 and tightly defended Game 2, questions are starting to pop up about the Panthers’ defending.

Maurice doesn’t feel there is any kind of constant issue, more just several unfortunate plays going in the Rangers favor.

Of course, those piling up would be a separate issue, but for now, a couple fundamental tweaks are being sold as the quick fix.

“I don’t think they’re overly repetitive. The two rush goals, one is a simple miss for us and the second one, it’s not a systemic issue,” Maurice said. “It’s certainly not extended zone time in our end of the ice. They beat us off the rush for an overtime game win, they got a puck in behind us last game…I don’t think there’s much there. I don’t feel there is a glaring area where we are being offensively dominated in this series.”

Not dwelling on tough loss

There is too much confidence and belief in that room for the Panthers to start getting down on themselves and worrying about being behind.

Between the players and Maurice himself, we’ve heard over and over how the bench never changes its demeanor regardless of being up or down a goal or two.

The Panthers have proven that also applies to playoff series.

That’s why it’s a safe bet you’ll see Florida’s best game of the playoffs come Game 4 on Tuesday.

“We’ll take the parts of the game we think we can improve on and we’ll look at those, we’ll take the parts of the game we like a lot and try to manufacture more of it,” Maurice said. “Keep some perspective on to the final score of the last two overtime games, one very tight, tonight there was a little more action, certainly by us. Count it for what it is, make sure we understand the accounting of the series is 2-1 and get after it.”

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