In the blink of an eye, the Florida Panthers got themselves back in business.
Florida picked up a massive overtime victory in Game 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, their first of the series, sending the sellout crowd of 19,832 home happy.
It was far from an easy night for the Cats.
They fell behind early, and the bounces were not going their way, but if there’s one thing we know about this Panthers team is that they are going to battle.
Now, with a much-needed victory in their back pocket, Florida will recharge the batteries before taking the ice in Game 4 looking to even the series.
Let’s get to Friday’s takeaways:
SURVIVED TOUGH START
Considering the Panthers came into Game 3 knowing they basically needed a win to save their season, it was more than a little surprising to see them get punched in the mouth on the opening shift of the night.
Toronto scored 23 seconds into the first period, and by the time the game reached the first TV timeout, the Maple Leafs were already up 2-0.
The Panthers actually were down by two goals twice on Friday, but they flexed their resilient muscles and pulled out an extremely gutty win.
“Well, we kind of had that start, we just overskated one, got behind it,” Maurice said. “There's just so much time left on the clock, I don't think it's hard to keep your group (locked) in. It’s a pretty veteran group of guys that (know) you should stay in the fight that you can.”
FOURTH LINE SWAP
Sometime between Games 2 and 3, Maurice made a significant decision regarding his forward lines.
In a move that we don’t usually see, he swapped out Florida’s entire fourth line.
Scratched were Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm and Jesper Boqvist, and inserted into the lineup were A.J. Greer, Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich.
Maurice then rolled his four lines consistently straight through the overtime, and the new group did not disappoint.
The trip combined for a goal, an assist, a plus-3 on-ice rating and 11 hits.
“They work so hard every single day that it just felt like we needed a bit of a style change,” Maurice said. “They play a different style of game. They've been good, they played really well for us in the last month and a half, like exceptionally well for us. I've moved single players in and out, but I thought if Thomas (Nosek) was coming in or A.J. (Greer) was coming in, all three of them needed to come in. They needed to because there's something there with the line.”
IMPORTANT SECOND PERIOD
Florida’s middle 20 minutes on Friday were very possibly their best period of the series.
Toronto was outscored 3-1 and held to just four shots on goal as the Panthers controlled puck possession and were more physically imposing that we’d seen through seven previous periods.
As Maurice said after the game, it was the first time that the Panthers looked like the Panthers.
“The second period was the first block of time we've had in this series that we looked to our identity,” Maurice said. “I think that would be true.”
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