Despite playing through injury, Gus Forsling came up big for Florida when they needed it most
Despite playing through injury, Gus Forsling came up big for Florida when they needed it most
The Florida Panthers sent a packed Amerant Bank Arena home happy on Saturday night following a thrilling 3-2 comeback win in overtime.
Florida defeated the Washington Capitals thanks to a late power play goal from Sasha Barkov, an overtime winner from Gustav Forsling and another strong effort in goal from Anthony Stolarz.
It was a night where the Panthers did not look like their usual, dominant selves.
Perhaps that had to do with Florida missing two everyday forwards who play multiple roles.
Perhaps it had to do with the team’s scoring outburst in Tampa last weekend.
Let’s dive into the takeaways and explore.
Forsling OT hero
It’s been an interesting few days for Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling.
He left Thursday’s 1-0 loss in Carolina after suffering an injury during the first period and was considered day-to-day before getting the green light to play on Saturday against Washington.
Not only did Forsling come up with the overtime winner – the third of his career and second with the Panthers – but he also made a key defensive play just before the goal, as the Capitals were coming into Florida’s zone on a 3-on-1.
Overall, Forsling looked like his usual, high-end defensive self, though according to his head coach, he was battling through whatever kept him from Thursday’s game.
“Gus was good tonight,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said. “It wasn’t easy for him. He had to fight through it.”
Playing a desperate team
The majority of Florida’s games for the rest of the season are going to come against teams who are either already in a playoff spot or fighting to obtain one.
That means they’re going to regularly face teams willing to do anything and everything possible to earn whatever points they can.
It’s a familiar position for the Panthers, who squeaked into last season’s playoffs by one point during the final games on the schedule.
Maurice recognized that after the win.
“If they win that game tonight, at that point they would be five points out (of a playoff spot) with three games in hand, so they’re fighting for everything," Maurice said. "Their goalie did make a few saves, I just didn't think that we were anywhere near where we would like to be. I also know that in 82 (games), you're not going to be, so you need to get the points when you can, even on the nights that you're not at your best. We seemed disjointed at times during the game and we rarely are off script, in terms of at least how we approach it, what we're going to try to, do but our forecheck was unusual.”
Which begs the question…
How much of that "disjointed" play had to do with Florida missing two of its usual forwards?
Both Matthew Tkachuk and Kevin Stenlund missed Saturday’s game due to injury.
They are two key forwards who each play integral roles on special teams and at even strength.
“None if it,” Maurice quickly answered. “That's the thing, that's the importance of an understood system is anybody can play it. You get varying degrees of offensive success when you play it, but everybody would understand the page.
“I still think we're working through scoring nine goals (against Tampa Bay). It just doesn't happen. And then all of a sudden, you decide there’s a different kind of offense that we can have. Which is a good thing to go through. We're still winning games and playing well, but each block of time – there's been two other blocks this year, and they've been short, where I didn’t love the way we were playing it – we came out of that hot and strong. I haven't loved two have our last three games, parts of them, and I'm not trying to be disrespectful to the other team. I think Ottawa has found their groove and they're dangerous at this time of year. These guys (Washington) just went in and beat Tampa, they're beating good teams and their fighting for their lives. At the same time, we have a certain standard of play. I don't think we were quite there yet.”
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