The hit numbers in this series have been unreal, but Paul Maurice has an unexciting explanation
The hit numbers in this series have been unreal, but Paul Maurice has an unexciting explanation
The Florida Panthers losing Game 4 of their opening round series in Tampa Bay is not the crushing blow that some may feel it was.
Yes, it was frustrating to see their opponents impose their will more than we’d seen in the first three games of the series but keep a couple quick things in mind.
1 – Tampa Bay is no slouch. They’re a very good team full of veterans who know how to win during the playoffs.
2 – Florida, also a very good team, still holds a commanding 3-1 series lead.
While it will be interesting to see how the two teams respond to this one, there is no reason that the Panthers shouldn’t be confident they can close the series out on home ice.
Let’s get to the takeaways.
More even strength
While the Lightning did put up a six spot on Florida in Game 4, only one of the six came with the teams skating at five-on-five.
A major topic of discussion throughout this series has been special teams.
Tampa came in with the edge, statistically, on both the power play and penalty kill.
Up until Game 4, Florida had done well to, at worst, keep pace with the Bolts, and at best, outperform them when not at five-on-five.
They’ll want to get back to that for Game 5.
“We know when five-on-five, that’s when we’re at our best,” said Panthers captain Sasha Barkov. “We’ve just got to play a little smarter. We don’t want to be in the box at all. We want to play five-on-five as much as possible.”
Showed some fight
The second period looked nothing like the first, and that was very good for the Panthers.
Tampa’s only goal was high moving shot between the top of the circles, but their overall zone time and opportunities were limited.
That’s because Florida possessed the puck so much more during the middle frame, bogging the Lightning down in their own zone for extended shifts and creating opportunities in high-danger areas.
Unfortunately for the Cats, they couldn’t maintain it from the second period to the third.
“That’s the way the game is supposed to look for us,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “We just got moving things a little faster…just driving, up to pace, up top speed.. You have to understand that you’re going to have stretches over time where you don’t like the way you play, but that’s just a phenomenal opportunity to cement who you are and what you do. I liked the way we were able to get after it in the second period. It was a bit of a strange game with the 5-on-4’s and the 4-on-4s and 5-on-3s and things like that. We’re gonna have to find a way to stay out of the box and then come back and get ready for a good one.”
Increase in hitting, but not really
There has been a lot of attention going to the amount of hits, not only in the Florida-Tampa series, but across the board since the playoffs began.
Could that be just because it’s the playoffs and the physical and emotional play always goes up a notch when the postseason arrives?
Speaking about the uptick in hits, Maurice believes it has more to do with how the NHL views and tracks hits than it does with a change in what the players are doing on the ice.
“There’s a new set of criteria for the hits,” said Maurice. “And I understand it's smart and intelligent, right? They want to create the criteria that catches the most hits and would have the least amount of aberration. I think that's the why of it, so they can get consistent with the numbers. So I think we just have to get used to it…there's going to be a 200 hit game coming up. Game 1 in Boston last year for us, I think we're in the 200s, so it's coming. That doesn't mean there’s more hitting in the game. I didn't find it to be a big hitter. It was a rubber. Kind of a chicken-armer, a little bit of that going on, but there wasn't a lot of heavy stuff.”
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