Three takeaways: Panthers thrive in heavy hitting environment, keep special teams battle even
Florida received standout efforts from several players on the bottom half of the roster, but one stood out in Game 1
The Florida Panthers took care of business on Sunday afternoon in Sunrise.
Florida opened its Stanley Cup Playoff first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning by taking an early lead and proceeding to push its aggressive, tight checking style, earning a 3-2 victory in Game 1.
Following a familiar script for success, the Panthers took an early lead and proceeded to check the dickens out of the Lightning, and it took Tampa Bay out of their gameplan almost immediately.
The Panthers also were able to stay even in the special teams battle, which should be considered a win for Florida due to a couple of things: how good Tampa Bay is on both the power play and penalty kill, and how Florida has dominated teams at even strength.
It also helped that Florida received strong play from its bottom six forwards and one particular bottom pairing defenseman.
Let’s get to our first set of postseason takeaways:
Lots of hits, but not a physical game?
The Panthers and Lightning combined for an eye-popping 109 hits during Game 1.
It wasn’t lop-sided toward one side either. Tampa finished with 55 hits and Florida with 54.
After the game, Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk joked that he’d never seen a game where every single player logged at least one hit, which is exactly what happened on Sunday.
Considering the high number of hits, it’s understandable that the topic was brought up after the game.
Interestingly, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice didn’t think the game was overly physical, despite the considerably high number of checks.
“Both teams have had some days off waiting for the playoff game to start, they’re gonna come out hot, there's gonna be some banging, and then it was over with,” Maurice said. “I know the numbers of hits in this game were high, but I did not feel like it was hyper-physical game. We've seen heavier ones. We got in the second period, the shots were 6-4, it was just a grinder. Both teams know the importance of playing well defensively. A power play goal was the difference in the game. I think both teams would have expected the physicality, it was there, and then more intermittent after that, and probably rightfully so. Not every check can be finished hard.”
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z-LiHjkhwg[/embed]
A big power play goal
We knew special teams was going to play a big part in this series, and that was true in Game 1.
Florida did well to stay out of the penalty box and limit the opportunities for Tampa Bay’s top-ranked power play, only allowing a PPG in the final moments after a late penalty call with the Panthers up 3-1.
On the flip side, Florida was able to pick up a big power play goal early in the third period when the game was tied, a lead they would never relinquish.
It was a particularly big goal for the Panthers because Florida’s power play had been struggling mightily down the stretch of the regular season.
“Probably from our game against Dallas in mid-March to coming into this game, we've had some chances on the power play that haven't gone,” Maurice said. “You need to feel good about your power play, and it needs to keep momentum for you, so that was probably the key part.”
Kulikov steps up
You wouldn’t notice just by looking at the stat sheet, but Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was one of Florida’s best and most consistent players on the ice during Game 1.
Kulikov played 13:15 of ice time, 20 shifts that almost all came at even strength.
He set the tone for the Panthers early with a crushing check on Michael Eyssimont that sent the Tampa forward’s helmet flying, and was extremely consistent after that.
Again, he may not have been particularly noticeable, but for a third pairing defenseman who is asked to do some very specific things well, Kulikov thrived during Game 1.
“Dimitri is under appreciated,” Maurice said. “I think the guys that play in the NHL that block shots, take hits, kill penalties, and I mean this very respectfully, play against the other team’s third and fourth lines, which are usually very heavy, those guys get a lot of respect in the room. They’ll take a hit to make a play, and it's a heavy hit…and he’ll give one back too, and then block a shot. He does all the hard things that are on the defenseman's to-do list. Toe dragging across the blue line and going bar down, that's for certain defenseman. Dmitry doesn't play that game. You’ve got to eat it…whether it's the boards or the puck, you're gonna eat one of the two. He does that every night for us, and he's very much appreciated in that room.”
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