Florida played an excellent road game, imposing its will early and often inside the Rangers' barn
Florida played an excellent road game, imposing its will early and often inside the Rangers' barn
The Florida Panthers picked up their latest victory away from home on Wednesday night.
Playing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden may seem like an extremely difficult task, but for the Panthers it was just another day at the office.
Florida took the ice and flexed its defensive muscles, frustrating the hometown New York Rangers with a suffocating forecheck and earning am impressive 3-0 victory in the series opener.
The Rangers were able to slowly but surely increase what pressure they could put on Florida, giving the home team something to build when they look to even the series on Friday.
Both teams will find things they want to improve on ahead of Game 2.
Before moving on, here are the takeaway’s from Florida’s shutout win at MSG.
Brilliance from Bobrovsky
The game was more of the same for Sergei Bobrovsky.
He went large gaps of time without seeing any shots on goal but he was able to, as he has all season, maintain his laser focus and not allow his goaltending abilities to suffer.
Bob finished with 23 saves, including 11 during the third period when the Rangers were at their offensive best.
New York was able to get six high-danger shots off, but on this night, Bobrovsky had all the answers.
“I think you have to be a veteran goalie to do what he did tonight,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “Sit for a while, make huge saves and sense the last 10 minutes of the game, that's where he has to be.”
Fourth line steps up
One of the constants for Florida during Game 1 was the play of the fourth line.
The group featuring Nick Cousins and Ryan Lomberg flanking Kevin Stenlund provided the Panthers with energy and grit from their first shift straight through to their last.
Of the three, only Stenlund played more than ten minutes, and that’s due to his crucial shifts on the penalty kill, but each member of the unit still logged at least a shot on goal.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the line outshot the Rangers 2-0 at even strength and out chanced them 3-0.
“They were really the drivers today,” Panthers captain Sasha Barkov said of the fourth line. “They led the way. They were playing physical, they were staying on the puck, they were controlling the puck and were really good defensively. We love seeing that.”
Playing their game
The Panthers are a team that is very comfortable playing on the road. We know this.
Still, going into that building and being able to hold that team to 12 shots on goal through 40 minutes of hockey – a stretch that included two extremely long pockets in which the Rangers had no shots – was more than a little impressive.
One of Florida’s biggest strengths is in their physical, forechecking game.
Combine that with the Rangers struggling with their zone exits and it led to a lot of frustration from the team wearing blue on Wednesday night.
“I think we had a good effort defensively and we played the right way,” said Barkov. “We skated, we worked really hard, and that's what we've got to do next game. I know it's gonna be a lot tougher, so we just have to get to the next level.”
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