Florida is one win away from reaching the conference finals for the first time since 1996
Florida is one win away from reaching the conference finals for the first time since 1996
Playoff success is an extremely difficult thing to obtain, and once you’ve got it, it’s even harder to sustain.
The Florida Panthers entered the postseason viewed as a team that probably wouldn’t accomplish much.
They were the second Wild Card, the eighth seed, and they’d be facing a historically good team in the first-round.
Just reaching the playoffs, considering the obstacles Florida had to overcome this season, is a win on its own, right?
Yes and no.
Getting into the dance is an accomplishment, for sure, but it’s not the goal. It brings more of a sense of relief than satisfaction, because once a team gets that “x” next to its name in the standings, players know, ‘okay, we’re in, now the real work begins.’
For the Panthers, an extremely trying regular season schedule, combined with a typical amount of frustrating injuries and illnesses that come with a full hockey season, had them clawing and scratching for a playoff spot until the very end.
“It’s been a long grind, but the grind has made us stronger,” said Panthers center Anton Lundell. “We’ve been facing hard times together and we’ve battled through them.”
For everything they had to suffer through, all while learning a new system from a new head coach, the Cats now find themselves one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals.
Few people outside their dressing room could’ve foreseen this kind of success from the Panthers.
“A lot of things are going our way,” said Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad. “We're just trying to take it day by day and not look in the past. Just find a way to do the right things, day in and day out. Things that make you successful, and we’re doing it.”
The Panthers are a team that now find themselves close to a stunning second-round sweep of the heavily-favored Toronto Maple Leafs.
One element that has kept the team on a steady, successful track during the playoffs is that they don’t get too high or too low.
Even after Sunday’s thrilling overtime win, while the Panthers players were obviously happy with the result, there was no overwhelming celebratory feeling.
Sure, when the game ended, the players were cheering and clapping for one another after coming off the ice as music blared in the background, but by the time the locker room door opened for the media to speak to the players, the focus was already shifting to the next task.
“It was a big win for us, definitely, but we don’t really think about the series,” said Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. “We approach it as one period at a time, one game at a time, one shift at a time.”
It’s a sentiment that is far from original, but it’s one that several players have mentioned over the past couple weeks.
Every playoff game is a one-game series.
So while yes, the Panthers are leading Toronto 3-games-to-nothing, it would be far from the character of this squad to look past getting the next win. Not when making the ‘next good play’ or ‘next right play’ has felt like a mantra that’s been uttered by Florida players all season long.
“You just have to go one day at a time, one game at a time,” said Panthers captain Sasha Barkov. “That's our mindset.”
Perhaps part of what is making Florida so successful during this improbable playoff run is the team’s ability to maintain an equal level of focus and looseness.
Compared to its opponents, this Panthers team has felt no pressure since Game 1 against Boston.
There were zero expectations surrounding Florida. Not against the record-breaking Bruins and not against high-powered Maple Leafs.
The only ones who believed the Panthers could accomplish what they have so far are the players and coaches who have been giving it their all every single day since the start of training camp back in September.
There was faith in what the coaches were preaching, that the players’ hard work would pay off if they kept with it.
Just like a perfect storm, things appear to be falling into place at just the right time for Florida.
The Cats have been playing their best hockey of the season, and perhaps just as importantly, they have been doing it consistently.
“Just gaining that confidence, day in and day out, and just gaining a little bit more each time,” said Panthers winger Sam Reinhart. “We've had a lot of guys stepping up at big moments, and we're all trying to execute the same game plan at the end of the day.”
Florida now has a couple of days between games to rest, recharge and recuperate.
Extra time between games has been something Florida was not afforded as they battled through three elimination games in two cities before playing two series-opening games in a third city and new country.
With a 3-0 series lead under their belts, the Panthers can enjoy the bonus day off in a position they’ve worked so hard to put themselves in.
Just don’t think for a second that they’ll take their eyes of the prize.
“You’ve got to enjoy it, I think that's important,” said Florida defenseman Brandon Montour. “Obviously, it's still tough hand (to be delt). (The Leafs) are a heck of a team over there.”
Added Lundell: “Every game so far has been really tight, really hard. It says a lot about our team that we’re able to turn tight games to our advantage.”