Florida's fourth line has been a real strength of the team throughout the playoffs, regardless of who is in the lineup

Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice had some glowing remarks for his fourth line forwards after Game 1 on Wednesday.

The Panthers defeated the New York Rangers 3-0 in the opening game of the Eastern Conference Finals, led by a strong defensive effort, tight checking and a great game in goal by Sergei Bobrovsky.

An element of Florida’s play that was discussed afterwards was that of the fourth line, featuring Kevin Stenlund centering Nick Cousins and Ryan Lomberg.

The line brought so much energy and was so impactful, you’d probably be surprised to learn they only played about seven minutes together.

Interestingly, the Panthers player who was on the ice the least during Game 1 was the one who Head Coach Paul Maurice had the most praise for afterwards.

“It might be the best game I’ve seen Ryan Lomberg play,” Maurice said.

Lomberg only played 11 shifts over 7:51 of ice time, but he still logged a shot on three attempts while blocking a shot.

The thing that stands out most about Lomberg’s night is that he led the Panthers with five hits despite playing less than everyone else.

It helps explain why the 29-year-old jumped off the page whenever he and his line were on the ice on Wednesday.

“So (his line) didn’t score, so it’s not that, but the technical parts of his game, the energy, is always there and the physicality is always there,” Maurice said. “Those guys were sharp and on pucks.”

Florida’s ability to roll four lines throughout the playoffs while not compromising their aggressive forecheck, tight gap game is a big part of why they have seen so much postseason success over the past couple years.

Now, the team’s depth has caused a ripple effect with the Panthers forward lines that gives them no less than five players who can step into the lineup and provide exactly what Maurice asks.

As the coach explained, once the playoffs began, the fourth line group went from competing with each other for playing time to trying to life one another up for the betterment of the team.

It’s a good problem to have, and one that most playoff teams (including last year’s Panthers) would be a bit jealous of.

“When you look at our playoff run, we had Okposo and Lorentz come into the Tampa series and they scored two huge goals for us in one game, and that was the difference,” Maurice said. “There's a competition for the fourth line until the playoffs, and then they're competing together.”

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