Before the Florida Panthers faced the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night, Matthew Tkachuk stated it would be a nice roadtrip if his team won a game on enemy ice and split the series.
He mentioned his team’s need for a strong homestand after the game.
The Panthers are behind the Golden Knights after being outplayed throughout Game 2, ultimately falling 7-2 in a game that seemed to be over early in the second period.
With just over seven minutes remaining in the second period, Florida coach Paul Maurice decided Sergei Bobrovsky had seen enough of that disaster in front of him and took him the rest of the night off.
Bobrovsky will play in Game 3 on Thursday night in Sunrise, according to Maurice.
This was hardly the goalies’ fault, as Vegas did anything it wanted in the attacking zone.
The Panthers currently trail 2-0 in their best-of-seven series, with the next two games in South Florida.
Florida will need whatever assistance it can get.
“We have to prepare and put everything into this one game to regain momentum,” Tkachuk said after scoring a goal and being sent to the locker room twice for separate infractions.
“We’re sticking to our guns. We certainly need to change a couple things that didn’t work in the first two games. They are one of the finest home teams in the league, having dominated at home both regular season and in the playoffs. We have to start again.”
Florida pursued Vegas from the start, allowing another power play goal to Jonathan Marchessault at 7:05 and then scored approximately 10 minutes later.
This series, the Panthers have failed to score on seven power play opportunities, while Vegas has scored four times in 11 attempts.
Florida must improve in many areas of its game if it hopes to make this a series once it returns to home ice.
“We know there are parts of our game we can improve on, but we have to get there quickly,” Maurice remarked in a brief postgame news conference.
“There is no question about that. We’ll stick to a straightforward game plan. I don’t believe it’s about scoring goals in this series; I think it’s about defending the rush, and we weren’t fantastic at that tonight.”
Florida trailed 4-0 entering the third period, but Anton Lundell scored seconds later, potentially reviving the Panthers.
Were the Cardiac Cats back?
They were not.
Marchessault made it 5-1 little over two minutes later.
Following then, it was largely mayhem as a slew of players on both sides — primarily Florida players — were sent to an early shower.
The Panthers now have a few days to prepare for what may be their season-ending game on Thursday night.
The players will travel home later tonight and will most likely perform a full practise at the arena on Wednesday.
Right now, Vegas is in a terrific mood.
“You know, they’re halfway there,” Tkachuk remarked. “Hopefully, they’re thinking about it as they come to Florida, and that can work in our favour.”
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