Articles in Florida Panthers

Open Post- Game 4 Of The Stanley Cup Final Florida Panthers/Vegas Golden Knights

06/10/2023 at 7:28pm EDT

The Vegas Golden Knights Still Hold The Advantage

06/09/2023 at 5:34pm EDT

from the CP at TSN,

The sour taste in the aftermath of their Stanley Cup Final Game 3 loss is gone for the Vegas Golden Knights, who quickly moved on to enjoying the nearby ocean breeze.

They're breathing easily up 2-1 on the Florida Panthers in the series, knowing fully they've been the better team so far. Taking a day away off the ice and away from the rink — but not too far away from hockey on this big a stage — the Golden Knights are calm, cool and confident going into Game 4 Saturday night with another chance to move toward hoisting the Cup.

“We’re not going to change a lot. We don’t need to,” coach Bruce Cassidy said from his team's beachfront hotel Friday morning. “We’re not going to beat ourselves up over (Game 3). We’re going to do what we’ve always done. We’re going to work to get better and keep growing our game and hopefully be better.”

The Golden Knights have only lost consecutive games once on this playoff run, when they were up 3-0 on Dallas in the Western Conference final. What followed was their best performance of the entire season.

That's still the blueprint, which could come in handy since that was also a road game. But there are still elements of what Vegas is doing entirely within this series that give players confidence, everything from going a surprising 6 of 17 on the power play and a perfect 12 of 12 on the penalty kill to solving Sergei Bobrovsky early and even Ivan Barbashev hitting the post late in the third period Thursday.

continued

Bigger The Better

06/09/2023 at 10:51am EDT

from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

Sam Reinhart came darting into the Vegas zone early in the third period Thursday, and for a brief moment, there appeared to be some daylight to get around Nicolas Hague.

But like so many instances involving Golden Knights defenders in this Stanley Cup Final, it came to nothing. Hague used his reach to deftly push the Panthers forward to the outside and nullify the threat.

It was a simple play, one which wasn’t otherwise noteworthy, but it’s something we’ve seen again and again in this championship series. The Panthers are struggling to get to the inside, Vegas’ big-six D imposing their size and strength to limit any sustained pressure near the Golden Knights net.

All of which made Florida’s Game 3 comeback win even more impressive, because again for long stretches Thursday night, the Panthers were kept to the outside, and 31 of their shots blocked.

It’s been a daunting task for Panthers forwards.

“Your (scoring) opportunities might not be 10 a game; there might be five to seven,” Reinhart said after the game Thursday. “We’re able to adjust a little as the series goes on. Try and play with a little more pace. They’re collapsing to the goalie. They’re collapsing to the slot. They make it difficult. So I think just timing and pace and getting pucks to the net at the right time is going to benefit us.”

continued ($)

What Could Have Been For The Vegas Golden Knights

06/09/2023 at 3:06am EDT

from Jesse Granger of The Athletic,

The Golden Knights were so close they could almost taste it. They were only 133 seconds away from a 3-0 series lead that would’ve put them comfortably in the driver’s seat in the Stanley Cup Final.

Instead, Matthew Tkachuk added to his rapidly growing list of timely goals, and Carter Verhaeghe added to his overtime winners, and we have a series on our hands. The Panthers held serve on their home ice Thursday with a 3-2 win to close the series gap to 2-1, and the Golden Knights must regroup after their first loss of the championship series.

The way it ended could’ve been jarring for Vegas, but the mood in the dressing room following the loss suggested the opposite. Captain Mark Stone stood in front of his stall, calmly and confidently explaining where he felt the team could’ve been better.

“We didn’t capitalize on chances,” he said. “I think we were playing a really good five-on-five game there. Weren’t really capitalizing on our chances. Overall, I thought we were playing a really solid game. … Kind of sat back a little bit, but (we have to) regroup and get ready for Game 4.”...

“Nobody says it was going to be easy,” said Jack Eichel, who added to his team-record 23 points this postseason with a gorgeous saucer pass to set up Jonathan Marchessault’s second-period goal. “You never want to blow a lead, but give them credit. They make a play and here we are, moving on.”

read on ($)

When Matthew Tkachuk Plays Hockey

06/09/2023 at 2:55am EDT

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

If Matthew Tkachuk really wants to hurt the Vegas Golden Knights, all he has to do is play hockey. The evidence was in the Florida Panthers’ desperate 3-2 overtime victory Thursday in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Florida coach Paul Maurice said before the game that discipline was a “touchy” subject for his team, which was like a climate scientist saying global warming is a touchy subject for the Earth.

If only global warming were as easy to fix (or at least acknowledge for some) as discipline. In the two days between the second and third games of the National Hockey League final, Maurice seems to have fixed the discipline problem with Tkachuk.

Florida’s best player, a Hart Trophy finalist this season and one of the best players in the world, Tkachuk spent more time in the penalty box (36 minutes) than on the ice (34 ½ minutes) during the first two games against the Vegas Golden Knights when the Panthers looked a little like 18 Hanson brothers from the Johnstown Chiefs and lost both contests by an aggregate score of 12-4.

No wonder discipline was a touchy subject on which Maurice, at least with reporters after the morning skate, did not much wish to elaborate. Presumably, his discussions with Tkachuk and the Panthers were exhaustive.

In Game 3, Tkachuk’s only timeout was in the quiet room, where he may have felt pain but no shame when tardy concussion-spotters from the NHL ordered him off the ice in the first period after the Panthers’ biggest star absorbed a hellacious-but-legal hit from Keegan Kolesar.

continued

The game highlights are below.

We Have A Series

06/08/2023 at 11:42pm EDT

The Florida Panthers won 3-2 in OT to make it a series, Vegas now leads 2-1.

What a gritty win by Florida, I almost had them buried but this team does not give up.

Next game is Saturday at 8pm ET in Sunrise.

Team Stats

Below watch the goals from tonight.

Open Post- Game 3 Of The Stanley Cup Final Florida/Vegas

06/08/2023 at 7:33pm EDT

Too Physical

06/08/2023 at 1:09pm EDT

from Steven Ellis of The Daily Faceoff,

On the morning of a critical Game 3 for the trailing Florida Panthers, coach Paul Maurice said his team has been maybe a little bit too physical against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Panthers find themselves down 0-2 to the Golden Knights, with the Panthers hoping to win at home today and Saturday to extend the series and avoid a sweep. But after two blowout losses, which included over 80 penalty minutes for the Cats on Monday, Maurice said the team needs to adjust how they’re handling the physical aspect of the game.

“I think the Boston series was more physical than this series,” Maurice told the media. “I think we’ve made this series more physical than it needs to be. We had 22 hits in the first period of Game 2. Prorate that out and you don’t need 66 hits in a game.

continued

Videos- Coach Talk

06/06/2023 at 11:06pm EDT

An 'Easy' Win For The Vegas Golden Knights And Florida's Long Layoff

06/06/2023 at 3:43am EDT

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

The Florida Panthers are trying to be tough. The Vegas Golden Knights actually are.

The Stanley Cup finalists were opposites on Monday, and not because the Knights ventilated Conn Smythe Trophy candidate Sergei Bobrovsky in a decisive (and easy) 7-2 victory that gave Vegas a 2-0 series lead in the National Hockey League championship.

For all the overt and cosmetic displays of “toughness” by the Panthers, who revel in their reputation as shift-disturbers, it’s the steady, unbending Knights who appear through two lopsided wins to have the nerve and fortitude that reflect genuine toughness.

Discipline is toughness. Only one team has it.

The Panthers were so tough they were soft in Game 2. They took two silly penalties early that led to a deficit and displayed little actual resistance around their own net.

continued

Below, Michael Russo of The Athletic on the Panthers and watch the game highlights.

NHL Short Notes

06/06/2023 at 3:20am EDT

* Jonathan Marchessault and the Golden Knights ensured that the largest NHL crowd in Las Vegas since 2019 went home happy as they matched a franchise playoff record with seven goals en route to a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

* Vegas moved within two wins of its first title by matching the NHL benchmark for goals through two games of a Stanley Cup Final (12) in what is so far the highest-scoring championship series since 1982 (16 combined goals).

* The Stanley Cup Final will return to Sunrise for the first time in 27 years when the Golden Knights and Panthers contest Game 3 on Thursday. South Florida will be hosting two championship series this week as both the Stanley Cup Final and NBA Finals descend on the area.

Open Post- Game 2 Of The Stanley Cup Final - Vegas Golden Knights/Florida Panthers

06/05/2023 at 7:30pm EDT

Video- Beating Bobrovsky

06/04/2023 at 9:19pm EDT

via TSN's YouTube page,

The Golden Knights explain how they plan to handle the physicality that the Panthers brought in Game 1, what Jack Eichel has meant to the team, the confidence Adin Hill has between the pipes, and being able to score four goals on Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Perfect Fit In Florida

06/04/2023 at 9:10pm EDT

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

During a 12-minute press conference on Sunday, Paul Maurice devoted four minutes to answering a single question.

The query was a byproduct of Florida Panthers veteran Eric Staal’s simple but powerful observation at Stanley Cup Final media day on Friday that: “This group needed Paul and Paul needed this group.”

Staal, 38, first played for Maurice 20 years ago in Carolina, so has known his head coach for most of the forward’s adult life....

This is the coach the Panthers needed and, according to Staal, the coach who needed these players.

And what does Maurice think about that?

“I have enjoyed this year as much as any, and in some ways more than I ever thought you could enjoy as a coach,” he said, already 150 words into an answer that stretched to almost a thousand. “I came into this league at a time when you just growled (as a coach) all the time, right? It's 28 years ago. You've all been around, you've seen the culture shift and how people interact -- coaches and players. It's completely different. But you bring a little bit of that (growling) with you when you're trying to take a team that hasn't made the playoffs in a long time.

“You are grinding. Like, you're growling a little bit. This was a different animal because this is so much fun. If you watch our game last night, we made some mistakes. If you've watched us play, we'll make some mistakes. But they play hard, right? Matthew turns that one over and I'm not saying a word to him about it because he's worked his butt off, and produced and been great.”

read on

It's Only One Loss

06/04/2023 at 9:41am EDT

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Paul Maurice is projecting calm.

He’s cracking jokes, breaking ice, and staying the course.

Just because his hockey team lost for just the second time in its past 13 games — all big ones, all against favoured opponents — doesn’t mean he’s about to lose his cool.

“It’s a tight game. Both teams make mistakes,” the Florida Panthers head coach reasons after his group blew an early lead to the Vegas Golden Knights and lost 5-2 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday.

“We lost the first game in the Boston series. Well, we got a little better. Then we lost two more, got a little better.”

Maurice pauses and addresses a room of quiet reporters.

“Everybody just (expletive) breathe.”

continued

Game highlights are below.

A Good Bet

06/03/2023 at 1:13pm EDT

Florida Panther Hope To Join The Presidents' Trophy Rebound Club

06/03/2023 at 10:31am EDT

from George Richards of Florida Hockey Now,

The Florida Panthers did not want to hear about the Presidents’ Trophy Curse last season as the Boston Bruins did not entertain any thoughts on it as the playoffs approached this season.

There could be something to it, however, as the top regular season team in the NHL has not won the Stanley Cup since Chicago did so in 2013.

But what about the Presidents’ Trophy Rebound?

The Panthers certainly hope that’s a thing....

Since 2003, only two teams which won the NHL Presidents’ Trophy won the Stanley Cup that season.

During the same time, three teams which won the trophy the previous season and did not win the Cup did so the following season — and they have all come recently as Colorado did it last year, the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and the Washington Capitals in 2018.

That means of the past six Presidents’ Trophy winners — not counting the Panthers — three won the Cup the following season.

Florida would not mind becoming the fourth member of that club.

read on

Your Stanley Cup Final Pick

06/03/2023 at 10:18am EDT

Who do you have to win the Stanley Cup Final?

Your choices are the Vegas Golden Knights (home ice advantage) or the Florida Panthers.

Leave your decision below and to show your hockey expertise, how many combined total goals in the SCF.

Results from the Conference Finals are here. Pay no attention to the guy named Paul who went 0-2.

original post was on 6/1/23 at 3:06pm

Video- The Players Speak At Media Day

06/02/2023 at 7:07pm EDT

via the NHL's YouTube page,

Hear from the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights at Media Day, as players join Stanley Cup Live prior to Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

Finally A Team To Be Proud Of

06/02/2023 at 8:45am EDT

from Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel,

Their head coach once was locked out of team practices by the general manager. Their owner once tried to use the No. 1 draft pick on an underage player by claiming he was eligible if you factored in leap years.

They let fans in free to games one year by showing a Florida driver’s license. Another year, they set a stack of free tickets for each home game at a sub shop by the arena. They then stopped such giveaways, but draped off empty sections of the upper deck for games.

To fully appreciate the Florida Panthers’ path to the Stanley Cup Final starting in Las Vegas on Saturday, understand the comic falls and you-can’t-make-this-up moments they’ve taken fans over the previous quarter century.

The Panthers didn’t just lose liberally. They didn’t just go a quarter-century between winning playoff series. They didn’t just go 12 years without making the playoffs and play in a way a team official privately joked their best year in that stretch was a season canceled due to a labor lockout.

They did it all in a way that almost put the fun in dysfunction.

continued

Ticket Prices For The Stanley Cup Final

05/31/2023 at 6:09pm EDT

from Matt Levy of the New York Post,

Either Jonathan Marchessault’s Golden Knights or Matthew Tkachuk’s Panthers will emerge victorious and get to hoist the famed silver trophy above their heads for the first time.

And if you want to be there to witness hockey history, we’re happy to report that last-minute tickets are still available for all seven games.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any bargain prices available for the high-profile series.

The cheapest tickets available we could find at the time of publication were $349 before fees on Vivid Seats for a game at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Ticket prices start at $424 before fees at Sunrise, FL’s FLA Live Arena.

Want to go to a game?

Here’s everything you need to know and more about the 2023 Stanley Cup between the Golden Knights and Florida Panthers.

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