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.
from Greg Wyshynski of ESPN,
Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk went one step further than simply calling Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final a must-win for his team, indicating that the series hinges on what happens on Thursday night.
"You can't make it a series unless you win this game tonight," said the Panthers star, as the action shifts to South Florida after the Vegas Golden Knights won the series' first two games at home.
"Coming back home, I think it's a breath of fresh air for everyone. To take care of home ice, like we have all playoffs, and make this a series," said Tkachuk.
Florida is only 4-3 on home ice in the playoffs, but they've had some big moments in Sunrise: Avoiding elimination in Game 6 against Boston, putting a stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs with a Game 3 overtime win and then closing an Eastern Conference Final sweep against the Carolina Hurricanes.
continued
Vegas beat Dallas because they kept their PP off the ice. Seems they're doing the same to the Panthers....
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