Dave Hyde: Is there any magic left in the tank for Heat, Panthers?
SUNRISE — For the past two months, they’ve marched two-by-two through this spring of surprise, from squeezing into the playoffs as eighth seeds to beating their game’s top teams in opening postseason series to becoming the story of their sport in advancing to respective championship series.
Now our county cousins, the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers, share one final parallel path. And a doozie of a question: Do either have any magic left in the tank?
Both have been outclassed and are down 3-1 in their best-of-seven championship series. Both go on the road for Game 5 — the Heat to Denver on Monday, the Panthers to Las Vegas on Tuesday — knowing their season might not return to South Florida.
Both, too, offer a mutinous refusal to yield anything that’s been on display through their big runs. When Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk said late Saturday night after a 3-2 loss in Game 4 how the plan is to, “Just go out there, win one game, and force them to come back to Florida,” the remark sounded like Heat coach Erik Spoelstra talking after a similar loss Friday night.
“All we are going to focus on is getting this thing back to the 305,” Spoelstra said.
Their remarks were natural hope, a survivor’s sports creed that’s worked well for them. They each have been here before in some form, too. Tkachuk sounded like he did when down 3-1 in the opening series against Boston.
“Boys, get used to this locker room,’’ he said before Game 5 in Boston, “because we’ll be back here for Game 7.”
They returned, too, and finished off winning three straight against Boston.
Spoelstra sounded on Saturday night as raw and real as after that crushing Game 6 loss against Boston in the conference finals. “I know in the next 48 hours we are going to figure this out,’’ he said then.
They won that Game 7, too.
How much will Boston be brought up by each team in the coming hours?
Panthers coach Paul Maurice was asked this in the aftermath of Saturday night’s loss, and he spoke of the involved journey and hard work since in saying, “That seemed a lifetime ago.”
It was April 26 they trailed Boston, 3-1. Tkachuk scored the winning goal in overtime in that ensuing Game 5 to start a run of 10 wins in 11 playoff games over three series.
Tkachuk remains a large chunk of the Panthers’ story, though tone changed from his winning goal Thursday in Game 3 to a more sobering question after he sat out much of Saturday’s third period. He took a big hit Thursday and missed nearly a period while in the NHL’s concussion protocol.
That hit must have caused another physical problem that Tkachuk wasn’t talking about. Nor was he saying he was certain to play Tuesday in Las Vegas.
“We got two days off to assess that,’’ Maurice said. “Get some good rest and we’ll make that decision (Tuesday).”
That’s another unfortunate step the Heat and Panthers are moving in lockstep. The Heat lost Tyler Herro to injury in the first game against Milwaukee. But, if not as pronounced as Tkachuk, Jimmy Butler has played as if something is bothering him.
From talk of two parades in two counties, the reality is looking like none. Maurice talked of reminding this team how it got to this point, the problems early in the regular season to the progressive steps through the playoffs.
“We’ll tell stories over the next few days of the energy level in Game 5 in Boston,’’ he said. “We’ll celebrate it before the puck drops.”
They’ve won so much, overcome so much, neither team is capable of seeing the end. They see their top game coming.
“Because you have had inner faith and you’ve invested so much, you feel you’ve earned the right to play your best hockey in a difficult situation,’’ Maurice said. “All we want to do is get this back here, get this thing back home and give our fans another look at us.”
The Panthers and the Heat hold hands right to Game 5 of the finals. Either season can end here. Either, too, could add a happily-ever-after chapter to their great runs.
Both are asking: Is there any magic left in the season?