Panthers in ‘good spirits’ entering Game 4 following second straight overtime loss
FORT LAUDERDALE — After a dispiriting overtime loss to New York in Game 3 on Sunday, Florida coach Paul Maurice said he wanted his players to “keep the growl.” He wanted to let the disappointment power the team in Game 4 so they could even the series.
With puck drop for the crucial fourth game set for 8 p.m. at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday, the question is how the Panthers can turn the disappointment from back-to-back overtime losses into fuel.
“I think you sit on it a little bit last night; obviously, it stung,” Panthers center Sam Bennett said. “But you wake up today, it’s a new day, another opportunity tomorrow and that’s really the only way you can go about it. I think we did a good job. Everybody was in good spirits today. That’s where our focus is.”
Part of the reason the Panthers are in good spirits is because they did play well in the loss. They scored four times, coming back from a two-goal deficit in the third period, and appeared to outplay the Rangers for large portions of the loss. Most glaringly, the Panthers had 108 shot attempts to the Rangers’ 43.
“Why would we flush that one?” Maurice said. “We had 108 and gave up (43). Where can we get better? Where can we turn that into a win? Coming to the rink today determined to find answers to deal exactly with the whole thing, to take a look at it, make us better, make us a half-inch better, an inch better for tomorrow night’s game.”
The disparity in shot attempts was a rarity, but it led to questions about whether the Panthers should wait for better shot opportunities instead of peppering the Rangers defense and goalie Igor Shesterkin with pucks. But so far, Florida’s strategy has shown success: They scored three goals in Game 1 and four in Game 3.
“At no point will our game plan be, ‘Hey, let’s shoot fewer pucks for better opportunities,’ ” Maurice said. “We can be marginally better with the puck because we can make slight improvements with it, but we’re pretty good with the puck.”
Beating Shesterkin for four goals is a testament to Florida’s offensive performance. Shesterkin is a former Vezina Trophy winner and was 11th in the NHL in goals against average this year. He surrendered four goals one other time in the postseason and 15 times out of 55 games in the regular season.
“We know what kind of goalie he is,” said Florida winger Vladimir Tarasenko, who played with Shesterkin in New York. “But as I mentioned before, for good goalies, you have to create traffic, make their life harder and just get the pucks to the net.”
Getting pucks to the net did prove difficult on Sunday. Of Florida’s 108 shot attempts, only 37 got to Shesterkin. The Rangers blocked 37 shots.
“I think we have all the chances we needed,” Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen said. “But we actually talked this morning: We have to go to the net with a purpose, get the goalie’s eyes. I think we did that in the first two rounds. That’s a key point for our game.”
Florida will have to make sure it gets better for Game 4. The alternative is going back to New York to attempt a 3-1 comeback against the team that won the President’s Trophy. After appearing to be the better team in Game 3, the Panthers are confident they can take advantage of the good parts of their performance and minimize the difficulties they had Sunday.
“We’re very excited for the challenge,” defenseman Gustav Forsling said. “I think we did a lot of good things. I think they stretched out that game. I think we played just how we wanted and we created a lot, I feel like. We had a lot of chances. We’re not too happy about the five goals we let in, though.”