Florida Panthers - What's gone wrong in the Stanley Cup Finals?

Can the Florida Panthers change the momentum in this series and even things up on home ice?

By: Jesse Rosales

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Florida Panthers have been the Cinderella story of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. As we are now in the Stanley Cup Finals, it seems some of the magic has worn off. Are the Panthers about to turn back into pumpkins??!? The Florida Panthers weren’t even expected to make the playoffs back in April. The Pittsburgh Penguins were in the drivers seat and choked big time in their final 2-3 games. The Panthers got into the playoffs solely based on that fact more so then their own performance.

Before we look at how they can get back into these Stanley Cup Finals, lets review how they got here, once the Penguins handed them the final playoff spot in the East.

Regular Season Recap for the Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers had a very up-and-down regular season. After making the huge offseason trade in the offseason that sent John Huberdeau to Calgary and saw Matthew Tkachuk come down south, the Panthers felt they were primed to be a contender this season. That is not how things started out though. They had a stretch where they went 2-4-3 in November and 3-8 in December. In January, this team was under .500 for the season. They finished the season 4th in their own division.

The team really struggled with goaltending. They tried a mix of veteran Sergei Bobrovsky, rookie Spencer Knight, and Alex Lyon. That group really didn’t do anything spectacular, having a combined save percentage of .903 and a fairly high goals-against-average of 3.32. The defense also struggled. They had health issues with guys like Aaron Ekblad, who had a regular season +/- rating of -14, but even the guys were healthy weren’t performing much offensively or playing well in front of the struggling netminders.

A couple of shining stars were of course Matthew Tkachuk who is of course the MVP and heartbeat of this team. I know Aleksander Barkov wears the captain patch, but it is Tkachuk who sets the tone game in and game out. Defenseman Brandon Montour also had a great season by his standards. He finished with 73 points, averaged 24 minutes a game, and had a +/- rating of 9. The Panthers did just enough to make a final push at the end of the regular season and ultimately received the final wild-card spot.

Florida Panthers Playoff Run

Once the Florida Panthers made the playoffs, they were rewarded with facing the top-seeded Boston Bruins in the first round. The Boston Bruins were the President Trophy winners and were expected to sweep the Panthers in 4 games, or at worst, a “gentleman’s sweep” in 5. That is almost what happened. Boston had a 3-1 series lead and Florida battled back and won 3 games in a row to eliminate the top-seeded Bruins in 7 games. The hockey world was SHOCKED. No one expected that result, even Florida Panther die-hard fans.

In the second round, it was much the same story, except against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were fresh coming off their first playoff series win in about 300 years it seemed like. Unfortunately, I think Toronto let their guard down and were so happy about not having to play the Bruins in the second round, that they greatly overlooked the feisty Florida Panther group. Instead of Toronto pulling off the expected sweep, it was the Panthers who pulled off the “gentleman’s sweep” of the Maple Leafs. Again, the hockey world was stunned. People started taking notice of this Panthers team and elevating their status to a legit Cup contender.

Next up was Carolina, who had looked incredibly strong in their own right through the first 2 rounds of the playoffs. Everyone now thought “ok now we have a good even series to judge the Panthers by.” Well, what happened next was just as shocking at the first 2 rounds for the Florida Panthers. They said screw the gentleman’s sweep, and they dug out the biggest brown they could find in the closet to dispose of the Hurricanes in 4 games. Carolina was clearly frustrated throughout the series and was outplayed, out physical, and out-coached.

Its fair to say at all 3 teams that the Panthers have beat in the Stanley Cup Playoffs were a better team on paper. Yet, this is the magic that happens in the NHL at playoff time.

One of the biggest reasons for that magic has been the play of Sergei Bobrovsky who wasn’t even the starter coming into the playoffs. Since he came in during game 5 of the Boston series, he has DOMINATED the blue paint. Giving up 2.5 goals against average with a .925 save percentage which are significant improvements over his regular season numbers. The team has also gotten more offensive support from guys like Verhaeghe, Barkov, Bennett, and Reinhart. Then, of course, you have the Conn Smyth worthy performance from Matthew Tkachuk to lead the way.

Stanley Cup Finals

So everything was going so great right? Why are the Panthers all of a sudden finding themselves down 1-2 and now back in Florida? Well, to be honest, the Vegas Golden Knights have outPanthered the Florida Panthers. Vegas has been the more physical team, they are the ones controlling the pace of these games, and they are the ones getting the unexpected stellar goaltender performance. The Florida Panthers are now the team that is frustrated and losing their cool. You can see it clearly on the ice.

The Panthers can definitely get back into this series, but not playing like this. Vegas is too good of a team and playing at too high of level. The combination of Alex Lyons and Sergei Bobrovsky have allowed 12 goals through 2 games against the Golden Knights. A far cry from the first 3 series performances. The bright side is they are headed back home. If they win the next 2 games, which is certainly possible, then this becomes a 3 game series headed back to Vegas. The Florida Panthers have been a better road team than home team this postseason, but if they want their season to continue, they will have to change that in short order.

Can they do it? Yes. Will they do it? In my opinion, the Vegas Golden Knights are about to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, and they will wait until game 5 back at home to do it. Can you only imagine the party that will be going on down the strip on that night???! Man oh man. The Florida Panthers story will live on in Stanley Cup history as one of the most unexpected runs of all time, but I think the clock has struck midnight, the glass slipper does not fit, and the rats will have to head back into their rat holes for another season.