Everything that could’ve gone wrong in Toronto did go wrong. Every fluke bounce went for the Leafs, Florida’s defense not doing as good of a job as it could, Bob letting in goals that fans know he could stop, and officiating that could be called questionable at best. Both games up north were winnable for the Cats, but instead, they found themselves in a 0-2 series hole heading into Game 3 and needing to win this one to get into the series. If you watched the Panthers’ Cup Final series against Edmonton, then you’d know that slow starts cost them in a couple of games, Game 5 especially. Watching this series against the Leafs has felt like that Game 5, but for every game. This time, though, the Cats finally got a game to go their way, and all it took was a new fourth line and an OT winner from one Leaf Killer named Brad Marchand. The series is now 1-2 TOR lead, but the Rangers had a 1-2 series lead last year as well. We’ll see if this one ends up the same way.
Slow Starts:
Two out of three games have had the Leafs jump out to an early multi-goal lead, and the Panthers needing to fight back. It’s something that Florida excelled at last season, yet they’ve struggled to do so this year. The Leafs held a 0-2 lead six minutes into the first period off goals from Knies and Tavares. Bob was unsettled early in the game, and the puck bounced off the far post while he was down right onto the stick of Knies, who had a wide open goal to shoot at for the early 0-1 lead. Tavares beat Bob on the wraparound after Sergei got stuck on the far post and couldn’t slide over quickly enough. Just like that, it was a 0-2 lead and another uphill battle for Florida. Barkov got one back off a puck he sent toward the net, and it got tapped in by a Toronto player’s stick for the 1-2 TOR lead with still more than half a period to go. Florida lives and breathes in low-event hockey games, and this series has been anything but. Normally, four goals should be plenty to win you a game, but through three games, there’s been a combined 25 goals scored. Compare that to the Tampa Bay series, where through five games the teams scored a combined 31 goals. It’s interesting to look at because the Cats had so many games last playoffs where the scores were 2-1 or 3-2. They’re actually scoring more in this playoff run than they did last season, so when HC Paul Maurice says that this team is better than last year’s, we can see it on the scoresheet, just perhaps not in the win/loss column at the moment.
What Are The Rules:
It’s not often you see HC Paul Maurice get so mad on the bench over calls or non-calls that he’s yelling at the officials and getting out from behind the bench to talk to them. But that’s what happened Friday night when they elected not to call a clear high stick to the face of Anton Lundell. It wasn’t a follow-through play; the puck was in the air, and Toronto never touched it. Per the NHL rule book, “A wild swing at a bouncing puck would not be considered a normal windup or follow through, and any contact to an opponent above the height of the shoulders shall be penalized accordingly.” The refs also elected not to call Jarnkrok for anything after he held Ekblad down onto the ice in the corner when the play was 200 ft away in the Leafs’ zone; there was an official staring right at it as well. Somehow, both those calls aren’t as bad as Evan Rodrigues getting called for embellishment after he was boarded and had to leave the ice to be looked at by medical staff in Game 2. All that is to say, the officiating has been baffling and especially bad toward the Panthers. The Cats do take penalties, that’s not surprising, and I won’t even argue that the officials haven’t missed calls on the Panthers this series. But they’ve allowed Toronto to get away with so much more through three games, including not calling the Leafs for playing the puck with a broken stick before Reinhart scored to make it a 2-3 game in the second period. If you’re going to let them play, let them play. Otherwise, consistency in calls should be demanded, set a bar for what is allowed, and keep it consistent across all the matches. It makes the playoffs so much worse when games are decided by the mood of the official on that day to determine what is and isn’t allowed.
Fresh Lines & Marchand the Leaf Killer:
Following Game 2, HC Paul Maurice decided his lines needed a mix-up. Rodrigues was promoted to the top line, Verhaeghe was put back with Bennett-Tkachuk, and an entirely new fourth line hit the ice. The mix worked well as the Panthers got goals from all four forward lines. Reinhart’s goal came off net front chaos, where he was able to poke a loose puck past Woll following Toronto playing the puck with a broken stick. Hard work by Tkachuk along the wall near the blue line let Bennett pick up the free puck. He drove toward the net and made a fantastic pass to Verhaeghe, who tapped it home for the 3-3 tie early in the second period. Verhaeghe had arguably his best game of the playoffs with the game-tying goal, a game-winning assist, and seven hits. Healthy scratches went to Samoskevich, Sturm, and Boqvist to bring in AJ Greer, Tomas Nosek, and Jonah Gadjovich. Florida benefited from a rotating fourth line last season, and it was the right call to make for Game 3. The Greer-Nosek-Gadjovich line had 64.53 xGF% at 5 on 5 and was only on ice for 5 goals against in more than 193:40 TOI. The bigger, more physical line generated good pressure in the offensive zone and was rewarded with a goal. A shot from Nosek was tipped in by Gadjovich and gave Florida the 4-3 lead heading into the third period. What felt like a game breaker of yet another lucky bounce goal for the Leafs tied the game 4-4 late in the third. Bobrovsky made the blocker save, but the puck bounced right off Jones’ shin and past Bob’s leg. So things went into OT. If there’s one thing about the Panthers in OT it’s that they’re pretty damn good at it in the playoffs. The Cats are 13-2 in their last 15 playoff OT games. There were chances for both sides, but Bob came up with two huge stops on Toronto breakaways. It would be Leaf Killer Brad Marchand who had the OT winner later in the period to lift the Cats to a 5-4 win, ironically off a shot that bounced off a Leaf defender and over the head of Woll. Marchand has been stellar for Florida and driving the third line with 2 goals, 6 assists, +8, and 63.57 xGF% at 5v5. He wrote himself into Panther history books as the oldest player in franchise history to score an OT goal. He’s now tied with Henri Richard for third-most playoff points against the Leafs at 33; he trails Alex Delvecchio by two points, Gordie Howe owns the record at 53. It’s a 1-2 series now, and this could be far from over. Game 4 still feels like a must-win for Florida to make it a best-of-3.
ITR 37: Round Two – Inside The Rink
Discover more from Inside The Rink
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
