That was a match that was Florida Panther hockey from start to finish. The Cats came into home ice down 0-2 and needed to win both games at home to get back into the series. Florida rose to the occasion, took the 2-0 shutout win on Sunday, and tied the series 2-2 heading into Game 5 back in Toronto on Wednesday. So far this series, the home team has yet to lose, which would favor the Leafs should this go to a Game 7. But if the Panthers can grab Game 5 in Toronto and break that streak, it’d be a huge swing in the series for Florida. The Cats played hard defensively, Playoff Bob was back in the building, and two of Florida’s big guns scored the goals. The chippiness and nastiness of the series ramped up this game with OEL making a gnarly hit on Rodrigues and Domi taking a run at Barkov as time expired, which of course set off the Panthers. It was a carousel of penalties all night long.
Bobby & The Defense:
Two things that struggled through the first three games were the defense not playing to the level that fans know it can, and Bob letting in goals he normally saves. Both those things had a huge get-right game in Game 4. The Cats’ suffocating defense was back on the ice and shut down Toronto’s offense, but most importantly, they weren’t giving up a breakaway every third shift. Nylander still had one, but Forsling, with a huge effort, was able to get back and disrupt the chance enough for Bob to make the save on it. The PK also came up big as Toronto got three power plays in the second period. The penalty kill went a perfect 3/3, including one of the kills having Forsling and Ekblad out for the full two minutes and Marchand and Lundell being out there for 1:45. Bobby was, as always, their best penalty killer. He was back in peak playoff form, and the defense did a great job of boxing out the Leafs to allow him to see the puck. Bob became the first goalie in the playoffs to have multiple shutouts, stopping all 23 shots that came his way. He also became the first goalie to have multiple shutouts in back-to-back postseasons since Cam Talbot (2020 & 2021). His biggest save of the night came on a rebound shot from Max Domi, where Bob made a quick move and got his pad on the puck, and the defense cleared it. His efforts earned him 1st Star honors. In their post-game interview, Sam Bennett and Gustav Forsling spoke about how much confidence the team has in Bob while he’s in the net. Bob was quick to give credit to his teammates for the shutout and their support in front of him during his media availability.
Playoff Verhaeghe & Bennett:
In a season where so much hasn’t gone Carter’s way, it’s starting to look like he’s back to the Verhaeghe fans know and love. After a goal and a game-winning assist in Game 3, Carter broke the ice in Game 4 on a simply lovely power-play goal in the first period. The Panthers, on their 4th power play of the opening period, finally converted into a 1-0 lead. Florida won the faceoff, then a shot by Jones was saved, but Barkov got to the puck in the corner first to make the pass to Tkachuk. Tkachuk then found an open Verhaeghe on the far side, and with Woll focused on Tkachuk, Carter had a wide-open net for the one-timer. That extends Verhaeghe’s franchise-leading postseason goals to 30, and he’s now one of five players to have scored 30 playoff goals since 2021; the others are MacKinnon, Hyman, McDavid, and Draisaitl. HC Paul Maurice said in his post-game interview that Carter has been Florida’s most consistent forward since the playoffs started and that playoff hockey is something he understands. It looks like moving Verhaeghe back to the second line with Bennett and Tkachuk has been the right move for this series. Speaking of Bennett, he scored his 5th goal of the postseason to lead the team, and he’s tied with seven other Panthers for most points on the team; Marchand, Barkov, Verhaeghe, Reinhart, Lundell, Luostarinen, and Tkachuk all have 8 points in addition to Bennett. Bennett, in the third period, picked up a puck in the neutral zone that Ekblad had gotten ahead. As Sam drove to the net, he surveyed for a possible pass. As nothing opened up, he opted to embrace patience and made a cutback move to get around Woll. With Verhaeghe pulling the two defenders to cover him, Bennett had plenty of space to take a shot that went in for the 2-0 lead. Sam’s been fantastic all season long for the Cats, and the playoffs have been no different.
Penalty Carousel:
Is it really a Panthers’ game if there aren’t a million penalties? Penalties in the first all went against the Leafs with Domi (high-sticking), McMann (boarding), Knies (hooking), and OEL (delay of game) being called for infractions. The second period felt like there were possibly some make-up calls happening, but it’s up for debate whether the penalties were soft or not. Luostarinen (holding), Bennett (tripping), and Lundell (tripping) got called for the Panthers, Marner (tripping) was called for the Leafs, negating part of their power play. OEL got called a second time, this time for interference off a hit that sent Rodrigues to the dressing room and out of the rest of the game. HC Paul Maurice said more evaluation is needed as of Monday morning. The hit was originally called a major before the officials reduced it to a two-minute minor. If there’s one thing teams should know better than to do, it’s to go after Sasha Barkov. The Panthers, as a team, are protective of all their teammates, but especially their captain. Domi took a run at Barkov in the dying seconds of the game, which led to every single Cat on the ice jumping in to defend Sasha. Luostarinen and Ekblad immediately went after Domi upon seeing the hit, and a brawl broke out with everyone getting involved. Domi was given a boarding major and fined $5k by DoPS, Ekbald, Marchand, & McMann were all given 10-minute misconducts. The game was over, so those penalties don’t mean much, but this could carry over into Game 5 on Wednesday. The Panthers play some of their best hockey when the emotions are running high, and if they can pull the Leafs into not playing hockey like they did the Bruins last year, then the Cats are winning the mental game part of the playoffs.
ITR 38: Quenneville is a Duck – Inside The Rink
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