Dave Hyde: ‘We’re not done yet’ — Panthers are back in Stanley Cup Final
SUNRISE — As the seconds ticked down, the players on the Florida Panthers bench all stood up, not moving, just taking quick glances from the puck moving harmlessly around the ice to the scoreboard clock.
Four … three … two .. one …
Another chapter’s done.
The story continues.
“We are not done yet,’’ star Matthew Tkachuk said after the Panthers’ 2-1 win closed out the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. “We’re very happy the way these playoffs have gone. But there’s work to be done.”
The Panthers have been clear about that after each playoff series this spring. Heck, they’ve been saying since the first day of practice last fall how they’re out to atone for losing in the Stanley Cup Final last spring. Atone? South Florida wanted to thank them for having that surprising season. Now they’re having a more dominant one. And now just getting back to this high point isn’t enough.
“We want the Cup!” fans began to chant after the game.
The Final starts Saturday. Where and against whom might be decided Sunday night. If Edmonton beats Dallas in Game 6 to win the Western Conference finals, the Stanley Cup Final opens next Saturday night in Sunrise. If Dallas comes back to win the West, the next series starts Saturday in Dallas.
“We want the Cup!” the chant kept going.
It’s been a while since South Florida celebrated a title, hasn’t it? The last local championship was the Miami Heat winning their second championship of The Big Three Era in 2013. The Heat have been to three championship series since then. The Panthers lost to Vegas in the Final last year.
But no team looks more ready to win one since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh won that Heat title.
“Nothing like playing hockey in June,’’ Tkachuk said.
The Panthers got their first goal Saturday when Rodrigues grabbed a loose puck from the Rangers’ Kaapo Kakko near center ice and skated it into the New York zone. He passed the puck to Bennett, who put in the kind of perfect, just-under-the-crossbar shot needed to beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.
There was the story of the series. The Panthers opportunistic play. Their stars coming through. And, yes, their defense-first system clamping down on the Rangers.
“They win with their defense,’’ as New York coach Peter Laviolette said.
The defense was everyone doing everything. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped Jack Roslovic on the goal’s doorstep. Gustav Forsling dove to stick-swat the puck and prevent an Artemi Panarin breakaway. And when Vladimir Tarasenko took a pass from Anton Lundell midway through the third period and fired into an wide-open net they were 10 minutes from the Final.
“Ig-or,’’ fans mock-chanted.
Laviolette tried everything this final game. He changed his lines. He changed some positions. But after an even first period, the Panthers slowly took over the game, just as they seemed to each game as it lengthened. The Rangers scored with less than two minutes to go to add some suspense to the end.
“It was difficult to score, generating the equality we wanted to generate,’’ Laviolette said. “We knew it coming in, knew it from the last round, knew how they finished the season. They weren’t giving up much.”
The Panthers killed 14 off 15 Rangers’ power plays in the series.
“The Rangers were not able to impose their will at any point in this series,’’ ESPN’s Mark Messier said after the first period.
It only went six games because the Rangers won two in overtime. The Panthers defense held the Rangers’ big guns like Artemi Panarin and Mike Zibanejad scoreless. Now, possibly, there may be Edmonton’s bigger guns like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
They ran through a potent Eastern Conference of Tampa Bay, Boston and New York. Can they do the same against the champs of the West?
“They came back to camp with an eye on where they wanted to go and we’ve seen that all year,’’ Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
They’re back in the Final. Now the countdown starts anew. They’re four games from getting what they really want.