Defending champion Panthers are unfazed after dropping Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Oilers

After dropping Game 1 in time beyond regulation after a puck over the glass penalty put Edmonton on the facility play, the Panthers haven’t misplaced any of the assumption they carried into the collection. In a 3rd consecutive remaining, the defending champions are unfazed by their deficit and seem nicely geared up to bounce again in Game 2 on Friday night time.

“We’ve got a lot of battle scars on us from the last few years, and we’ve been through way worse,” winger Matthew Tkachuk mentioned Thursday. “We might be higher, we will alter a couple of issues and are available out tomorrow and attempt to get a win right here and get some momentum going again house.”

A win would even issues up and put the strain proper again on reigning playoff MVP Connor McDavid, Game 1-winning goal-scorer Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers with play shifting to Sunrise subsequent week. Even a loss wouldn’t put the Panthers into determined straits.

They dropped the primary two within the second spherical towards Toronto and trailed 2-0 and 3-1 in Game 3 earlier than rallying to win that night time and beat the Maple Leafs in seven. Even for Florida’s newcomers, it was proof that this workforce does not go down straightforward.

“You’re going to have moments in the game and moments in a series that you’re going to be riding a roller coaster,” defenseman Nate Schmidt mentioned. “This team, I think, has an incredible ability to be able to not only learn from what they’ve done and apply their experience into situations like this.”

Coach Paul Maurice downplayed it as “simply expertise,” as if each workforce within the NHL or any sport is aware of what it’s prefer to make this many deep playoff runs in a row and look borderline unstoppable. Because of that success, the Panthers are who they’re, and never numerous main changes are anticipated.

“It’s almost always an adjustment back to form: We were a little off here, we can be a little bit better,” Maurice mentioned. “Nobody’s altering a significant system. It takes months and years to try this. You’re changes again to type, however I feel they’ve a fairly robust understanding of their basis.”

Panthers gamers appear to have a fairly robust understanding of how playoff hockey works. They’ve gained 10 of 11 playoff collection since Maurice grew to become coach and Tkachuk arrived in a commerce from Calgary in the summertime of 2022.

The solely time they have been on the unsuitable aspect of a handshake line throughout this stretch was the 2023 remaining towards Vegas, when Tkachuk was sidelined by a damaged sternum and a number of other others had been enjoying with important accidents. The recollections of that and falling behind in collection alongside the best way persist with them.

“We learn more from adversity than we do from winning,” ahead Carter Verhaeghe mentioned. “Every time you lose games or go through series where you’re down 2-0 or losing in the Cup final a couple of years ago, you learn a lot. It’s just sticking with it and being mentally strong.”

Tkachuk mentioned he and his teammates are a lot robust mentally, so the tweaks will probably be extra tactical. They will not look too completely different however have some areas to scrub up.

“Maybe a little bit more offensive zone time, some things we look at, but they played a good game,” defenseman Seth Jones mentioned. “They had been stable defensively. They blocked numerous pictures. And we type of knew that coming in there’s not numerous house on the market, not numerous performs to be made, actually. So, once we do get these alternatives, attempt to maintain on to the puck and capitalize.”

The Oilers turned the puck over a number of occasions in Game 1, with goaltender Stuart Skinner saving them a couple of occasions from the rating getting extra lopsided than the 3-1 deficit they overcame. They determine to be a lot improved in these areas.

Coach Kris Knoblauch is aware of his workforce has to boost its stage “because we know how good Florida is.” The blueprint has been on the market for a number of years, and it is an imposing one.

“They’re pretty confident with their identity, and they play to that identity very well,” Knoblauch mentioned. “They have a lot of confidence that they’ll play their game and they should come out on top. For us, we need to just be ready for it — that they are going to be better.”

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