Last night, the Florida Panthers, who won the NHL’s President’s Trophy this season, were upset yesterday by the champions of the past two seasons, by a score of 4-1. The Panthers came into the game as favorites, but it was clear from the get-go that the Lightning’s experience was going to outweigh the firepower of the Panthers.
The Panthers started off the game well, jumping out to a 1-0 lead and keeping it that way until the midway point of the second period. The Lighting would go on to score four unanswered goals and looked dominant in every sense of the word. Tampa’s fourth line was jumping, Nikita Kucherov was skating as if he was a hot-knife cutting through butter, and Andrei Vasilievsky looked like the mythical creature he played for the past three seasons.
For Tampa Bay, everything seemed to be going right. They were firing on all cylinders and the rejuvenation of Kucherov seemed to motivate the team even further. As many analysts noted, it looked like he had an extra bounce in his stride, and you could tell he came to play. Kucherov would end up finishing the night with 2 points but played and meant so much more to the team last night than just stats.
Florida may have a nice variety of offensive weapons, but Tampa has just as many, as well as defensive and goalie talent to match Florida pound for pound. Many thought that the Panthers would make easy work of the Lightning, who looked somewhat tired and sluggish in their first-round matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. I’m not so easily convinced.
Even though the Panthers have the deadliest offense in the NHL, they lack something that is worth its weight in gold; playoff experience. The Panthers are in the second round of the NHL playoffs for the first time since 1996. The Lightning has won the last two Stanley Cups and made a couple of deep playoff runs in the years prior to that.
When you look at how structurally sound Tampa Bay’s lineup is, and the goalie they have backstopping them, it’s hard not to choose Tampa to take this series. The biggest stand-out point to me is Tampa’s depth, which supersedes Florida’s. We saw first-hand last night just how deadly Tampa’s fourth line can be, and how they can change a game with their intensity and grittiness. Florida’s bottom lines can’t match that, and we will get to see just how important the fourth lines are if this series does go past game 5, which I don’t believe it will.
Could Florida surprise me and play shut-down defense? Absolutely; but I also believe that Tampa Bay is a force to be reckoned with. Julien Brisebois has built a dynasty, and I can’t see anyone dethroning them this year.
Who do you think takes the series? Let me know in the comments below!