As Panthers return to Stanley Cup Final, they still have a ‘bigger goal in mind'

Miami Herald

2 days ago

Watch this Florida Panthers team's celebration on Wednesday night, and you will start to understand their bigger goal.
Florida had just punched its ticket once again to the Stanley Cup Final — its third consecutive season making it to the final series, its third consecutive opportunity to win it all — with a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final.
And yet, everything appeared to be business as usual.
The Panthers went through the handshake line, put on their conference championship hats, skated down to one end of the ice at the Lenovo Center, took their obligatory team photo with the Prince of Wales Trophy and were off to the dressing room.
'You hope that you get to this point,' said veteran forward Brad Marchand, who joined the Panthers at the trade deadline in March. 'Obviously, we have a great team and we've played well so far. We got to the point where we want to be, but we haven't accomplished anything yet.'
That final accomplishment — repeating as Stanley Cup champions — is still on the horizon, still four wins away.
It was the Panthers' goal to repeat ever since they stepped onto the ice for training camp.
After setting this standard over the past few years, why settle for anything less — and why celebrate anything less?
'The bigger picture has changed maybe a little bit for our team,' Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. 'The first time, you fight to get to the Final and it's such a big deal. Then you do it a couple of times and you understand you're three quarters of the way through and there's a lot more that has to happen. But we'll enjoy that win tonight. It was all the elements that make our sport great.'
Those elements?
Start with the ferocious comeback, something the Panthers became known for a few years ago but hasn't materialized as much this year.
Florida trailed 2-0 after one period on Tuesday after Sebastian Aho scored twice, capitalizing each time on Florida turnovers. But the Panthers never relented and scored three times in the second period on goals by Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Anton Lundell.
Carolina tied the score 8:30 into the third period on a Seth Jarvis goal, but Carter Verhaeghe gave the Panthers the lead for good less than four minutes later after scoring on a stellar pass from captain Aleksander Barkov. Sam Bennett capped scoring with an empty-netter.
'We definitely got some momentum once we got the first [goal], and that's kind of been our mindset throughout the playoffs,' Verhaeghe said. 'Every game, we're just building trying to get one. We're not trying to open up our game or play a different way than our style. Guys made great plays at critical times.'
Continue with the shutdown effort. After scoring those three goals in the second period, Florida limited Carolina to just nine total shots on goal over the final 28 minutes, including just four in the third period.
The Panthers also went a perfect 6 for 6 on the penalty kill, with four of those coming after taking the 3-2 lead.
'We have done it so many times and we had the confidence that we were gonna do it this time as well,' said Bobrovsky, who posted a .935 save percentage over the five-game series against Carolina. 'Guys compete. Guys work hard. ... It was a solid performance by us.'
And for this Panthers team, it was just another day of work.
That mentality was shown postgame. The celebration was muted, a far contrast from two years ago against this same Hurricanes team when the Panthers made it to the first of now three consecutive Cup Finals.
'We didn't come here to to win the Eastern Conference,' Barkov said. 'It's a huge achievement; I'm not saying anything bad about it. But we got to where we wanted. We're in the Final once again, and we want to win the Stanley Cup, just like any other team. So obviously we're happy. We're really tired right now, but we're happy with what we just achieved and the way we achieved it. It was a tough, tough game. Carolina played so well, and the way we managed to win this game is for sure one that you remember.'
Added Tkachuk: 'I remember a few years ago it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at that point. I know we talked about last year that it's part of the journey, same as this year. It's all business. We've got a bigger goal in mind.'
That bigger goal is still there for the taking.
'From the start of the year, 31 teams go home unhappy,' forward Sam Reinhart said. 'We're trying to be the last one and the one team that's happy at the end.'