Cowan: Canadiens seek sandpaper in building Stanley Cup contender
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The Florida Panthers are in the Stanley Cup final for the third straight year — looking to win their second straight championship — in large part because their best players have plenty of grit and grind. Sam Bennett scored two goals for the Panthers in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Oilers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final Wednesday in Edmonton. He leads the NHL with 12 playoff goals this year and also tops the Panthers in hits, with 87 in 18 games. Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk are also full of grit and grind, and the Panthers added Brad Marchand this season to bring even more of those two things in a trade with the Boston Bruins.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice had a classic quote earlier in the playoffs when asked about his team's humility off the ice and its ferociousness on it: 'Sometimes you say a prayer, sometimes you shotgun a beer. That's kind of like our team.'
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