That was the typical style in the Panthers’ locker room after practice, hanging their hats on getting rid of a 3-1 series deficit in the opening round versus the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins.
“Everyone’s in a really good mood and seems pretty light, so that’s nice to see,” Panthers centre Sam Bennett said. “A lot of it comes from that Boston series. We know we’ve done it before and we’re capable. So just that experience in the past definitely gives us that confidence.”
This time, nevertheless, it’ll take a lot more than hockey’s so-called “puck luck” in what’s been a compelling, physically tough, brawl-filled series.
And with Tkachuk ailing, Duclair coming off a video game his shifts were restricted down the stretch, Brandon Montour and Nick Cousins likewise taking Monday off, and the reasonably healthy Golden Knights excited to cover things up in their own barn, it’ll take a herculean effort from coach Paul Maurice’s lot.
Maurice diminished a shopping list of circumstances the Panthers have actually dealt with all season, missing out on various gamers at various times, and said preparations for a video game like this began months back.
“You’ve had your people out of the lineup and important people out of the lineup and you found ways to be successful, so you have that belief. If none of that’s happened to you all year, the first time an important guy comes out of the lineup it’s a big deal. But being that everybody’s playing tomorrow.
“As of today, we don’t have to worry about that,” Maurice said belief with his hallmark laugh.
But dealing with the high-octane Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena won’t be a laughing matter.
They outscored Florida in Games 1 and 2 by a combined 12-4 margin and rank 2nd in the playoffs with 3.82 objectives per home video game, a small uptick from the 3.20 the Knights balanced in Vegas throughout the routine season.
Tkachuk is connected for the playoff lead in points with Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault, each with 24. But while the Panthers just have one skater with more than 17 points throughout the post-season, the Knights have 4.
The essential intangible for the Panthers might boil down to goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who went from enabling 2 or less objectives in 8 successive championship game to enabling 16 over his last 5 — a goals-against average of 3.57.
With the Panthers sporting a 3-0 record in removal video games this post-season — all in the Boston series — they’re positive in their veteran netminder however likewise understand whoever is skating in front of him should do their part.
“I think Bob’s been unreal for us the whole playoffs,” Florida defenceman Gustav Forsling said. He saved us a lot of times, so I believe we require to play a little much better around him, help him out a bit more.”
Added Panthers centre Staal: “We won some key games at key times with important pieces out of our lineup. So however we look tomorrow, I know we’ll have confidence in who we are and the guys that are out there.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
W.g. Ramirez, The Associated Press
