Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers Leave New York with 3-2 ECF Lead on Rangers

Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers Leave New York with 3-2 ECF Lead on Rangers

always have legs in the third period yeah I mean the long answer for that uh starts with Bill Zito um and bringing in a whole Performance Group with Dr mcland and then Mike Joyce and um and and we have other people that kind of work back and forth between the medical team and the team performance guys just for recovery and things like that so we think at at least the goal is for us to be pushing the envelope on um how to recover hockey players because the the conditioning and the then the hard work part has been who they are for two years I mean they’ve starts at day one in Camp for us and they worked harder than the coaches asked them to so we always come back to the players being the key driver in this front left Paul you know when a team loses in the in the final it can feel like wow we it took so much to get here how about how can we possibly get such a long road to get back your one went away from that how do you I guess what’s the approach to that when it’s now so tangible within grasp that you can be back in the in the final and get that chance at it again I didn’t I didn’t I mean the question of of how I thought we would come out was really truly again answered the first 5 days they came back to training camp work harder than I asked them to but we also had a you know it was a good feeling good room we knew we have a good team and then we have these three guys out of our lineup three really important guys out of the lineup so there’s not the certainty and I would understand it I think I think we were a little better hockey team than people knew last year and then we improved in ways that you probably couldn’t see early on because of the injuries so from January of a year ago to now we played pretty darn well so there’s a belief coming back and then I think a big part of it was what management did to our team Nik mikola so we signed him and he comes in he fills that hole and then some and becomes part of the top almost two for 15 16 games so we added we did a really good job here of adding what we needed specifically the kind of player style of player and the holes that needed to be filled so I think that we’ve had a belief but even with that I mean every series that we’ve been in and this one maybe more than any of them incredibly tight right there’s no there’s no momentum and even and then so last year I would say kind of I don’t know that there was any momentum coming off going to the final last year there wasn’t a loss but there wasn’t necessarily hey we We’re Riding High um they earned it these guys have earned it front right coach of Vlad tereno was really noticeable in the defensive then last game what have you seen for him from that aspect of it throughout the playoffs and how important is that for for him to have that have that aspect like incredible and I don’t know if this is a stereotype but it seems to me maybe it was because of the time that I spent over in Russia the Russian players in the Russian schools of of hockey are very aware defensively they play a possession game over there so if you get the puck you we see the dynamic Russian players here but there’s also another team defending and you do for stretches of time so it’s not the quick strike game back and forth so these guys learn how to defend how to angle how to use their stick and he’s really really good at that I I think that’s possibly I mean I’ve seen him I’ve seen him score goals against us and I’ve seen him shoot the puck but the first thing I appreciated about him was his reaction from from offense to defense not even his if if he lost control of a puck somebody else did where he moves first how fast he moves he told where a guy’s brain is and how he views the game by his first reactions off a change of possession and he’s all been really really good with that front left mik uh Paul you you know I I was curious just how long it took you to get over last year’s final because you know it was 21 years for you and you know how hard it is to get back here and for you now to be sitting in this chair again a a win away uh and in context of you you saying a couple weeks ago how nervous you were about this season just with all the injuries coming in like how just gratifying is this and how long did it take you to get over I got an answer for that cuz I remember it the summer was very very fast um kind of bouncing back from I don’t know sadness is the right word but know how hard it is to get there and a missed opportunity but the also somewhat peaceful because I don’t think there was anything left of our team anyway it changed for me when I started prepping training camp video for next year so we would take just start we do our systems video every day when we start teaching and you start going back and watching the games so we would we only use playoff for our training camp video and that’s when I got in a good mood you start to remember that the plays the effort all that but the people right the how to drive the net well that’s the rad goish clip game six that’s how you drive whether you’re a forward or a d you’re not going to a post you go to the metal and so I appreciated the year all my sense of loss uh was gone probably about the middle of to late August last year when I started going through the video of the season right side then Coach another uh potential closeout game tomorrow night on home ICE anything you’ve seen from your group maybe that they’ve learned having been in these situations before and what kind of game do you expect here in game six tomorrow night I think it’s just a continuation of what we’ve seen I think the speed amps up and uh the team that is closest to their identity wins whether it’s an elimination game or not how fast and quick you can get to your identity wins the game we take one more question back good morning if I can add to that you said earlier that when your team is playing the way it’s supposed to be to to play you’re enjoying the game a little bit more do you feel did you feel that to what extent did you feel that was the case yesterday and how SA fight are you with you were able to shut them down I really like the start of the third period cuz I thought that was the block of time up up until uh we took the penalty that was that was the way we we like to look I thought we were smart and we were fast um I think my enjoyment of the game and this is new for me comes from my understanding that I’m not really not that important here and I mean that I’m not it’s there’s a great line don’t be so humble you’re not that good um it’s the players and when they’re going they don’t need me right and and if they’re not they kind of need you a little bit but the these guys have figured that out anyway so I have the been able to take it in a little bit more cuz I I mean I haven’t taken a stride this series and I won’t block a shot I don’t have to take a hit so there’s not much for me to do thank you okay okay guys save travel

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice speaks before his team left New York on Friday, May 31, 2024.

The Panthers beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday night.

Florida holds a 3-2 series lead; Game 6 is Saturday at 8 (ABC) in Sunrise.

The Panthers are a win away from going to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year.

Panthers Bringing a 3-2 Lead Home After Beating Rangers in Game 5: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-3-new-york-rangers-2-game-5-nhl-ecf/

Panthers, Rangers Living On the Razor’s Edge: https://floridahockeynow.com/panthers-rangers-living-on-the-edge-in-razor-thin-series/

Don’t Tell the Florida Panthers What’s Ahead: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-focused-on-new-york-rangers-not-stanley-cup-final/

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On Thursday, Florida trailed 1-0 in the second before Gus Forsling tied it on a great pass from Sam Bennett.

Midway through the third, Anton Lundell gave Florida its first lead — with Bennett making it 3-1 on an empty-net goal.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves in the win.

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Video Courtesy Florida Panthers