On the back of a gutsy win against the Seattle Kraken, the Panthers once again relied on their goaltending to keep them in a tight match against the Wild. Daniil Tarasov got the start and was outstanding despite the loss. The injury curse took out yet another regular from the starting lineup as the final game in April can’t come soon enough. Despite all the adversity this season, the Cats have made sure that they’re keeping their identity in place, there’s no quit in the team, and a whole lot of will to compete. The Wild walked away with a 2-3 win, but the Panthers were able to make it a fight after they battled back from a 0-2 deficit to tie the game late; goals came from Tkachuk and Ekblad. Minnesota scored the game-winner seconds before the clock hit 0, but it was a match that was much closer than it probably should’ve been, given the roster disparities.
Goalie Battle:
The huge disparity in shots certainly tells how important Tarasov was in the match against the Wild. He saw nearly 20 shots in just the first period, but he put on a great performance and allowed things to stay scoreless heading into the first intermission. There was a highlight reel save sequence in the first that ended with Daniil lying flat on the ice with the puck trapped between his arm and his body. He robbed more than one player of a goal, using his size to his advantage. Tarry ended the night with a .940 SV%, stopping 47 of 50 shots to set a new career high. The goal allowed in the final seconds of the game he might want back, but it did save Florida’s tank and get them inside the top 10 for the draft lottery. He earned 2nd star honors, and it was well deserved. Daniil is a pending RFA this summer, and while the goaltending has been unpredictable this season, games like that one make a strong argument to keep him around. An extension would give the team the chance to see what he can do with a healthy Panther team in front of him, something that’s not been on the ice for a single game this year.
Can’t Stop Coming, Won’t Stop Coming:
The IR list is slowly climbing toward over half the team at this point. This week, HC Paul Maurice has given plenty of clear injury updates, including Lundell out 4-6 weeks with a rib injury, Samoskevich recovering from a neck laceration, Balinskis expected out 4-6 weeks, and that Reinhart & Marchand were still being looked at by doctors. Well, less than a minute into the game against Minnesota, we can now add another one to the list. Evan Rodrigues, who’s been an absolute warrior this year, has finally been taken out for the rest of the season with a broken finger; expected timeline is 4-6 weeks, surgery dependent. With Greer still suspended for another game that brings the list of missing players up to 11: Barkov, Marchand, Reinhart, Lundell, Mikkola, Rodrigues, Balinskis, Samoskevich, Gadjovich, Schwindt, and Greer. The somewhat positive spin is that Florida is getting a good look at some of their prospects and players they picked up at the trade deadline who might be worth keeping around next season. When HC Paul Maurice spoke with the media, he joked, “The most dangerous job in sports right now is to play for the Florida Panthers.” Panthers TV commentator Steve Goldstein posted on X about how, in all his years of watching sports, he’s never seen a team get as injured as the Panthers have been. Needless to say, while most fans are cheering for the tank, they’re also ready for this horror show of a season to be over.
Core Identity:
Often credited with establishing the Panthers emotional identity, Matthew Tkachuk touched on the importance of keeping the team culture intact this season. He said, “I’m proud of the guys. We’re fighting together. Nobody’s quitting on each other…Guys are going all the way to the end.” That’s something that’s been on the ice all year, even with so many players in and out of the lineup. There are nights when there have been glimpses of the championship team, which has been good to see as a fan. You want to know that they’ve still got that gear in them, even if there’s a talent gap in the lineup. Tkachuk also said, “If we lose the culture, we are absolutely screwed. That’s our ace of spade. That’s our trump card.” He’s not wrong; the team’s attitude and emotional intelligence are something that no one has been able to beat in the playoffs. It’s the X-factor that gives them an edge over everyone else, and most importantly, they have a full team buy-in to it. While the team is tanking, players still go into every game trying to win. There’s too much compete in the group to be ok with just phoning it in the rest of the year. The silver lining to this absolute mess of a season is that if any major player goes down with injury next year, it’s less likely to be as detrimental overall and should make the team stronger moving forward.
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