SUNRISE, Fla. – The story was set to write itself on Tuesday night, as often has been the case with the Florida Panthers over the past few years.
A shutout win, all the momentum in the world heading into a highly-anticipated Winter Classic and another opportunity to showcase themselves as the team to beat when the games matter most starting in April.
The latter is still a reality no matter what, of course.
But the Montreal Canadiens shocked the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion at Amerant Bank Arena, erasing a two-goal deficit in the final five minutes of regulation, then potting the power play game-winner off the stick of Nick Suzuki to complete a stunner of a 3-2 overtime win.
“I’ll ask the players to (erase this game), or I won’t even mention it,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “I’m going to grumble for a little while, find a way to be in a good mood in two days…but I don’t have to be in a good mood tomorrow. I don’t think that we need to let that one sit for a day.”
The Panthers host the New York Rangers at Loan Depot Park on Friday night, home of the Miami Marlins, in their first ever outdoor game appearance and the southernmost outdoor game ever played in league history; practice day is set for Thursday afternoon, with the game set for the following night at 8 p.m.
Even following a rare collapse for the three-time defending Eastern Conference champ, the page will need to be turned quickly, despite that game being worth the same two points all the others are.
“It truly is a wonderful thing to experience,” Maurice said. “When we get to that event, we want to make sure that we take it all in and enjoy it, but when the puck drops…this is one of the great events for a hockey team where you don’t want to be thinking about your last game, you want to take it all in and enjoy it and put on a good show for the fans. You want to play well for sure, but by the time the puck drops, we want to be there mentally and that we’re into a hockey game.”
The effort truthfully wasn’t a concern on Tuesday night, with the flood gates finally opening up on backup netminder Daniil Tarasov with just 4:27 left in regulation on a Cole Caufield goal after tallies by Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart had staked Florida to a late two-goal advantage. Suzuki tied it with just 1:22 left in regulation, and then won it in the extra session, at least slightly dampening the excitement heading into Friday’s annual outdoor classic.
“You have to (allow yourself to enjoy the next few days),” Marchand said. “These are opportunities that don’t come around very often. They tend to be a little crazy, a lot of mayhem, but there are moments that you look back on in your career and they’re kind of your favorite times, the ones you always go back and talk about. So this will be a great opportunity for everyone…it’s not often you get to play outdoors in a climate like this. This will be very unique.”