Winning games is putting the tank in a bit of a precarious spot, but the Panthers always play Boston like it\u2019s a do-or-die playoff game. If this season has taught me anything, it\u2019s that Florida\u2019s structure and team culture are second to none. The longer a player is able to play within the system, the better they get. The Cats looked cohesive despite missing 11 players from their lineup, and they played extremely tight defensively. The Sam\u2019s Club continues to fuel the offense while Bobrovsky shut down Boston\u2019s late-game push.<\/p>\n
Team Buy-In:<\/p>\n
Players talk about buying in to a coach\u2019s system all the time, but it doesn\u2019t always translate to the ice. In this case, however, it does as all the new players are playing the Florida system to a T. With the Cats down to two healthy defensemen, the pairs were a bit scrambled as Mike Benning got time playing with Gustav Forsling while Sebrango was paired with Jones. Florida called up two players from Charlotte, Bjornfot and Hovorka, to fill in as the third pairing. Ekblad\u2019s likely done for the year with a broken finger, and Kulikov broke his nose, both injuries sustained during the Ottawa game on Tuesday. Kulikov could return to the lineup against Pittsburgh. Florida\u2019s defensive structure suffocated the Bruins for two solid periods before Boston got some sustained pressure in the third period. A penalty kill missing Barkov, Reinhart, Marchand, Ekblad, and Lundell was a perfect 2\/2 and killed off a big penalty late in the third period. If you didn\u2019t know any better, you wouldn\u2019t have thought that the Panthers were missing so many players, and that\u2019s a great testament to how guys come into the team and buy in to what they\u2019re doing. HC Paul Maurice said to the media, \u201cThe bench was energetic. They\u2019re not just going through the motions. They played hard and deserved to win the game, especially with the adversity we faced coming into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sam\u2019s Club Offense:<\/p>\n
After struggling to score for most of the season, Mackie Samoskevich now has goals in three straight games. The young forward has had a bit of a snake-bitten season, but his current linemates of Eetu Luostarinen and A.J. Greer have helped fuel his offense as of late. The goal is listed as unassisted, but Mackie\u2019s chance developed because of the hard forecheck of Greer at the end boards, which freed up the puck. Samoskevich intercepted the attempted pass by Boston and found enough time and space at the top of the faceoff circle to wire one past Swayman to open the scoring. Not long after, Sam Bennett doubled the lead. Hard work along the boards by Bennett and Jones eventually worked the puck up to A.J. Greer at the blue line. He took the initial shot that Boston blocked, and Bennett got the rebound past Swayman top-shelf for the 2-0 lead. After having a career year last season along with winning the Conn Smythe, Bennett is having another career year this season with 26Gs & 31As for 57 points. Leaving out the 10 games he played in Florida during the 20-21 season, Sam is shooting a career best 13.7% and has a career high 18:28 TOI. This season has developed new parts of Bennett\u2019s game, the most surprising of which was finding out that he can kill penalties, and he\u2019s pretty good at it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Living The Dream:<\/p>\n
Although his future isn\u2019t set in stone yet, Sergei Bobrovsky has made it known that he\u2019d like to stay in Florida. A sentiment all too familiar to anyone who\u2019s listened to players talk when they have contract negotiations going on or after they\u2019ve signed an extension. Despite the rough year, post-Olympics, Sergei has shown that Playoff Bobrovsky is still in there. He\u2019s had more games with a SV% above .960 than below .900 since the Olympic break. Against the Bruins, Bob had a .966 SV% and stopped 28 of 29 shots; the only goal he allowed was at the end of the first period, when Fraser Minten picked up a rebound and had a wide-open net to shoot at. Bob wasn\u2019t particularly busy in the first two periods, seeing only 9 & 5 shots respectively. The third period is where he was a huge difference maker, as he turned aside all 15 shots while the Panthers managed just 5 SOG in the final twenty minutes. The Bruins had a couple of really great sequences that could\u2019ve resulted in goals, but Sergei denied them the tying goal. After the match, when he spoke with the media, Bob said, \u201cHonestly, I\u2019m living the team. I play in the NHL. I\u2019m starting goalie for the Florida Panthers, two-time Stanley Cup Champions. I\u2019m enjoying it. I enjoy each and every moment.\u201d Bennett had plenty of praise for his goalie, telling the media, \u201cThat\u2019s vintage Bobby right there. He stood on his head and made some unbelievable saves. That\u2019s what he does. Not the first time we\u2019ve seen that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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