Seven Florida Panthers made their NHL playoffs debut Thursday night, and it showed. Costly turnovers and defensive coverage mistakes, hanging Roberto Luongo out to dry, were the main culprits in the 5-4 loss in Game 1 against the New York Islanders.
While that simplistic summary might be all one needs to know as they look forward to Friday's Game 2, there is more to the story.
Islanders star John Tavares had been practically shut down in each of the regular season matchups with the Panthers. Adding fuel to the fire is every "expert" choosing Florida to win the series.
Picking Florida is a risky proposition, although their franchise record setting regular season leaves little doubt they can live up to the prognostications. Bill Simmons picked the Panthers to come out of the East. Others have done the same. Diehard Panther fans with level heads know not to expect anything, but hope for the best. There has been too much pain to be overly optimistic. A large part of this team is learning postseason shenanigans on the fly.
It's not just a large number of players that were experiencing the playoffs for the first time. Apparently many of the fans were as well. The backlash on social media was largely over the top, stepping just up to the ledge over a Game 1 loss that was a few bad breaks, bounces, and breakdowns from being a Panther victory.
One of the main criticisms was head coach Gerard Gallant not shortening the bench in the second half of the third period. As he has done most of the season, he continued to roll four lines deep into the game down by a goal. There is merit to the scrutiny, but the strong candidate for the Jack Adams award in Gallant probably had his reasons. The fans will just have to accept it and move on. Perhaps he made a mistake and will learn from it. Perhaps things played out exactly like he wanted but the players just couldn't bury their chances.
Either way, the problems are fixable. Now that everyone has their feet wet, Friday should be a game where the Panthers get back to their style of hockey for 60 minutes.
Another interesting tidbit postgame was people calling for backup goaltender Al Montoya to start Game 2. The Luongo/Montoya tandem has been one of the best in the league this season, and one could argue Montoya is every bit as good if not better than Luongo in the clutch.
But do you roll those dice in what is a borderline must win game Friday night? Doubtful.
Without saying who Gallant said he definitely knew who would be starting Friday night. Experience and common sense would say that is Luongo again. He's a battler. His team hurt him Thursday. No one wants to make amends more than he, and Gallant likely will give him the chance. Maybe on a short leash? Sure. But he will start every game in the playoffs barring a disaster.
Tavares is an absolute star in this league, and he showed it tonight. He probably thought to himself that all the experience lies with his team after going seven games with Washington in the first round last year while the Cats were playing golf. Yet everyone is doubting he and his team.
All it took were the naysayers for Tavares to say enough is enough to break out against the team that had severely limited him all year. Tavares' goal and 2 assists, as well as his possessed play, were the difference in the game Thursday. The Panthers haven't seen that Tavares all year. They have now, and need to find a way to go back to their defensively strong game to avoid going down 2-0. Tavares was 1st star of the game, followed by Florida's Reilly Smith, who had a two goals and an assist.
The Panthers have been resilient all year during the rare occasions of losing games like this. It would be fair to assume a different squad will show up Friday. The inexperience factor was likely a bit of a factor Thursday, but that shaky-at-best excuse no longer applies moving forward.
If Tavares continues to be the Tavares everyone should expect for the rest of this series, Florida simply has to get more from their top line of Huberdeau, Barkov, and Jagr. They were unexpectedly held off the score sheet, but it was not for a lack of chances. They will be pivotal moving forward. But unless the defense in front of Luongo cleans up, it's a moot point.
Dan Spiegel
Florida Panthers Media
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