Florida held off Edmonton, 2-1, on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Paul Maurice knew these Florida Panthers were different the moment he hung up the phone. Two years ago, General Manager Bill Zito called Maurice, then six months into something of a sabbatical after stepping down from coaching the Winnipeg Jets, about taking over behind the bench in Florida.
When Maurice was hired, he wanted to instill “a style of game that you can play in the playoffs.” He turned a freewheeling, offensive juggernaut into the best defensive team in the NHL; the Panthers allowed just 2.41 goals per game in the regular season this year, the lowest mark in the league. Game 7 was the core’s 209th game together under Maurice. It was the final one it needed to achieve its goal. The Panthers had to do it the hard way, overcoming the Oilers’ furious comeback to even the series, but this group was prepared by Maurice to do things the hard way.“It’s not a dream anymore,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said on the ABC broadcast after the game. “It’s not a dream; it’s reality. I can’t believe it ... I can’t believe how good these two years have been.
With the score level, the tension ratcheted up for the rest of the first period and into the second. The teams traded sequences of pressure, with neither able to break through the other’s defense. Both teams were committed to defending the middle of the ice and holding their opposition to the perimeter. Every inch of space on the ice had to be battled for; nothing was freely given.
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