Florida performed a clinical operation under the leadership of its captain and advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs, writes Tommi Seppälä, Urheilu’s NHL reporter.
Tommi Seppälä NHL reporter
The starting points for the match series of the first round of the NHL playoffs between the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning were clear: Florida would have a clear material advantage compared to the double champion from a few years ago. Tampa was a Russian star Nikita Kucherov led by a team of one chain. Stopping that chain would stop the whole team.
It came as no surprise to anyone that the Russian’s blackout fell to the world’s best defensive forward Alexander Barkov responsibility. And Barkov didn’t leave the job undone.
In the finished series, Barkov played Kucherov and his chain friends the most Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel against. In a draw, Barkov beat both Point and Hagel and ended up in a tie with Kucherov (2–2).
The goal expectation was about 60 percent on Tampere’s side.
At the same time, elsewhere, other chains rioted as expected. The combined goal difference of Florida’s other chain combinations was a dull 9–1.
Sure, Tampa is also known for its devastating power play, but Florida got that under control as well. Steven Stamkos was able to punish Florida with three overtime hits, but 80% Overpowering against Tampa’s overpowering is a commendable performance.
In Barkov’s shift, the Lightning’s famous number one advantage did not make a single hit – and as the icing on the cake, Barkov punished Tampa in Tuesday’s cutoff game with an underpowered goal. The hit was still the winning goal of the match.
And he didn’t play badly in the series Anton Lundell too. by Sam Bennett due to injury, the HIFK student who was promoted to the middle of the second chain played together Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghen with a lot against Tampa’s top chains. Lundell beat, among others, Steven Stamkos with goals of 4–2 and ended up with Kučerov in a 2–2 draw as well.
Barkov’s expertise in the two-way game is widely known, but Lundell still flies largely under the radar in this regard. The only 22-year-old from Helsinki is incredibly high-quality for his age and, above all, a mature NHL player as far as the playoff world is concerned.
Lundell is already a player whose head coach Paul Maurice can throw without worry in any situation, against anyone. This is especially rare for young Finnish players in the NHL playoff world.
Appropriate opening resistance
All in all, the 4–1 series win over Tampa can be considered a good performance from Florida. Tampa played especially in the last two matches really cheerfully, and even in the cut-off game, it was only during the last ten minutes that Tampa played. Even though the readings were clear in the end, Florida didn’t make it easy: three of the four matches were practically goal games.
So Florida had to play seriously, but didn’t have to grind themselves to the bone in a long series.
Going forward, everything is looking more than good in South Florida. The past series showed future opponents what to come. Sam Bennett, who has returned to training, will soon play in the middle of the second chain, so Florida will use a center trio of Barkov-Bennett-Lundell in the future.
If this trio stays healthy, it’s hard to see which Eastern Conference team will stop this powerhouse. And it’s not just about the centers. From the platforms, Verhaeghe and Tkachuk each scored nine points in the Tampa series. Barkov winger Sam Reinhart had 57 hits during the regular season.
The defense is mobile, skillful and rough and the goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky full of beans.
The road to happiness goes through Florida this spring.