The Florida Panthers played strong playoffs in the hockey NHL, but in the end the Vegas Golden Knights were too much in the final series. Hard revelations were heard from Florida coach Paul Maurice.
LAS VEGAS. Florida’s fairytale spring run came to a bitter end early Wednesday morning in Las Vegas. Vegas was simply too high-quality, fast and deep in player material for Florida. The readings of the decisive match were finally recorded ugly 9-3 in favor of the home team.
The readings eclipsed the NHL finals goal record.
Vegas eventually won the final series 4–1. In the first three rounds, Florida knocked out three teams with more than one hundred points, one of which (Boston) had broken the NHL regular season wins and points records. However, Vegas was too much for Florida, who had already been there before.
The Golden Knights were a better-coached and deeper team in terms of material, and that’s why they dominated the series from start to finish, 5-for-5. Special situations also clearly turned in its favor.
The last staple Alexander Barkov there were injuries to the championship aspirations of the team he captained. Star pier Matthew Tkachuk was not able to play in the decisive final and did not have an excellent season Eetu Luostarinen didn’t even play a game in the finals.
No help was found in the depths.
“These are not explanations”
Florida’s head coach spoke in front of the press in a strong emotional state Paul Maurice fairly congratulated the opponent, but also reminded of the difficulties – without running behind them – that the team experienced.
The speech was a perfect reminder of how tough the two-month long NHL playoffs are.
– We had four players with fractures, Maurice began.
– Tkachuk broke his sternum, but came back and scored another goal. That fracture was a small problem, Maurice laughed in disbelief.
Tkachuk tried to play in the fourth final match, but was sidelined at the end of the second set for almost the entire set, returning only in the final moments.
– He is so smart that he got to the finish line despite everything. He seems to have been blessed with three of our best scoring positions. By the way, he wasn’t able to do the things he normally does. He actually couldn’t even put the gear on himself, it was put on him, Maurice continued.
In the decisive game, the Yankee winger did not appear.
– The game still went, but the next day he was in terrible pain. There were no two words whether he would play or not.
And there was more to come.
– I can tell you that Aaron Ekblad broke his leg in the Boston series. After that, he dislocated his shoulder twice and got a side injury.
– With Radko Gudas had an ankle injury that usually requires four to six weeks of rest. He was sidelined for one set, Maurice stated with a small grin on his face.
Maurice said he’s never seen a similar number of serious injuries in a playoff game.
– in the Toronto series Sam Bennett didn’t get shoulder pads on himself. All teams have injuries, but I’ve never seen this amount before.
– And these are not explanations. We don’t need to explain. The guys left everything on the ice that they had to leave there, Maurice reminded.
Look to the future
The loss naturally took Florida hard at the camp, but according to the head coach, a lot of valuable capital was also seized on the trip. Of course, in the next moment, the pilot reminded that a place in the final does not get a single point in the regular season of the coming season.
– After this, I never have to explain to them how hard this game is. Or to convince you how hard you have to play in these games to win. Or that you’re never out of the game before the final buzzer. When we pull hard in the training camp in the fall, they will understand, Maurice stated.
– It is also a fact that we will have a hard time with Savotta to reach the playoffs next year. The competition is so fierce. If we start thinking something about ourselves because of this, we are in trouble. Also, we have players over there who go into surgery and recover for 2-3 months, even 4-6 months. We will have challenges.