The Sports Xchange
Panthers need one more win to take playoff series
It has been a long time since the Florida Panthers have held a 3-2 lead in a playoff
series.
It has also been a long time since the Panthers advanced in the Stanley Cup postseason.
They could be moving on this time around. On Saturday, the Panthers took a 3-2 lead in
their opening-round series against the Devils after scoring a 3-0 win at the BankAtlantic
Center. Florida goes for its first playoff series win since the 1996 Eastern Conference
championship when it visits Newark on Tuesday night.
“We’re not looking ahead,” coach Kevin Dineen said.
The Panthers are the only team in the series to win successive games and would like to
do it again on Tuesday. Florida won Games 2 and 3 in the series and a victory Tuesday
would help them avoid a Game 7 (which would be at home) and give the team some time off
before the semifinals.
On Saturday, the Panthers were extremely aggressive on both their fore- and back-check,
taking the play to the Devils after being ground down on Thursday in a 4-0 loss. Shawn
Matthias had an assist on Florida’s second goal to earn the third star of the night. His
hard-nosed work in winning puck battles is a big reason the Panthers are a win away from
moving on.
“The thing we did that we haven’t done in other games, we wanted the puck,” Matthias
said. “We weren’t just staying back and letting them come at us. We were going for those
pucks, winning those battles and being more aggressive than we have in other games.”
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