How the Bad Guys Won: Panthers’ Ruthless Style Paves Way to Stanley Cup Final

Throughout the Florida Panthers’ run to the 2023-24 Stanley Cup Final, several things have been clear.

The team is deeper than last year’s iteration that fell a few games short to the Golden Knights, they have fewer holes than last season’s and they’re more determined to finish the story with a happier ending by winning it all.

The Panthers punched their second consecutive ticket to the Stanley Cup Final Saturday with a 2-1, Game 6 win over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers.

“I just remember going around the locker room telling everyone after that Game 5 loss in Vegas, we’re going to be back, we’re going to be back, we’re going to be back,” Matthew Tkachuk told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan after the game. “And we’re back now.”

Florida has refined and perfected the art of winning a close game in a 2024 postseason of virtually only close games, and the Eastern Conference Final reminded us all that it starts with defense.

As we await Florida’s opponent out West, we’ve got some time to reflect on that defense, those clutch moments, and all of the rats along the way that have the Panthers feeling more confident than ever headed to the Cup.

Where do we begin with the defensive effort from these Panthers?

Despite all of Tkachuk’s talk about the confidence within the group and the hunger to win it all this time, “Good defense” is the first thing he offered as the reason for the Game 6 win over the Rangers.

The Blueshirts’ big guns were silenced throughout the series, as Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin had a combined two goals, with Panarin only finding the next in the dying moments of the series. It helps to have the newly minted Selke winner in Sasha Barkov completely tilt the ice, but the way the Panthers bottled up New York’s stars was extremely impressive

Oh, by the way, this isn’t a new phenomenon. The Panthers also held the Bruins’ David Pastrňák to one goal in the second round.

The defensive solidity is most evident in the neutralization of stars, but also in Florida’s ability to close out games. The Panthers limited the Rangers to 14 shots and just three high-danger chances in the final two periods of an elimination game. Mind you, these were the Rangers that’d been heralded as the comeback kids all season and boasted several third-period equalizers in this postseason run.

According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers held the 57.23 percent edge in Corsi in the Eastern Conference Final, and our eyes showed us they had a knack for building up that possession momentum at all the crucial times.

By the way, Gustav Forsling might be setting himself up for a dark-horse Conn Smythe run.

He’s turning some heads and cementing himself as one of the top defensemen in the league. Through this run, he’s racked up four goals, 11 points, and a team-high plus-eleven rating through 17 games. He plays both ends of the ice like a modern great, committing to the little things that prevent the big things.

He’s garnered much praise from Maurice throughout the playoff run.

Florida has allowed the fewest goals against (2.38) of any remaining playoff team, and ties Edmonton for allowing the second-fewest shots per game in the playoffs in general (24.5).

In these playoffs, you’re toast if you don’t win close games, and the Panthers have won six one-goal games through three rounds.

These Panthers, led by the Rat King Matt Tkachuk and the ever-quotable head coach Paul Maurice, showed up with a certain spunk one day and simply refused to ever leave us alone.

Call it playing with an edge, call it playing with sandpaper. Whatever you want to call it, it’s highly effective. There’s a certain chippiness Florida plays with that undoubtedly drives opposing teams crazy. But they’re not here to win popularity contests, just hockey games.

The Panthers have been getting in opponents’ heads all postseason and then outskilling them just as hard. You’ve got Tkachuk throwing league stars like Pastrňák off their game by convincing them to fight. You also have the Panthers outscoring the Rangers 11-4 with Tkachuk on the ice.

All this is put together by the highly quotable Maurice. Looking to win his first Cup, the Panthers’ head coach has been untethered in the press. making hilarious and sometimes controversially sarcastic comments about his team and the other team, win or lose.

Anyone can be a rat, but only the greats can use the “rat mentality” as a mere tool in a toolbox full of skill and confidence. The Panthers are an inspiring level of unfazed.

Take Sam Bennett’s opening goal with 48 seconds left in the first after battling an injury and some ongoing drama that comes with his edgy style of play. You don’t win like this with any passengers on the rat train.

When we look back at this Panthers playoff run — the Bennett drama (and the goals), the Tkachuk heart (and the goals), and the Maurice comedy sets (err, postgame pressers), these Panthers might end up the rattiest Stanley Cup Champions of all time. Of course, we mean this lovingly: they’ve given us something to talk about.

And anyone tuning into a Maurice press conference has a good chance of turning into a hockey fan.

Sergei Bobrovsky hasn’t been quite as sharp as last season’s run that heralded him the No. 1 goalie once again and was arguably the top reason Florida made it to the Stanley Cup Final last season.

He hasn’t even been the best goaltender of this postseason — we might give that edge to Igor Shesterkin considering the rest of his team’s performance. Shesterkin faced 524 shots in 16 games and ended with a .926 save percentage despite the Rangers getting outshot in 13 of 16 games in the playoffs.

Look at it this way: the former Vezina winner hasn’t had to exert that much effort, partly because of the team around him, and partly because he’s perfected the same clutchness the rest of his team has embodied. He’s come through when it counts, and his team isn’t panicking about it for a second.

There were moments of danger in Game 6 Bob snuffed out. A tricky save on Alex Wennberg after an uncharacteristic error by Forsling in the second period was just one example of the Florida goalie keeping the Rangers at arm’s length before the clock finally ran out on New York.

Bobrovsky has a 2.27 goals against average (third among playoff goalies who have logged at least seven games), a .908 save percentage, and 12 wins — the most among any playoff goaltender.

It’s tricky to compare goaltending stats during the postseason, but you only need to know three things: Bobrovsky has started all 17 of the Panthers’ games, they’ve won six one-goal games, and they’re the first team headed to the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals.

Vladimir Tarasenko came through with his first point of the series to put the Panthers up 2-0. It was the third goal of the playoffs for the 32-year-old trade deadline acquisition, and as he was scoring it, you realized that was more than enough.

It was the latest example of the insane scoring depth that has contributed to the clutch-gene feeling exuding from these Panthers.

“We have so much volume right now” Tkachuck simply explained it to Kaplan postgame.

Seven Panthers have at least 10 points through the first three rounds of the playoffs. Tkachuk leads the team in overall points with 5 goals and 19 points in 17 games, Barkov (six goals) and Carter Verhaeghe (nine goals) are right behind him with 17 points in 17 games.

Want more? Anton Lundell, Sam Reinhart, Forsling, and Bennett have also had their signature moments through this postseason. It’s a team getting production up and down the lineup.

Much like Tarasenko’s timeliness, the rest of the depth has offered shining moments to complement the consistency of the stars. You don’t get here without Lundell’s Game 5 game-winner or Gustav Forsling’s Game 3 equalizer.

In these playoffs, you’re toast if you don’t win close games, and the Panthers have now won six one-goal games through three rounds.