Breaking down how the Florida Panthers can bounce back from Game 1
By Sion Fawkes
The Florida Panthers may have dropped Game 1 to the Vegas Golden Knights, but they still have plenty of time to fix their numerous issues.
Despite their 5-2 loss, the Florida Panthers still enjoyed two solid periods when they held the Vegas Golden Knights to just two goals. But a third frame marred by lack of discipline spelled the end for the Panthers, and they allowed three goals.
So how can Florida bounce back and take Game 2 plus home-ice advantage? For one, this team cannot commit so many penalties in such a short amount of time. That basically gave Vegas the game, and if it occurs tomorrow night, expect another long evening for the Panthers.
Discipline, solid special teams a must for the Florida Panthers to bounce back
The Panthers also need to figure out how to get the best out of their power play. This is a team whose man advantage ranked 10th in the NHL at 22.83% in the regular season, and they found the back of the net 63 times. So, their power play unit has proven itself to be effective.
Florida also had one of the worst penalty kill units this season, at 75.95%, which ranked 23rd in the league and 12th in the Eastern Conference – the worst among all playoff teams. Thanks to their overall inefficacy on the PK, plus the fact that it hasn’t gotten any better in the playoffs, Florida needs to stay out of the box more than ever before.
The Panthers must also revert to just playing their game offensively. During the regular season, they led the league in Expected Goals For (xGF) at 205.6 at 5-on5, and they also finished second in High Danger Chances For (HDF) with 775 in the same category.
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This shows us the Florida Panthers are more than capable of getting hot offensively at any given time. If they can keep their overall emotions in check, capitalize on the power play when given the opportunity, and just play their game, they will have more than a legitimate chance to take Game 2 in this series.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference and ESPN)