SUNRISE, Fla. — As Paul Maurice began preparing for this year’s training camp, he began looking back fondly at last year’s playoffs.
After the Panthers’ loss in the Stanley Cup final, Maurice described the summer as “somewhat uneventful” while moving on from the loss.
The head coach then began reviewing the video and his feedback was positive.
“You start remembering the plays, the effort, everything, but people [too]”Right?,” Morris, the Florida head coach, told reporters Friday. “So I’m just grateful for the year that I had. And I guess when I started watching tape of this season in mid-to-late August of last year, all of that sense of loss went away.”
The Panthers are approaching their chance to reach a second straight Cup final with a win over the Rangers in Game 6 on Saturday with a sense of gratitude rather than unfinished business.
They understand how close this series was after three overtimes and a one-point game Thursday night (Florida won, 3-2).
They know the Rangers will be at full strength when the series resumes Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
They’ve been here before.
The Post follows Rangers coverage in the NHL playoffs
“I think we’ve been through it a couple of times already, but you can’t just take your foot off the gas. Obviously, this is the hardest game to win. Especially at this point in the playoffs, nobody’s expecting an early summer. Everybody’s giving it their all until the final whistle, the final buzzer. There’s not going to be any easy games from now on and we knew that when the playoffs started.”
“This is a team that has had a lot of success throughout the regular season and this is a team that knows how to win. I’m not expecting them to come in here and have a mediocre performance.”
Both teams played physical hockey throughout the series.
But the Panthers found slight advantages in nearly every category, tilted the ice when it mattered most and played with relentless enthusiasm.
The Rangers will need to find a way to counter this if they want to come back and win the series.
“I think it’s an extension of what we’ve seen in the past,” Maurice said, “I think the speed is going to increase and the team that’s closest to their identity is going to win. Whether it’s an elimination game or not, how quickly we can get to our identity is going to be the key to winning games.”
