After losing 2 in a row, Panthers look to even East Final on home ice - CBS Miami's Steve Goldstein
MIAMI - If you looked at the statistics from game three of the eastern conference final one would think the Panthers beat the Rangers by 2 or 3 goals. But games aren't played on the stat sheet, but rather the ice where a handful of mistakes, big saves by one goalie and a few bad breaks can turn what would seemingly be a win into a loss. The Panthers were the victim of that scenario and now trail the series two games to one.
Big Swing Game
New York is playing with some house money Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena (Pun clearly intended). A third straight win puts the Panthers' back to the wall, down 3-1 and facing elimination at Madison Square Garden Thursday. A Florida win ties the series and would have both teams feeling pretty good about their chances with the Rangers having two of the three potential remaining games at home.
Bounce Back Cats
The Panthers are an excellent team at responding to adversity. They are playoff tested with veteran players and a coach that's seen it all. Not getting the result they deserved in game 3 should have them determined and perhaps downright angry at puck drop, knowing that tying the series puts them in pretty good position. Expect a big effort by the Panthers, especially defensively, cleaning up some of their errors from Sunday's game. They are all correctable with some of it just being better communication.
Shots, Shots, Shots
The Panthers threw an incredible 108 shots towards the Rangers net but only a little more than a third of them were on goal. The average is about half. Too many times pucks were fired off target and directly in New York defenders. Perhaps a bit more savvy in getting shots through and even not shooting, but rather holding onto the puck in some situations will produce better results. That said, the Panthers scored four goals and that must be, and normally is, enough to win. There were some outrageous numbers like Carter Verhaeghe's 20 shot attempts. And Matthew Tkachuk at an unfathomable 56-6 shots attempted advantage when he was on the ice. Panther fans are still shaking their heads about the fact they did not win that game. The players must use it as fuel to win a pivotal game four.
Big Save Bob
After a run of seven consecutive playoff games allowing two goals or less, the Rangers scored five on Sergei Bobrovsky. The goals certainly weren't all his fault as two pucks were deflected, and the Panthers allowed chances off the rush. But, with the stakes this high and another great goaltender on the other side, Bobrovsky will need to come up with saves he should make and a few that he shouldn't make.
Depth Showing
The Panthers have done a great job locking down the Ranger stars and not allowing them to produce offensively. But both New York overtime goals were scored by bottom six players. You can call them fluke goals, point to mistakes or goaltending but the bottom line is the Rangers are getting production down in their lineup.
