CBS News Miami's Steve Goldstein: Blistering hot Panthers steamrolling NHL's best
SUNRISE - if it seems like the Florida Panthers haven't lost in a while, you're right.
Since trailing Boston 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs, the Cats have won six in a row, a franchise postseason record, and equal to their longest winning streak this season. They have a stranglehold on this current series against Toronto, leading 3 games to none.
Playoff Tested
This is the fourth straight year the Panthers have qualified for the postseason, and the third straight year they have played top competition. The maturation of this team is evident. They have learned how to play a hard nose, defensive-oriented in your face style of playoff hockey, and willing to pay the price to win. That takes time in the NHL. The Panthers' time has come.
Boston, Toronto asking 'Who Are These Guys?'
When they lost three of the first four against the Bruins, nobody would give the Panthers a time of day. They shocked Boston by coming back, winning two games in overtime, including the epic Game 7. The Panthers won twice in Toronto and a raucous home crowd welcomed them back for Game 3 and yet another overtime victory.
OT Kings
The Panthers are 3-0 in overtime in the playoffs. They have won six in a row overall. This comes after not winning a playoff overtime game for 24 years before 2020. Remarkably, Sam Reinhart's Game 3 OT winner was the first ever in the current arena's history and the first home playoff overtime win since 1996.
What About Bob
Pick your adjective of choice. Spectacular, sensational, focused, impenetrable - they all work. Sergei Bobrovsky is on the best run of his four-year Panther career. It was a struggle all season with performance, injury, and illness, but the veteran is in a zone with everyone hoping it can last another month or so.
MO-mentum
Coach Paul Maurice deserves credit for the way the team is playing. Through many tough days in the regular season, he never wavered in his belief that this team can do what it's currently doing, and the only way to get there was a hard-nosed, committed system that isn't easy to adjust to. Maurice stated numerous times this season, what's the point of making the playoff if you can't win once you get there? Point noted. The Panthers have stifled Toronto's scoring superstars in this series and they've cleaned up seemingly every rebound at the net.
Flip the Tables
Last year the Panthers breathed a sigh of relief after finally winning the first round. They then lost in four straight to Tampa. This year the Panthers look like the Lightning last year, and the Maple Leafs, after winning a series for the first time since 2004, look like last spring's Cats.
Close It Out
At 3-0, many people may think this series is over. They also thought it was over when the Panthers trailed Boston 3-1. Momentum is a funny thing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and when you have that hammer, and a lead like the Cats right do right now, it is imperative to put teams away as quickly as possible.
