It was a tale of two games in the home and home between the Florida Panthers and the Winnipeg Jets.
Florida looked every bit of the Stanley Cup Champions that they are while taking down the NHL-best Jets 5-0 on Saturday night in Sunrise.
Things went a little differently on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre, as Winnipeg jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then survived a strong comeback attempt by the Cats.
Ultimately, Florida came up just short and the Jets added a couple late empty net goals to take the game by a 6-3 final score.
Before we move on to Florida’s next game in Chicago, lets touch on a few takeaways from Tuesday in the Peg.
ALWAYS WITHIN REACH
Florida never led on Tuesday, and the only time they were within a goal of the Jets (other than when it was 1-0) was the 2 minutes and 36 seconds that the score was 3-2 Winnipeg and the 1:45 that Florida cut the lead to 4-3.
Still, the Panthers were constantly applying pressure to Connor Hellebuyck and the Jets.
Florida may have had 23 shots on goal, but they missed the net more times than they hit it.
The Jets blocked 10 of Florida’s shot attempts, and the Cats hit at least four goal posts, three of which came during a short span during the third period, two off the stick of Sasha Barkov.
“That kind of game, it never felt like you’re out of it,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said afterwards. “It’s an awful lot of good offense by both teams that never got the net. I think we missed the net 26 times tonight, there was (shots) off posts and wide, so even when you’re down a couple, down three, you feel you’re right there, you’re right in the game.”
CLOSER THAN THE SCORE
It was an interesting two-game set between the Cats and Jets.
Florida won on home ice 5-0 and Winnipeg at home 6-3, so it would seem that both teams had a chance to have their way with the other.
Interestingly, the games were actually much more tightly contested than the final scores would indicate.
That’s not terribly surprising, though, as both teams play a fast, physical style of hockey.
“I think both games were fairly tight,” Maurice said. “Even though the score – one team scored five, and then they score six, so you feel like you’re dominating the game – it didn’t feel like that. Two good teams.”
NOT THE WORST GAME
Considering Florida was constantly playing behind the eight ball on Tuesday, it never felt like they were being outplayed or outmatched.
To be fair, the familiar appearance of the Comeback Cats seemed more like the script that was being followed as the game progressed, so credit to the Jets for thwarting Florida’s attempt at their latest stunning come from behind effort.
There are certainly some things for the Cats to clean up, but they’re probably not too upset with how they fared in back-to-back games against the top team in the NHL.
“I didn’t think we were quite as sharp with the puck,” Maurice said. “We had some offense, even just the final play at 4-3, we bobbled a bunch of things, but it was alright. We were okay tonight. I don’t think we were bad; I don’t think we were great. We were okay.”
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