Yahoo Finance Hurricanes can’t score, fall to Panthers, 1-0, in Game 3 of Eastern Conference Final
In what is becoming a familiar refrain for the Carolina Hurricanes in their Eastern Conference Final series against the Florida Panthers — one that carries a familiar echo from playoff series’ past — the Canes again struggled to score Monday in Game 3, time and again testing netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, only to find his Vezina Trophy-plated armor once again intact.
Sam Reinhart’s power play goal — on one of three consecutive Florida power plays in the second period — stood as the only meaningful score in a tight-checking physical game as the Panthers won, x-x, and pushed the Hurricanes to the brink of elimination.
The Hurricanes have scored three goals in three games — only one of those at even strength — as their well of goal scoring, to which they turned so often against the New Jersey Devils, appears to have dried up.
The Canes scored 24 goals in a five-game, Round 2 win over the Devils. Even in the game they lost, they scored four times.
But New Jersey did not have Bobrovsky, a goalie with an awesome past — and two gleaming trophies to show for it — but one who had been left aside by the Panthers to start the playoffs. After a tough start with Canes castoff Alex Lyon in net against Boston, the Panthers turned to “Bob.” The rested $10 million man has delivered, over, and over, and over again.
In the Panthers’ clincher over the Maple Leafs in Round 2, Bobrovsky stopped 50 shots. In the Round 3 opener, a game that went four overtimes, he stopped 63. He had a pedestrian 37 in Game 2, and only xx in Game 3. But in Game 3, that was all of them.
The first period Monday set the tone the Canes wanted to set.
Brent Burns was a monster on the back end, and Sebastian Aho and Stefan Noesen had exquisite scoring chances. The Panthers, meanwhile, killed off one Carolina power play by beating the Canes at their own game, outshooting and out-chancing the team with the extra skater.
Bobrovsky and the Canes’ Frederik Andersen established themselves in the opening period.
The Hurricanes then did everything right in the first half of the second period: They heavily outshot the Panthers. They maintained more possession and zone time. They were more physical. They made life tough for Bobrovsky.
But they didn’t score.
The Panthers did.
Reinhart, on one knee, turned and slid the puck past a screened Andersen less than 10 seconds into the Panthers’ second power play of the game, putting the home team on top, 1-0.
The Canes then had to kill off two more penalties — they overlapped by about 20 seconds — and did so successfully to keep the deficit at one.
In total, the Canes hit three posts behind Bobrovsky — three more attempts that did not count in the shot totals — but couldn’t hit the twine.
Takeaways from Game 3
▪ Not much more to be said about Sergei Bobrovsky. Players often talk about their goalie being a “wall” that has been “Bob.” The Panthers’ guy makes it look so effortless and his calm demeanor has to make it even more frustrating for the Canes.
The Canes’ Stefan Noesen had a breakaway in the first but Bobrovsky calmly made the stop. And made all the stops. What’s the Russian word for magnificent?
▪ Sebastian Aho said the Canes had not played their best game after the morning skate Monday and then went out with that glint in his eye, as if determined to provide it. No. 20 took dead aim. The problem: Bobrovsky. In the second period, an Aho shot hit Bobrovsky in the arm. Another hit him in the mask. Nothing got past him.
▪ It didn’t seem that hard a hit by the Canes’ Jack Drury but it was enough to knock Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov out of the game. Barkov left with a lower-body injury with seven minutes left in the first and his status for Game 4 is not known.
▪ The Canes’ power play has been an anchor much of the season and was punchless in Game 3. A first-period power play by the Canes had the Panthers spending most of the time in the Carolina zone, controlling the puck, almost toying with the Canes.
▪ The Panthers again made short work of a power play to score the first goal. After their rapid-fire power-play goal to win Game 2, the Panthers did it again Monday in the second period as Sam Reinhart took a pass in the low slot and got off a rising shot that Andersen could not stop.
▪ The Canes penalty killers were a lot more sharper later in the second after back-to-back slashing penalties to Aho and Jordan Martinook. The Panthers had 20 seconds of a 5-on-3 but the Canes were able to work their way through both penalties to keep it a 1-0 game.
▪ The Canes played with obvious desperation in the third, determined to tie the score. On one shift midway through the period, they kept the puck in the Florida zone for 95 seconds, winning every puck battle.
▪ Brooks Koepka in the house? Yes, he was here, pulling for the Panthers. And had the PGA’s Wannamaker Trophy with him.
Andersen gets the call
The Carolina Hurricanes went back to Andersen in Game 3.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after Monday’s morning skate that Andersen, who started Game 1, would be in net. Brind’Amour went with Antti Raanta in Game 2 after the first game, which went four overtimes and lasted nearly 140 minutes, citing the “wear and tear” on Andersen.
The Hurricanes lost both games at home in PNC Arena, with the Panthers winning the marathon game 3-2 and then taking a 2-1 win in overtime in Game 2 — Matthew Tkachuk with the winning goal in both for the Panthers.
“We always seem to play with desperation and I can’t ask more out of these guys,” Brind’Amour said. “We’ve got to be a little sharper, a little better, obviously.
“Any time you go on the road, obviously with the crowd in the playoffs that’s a big energy lift for the (home) team. It’s a matter of understanding that and managing that, and not sitting back. You have to be the aggressor, you have to get to your game. We have to try and do that right away.”
Panthers’ confidence showing
The Panthers talked a lot about having “fun” in the playoffs and the positivity surrounding the team throughout most of the season.
Canes defenseman Brett Pesce says it’s something that is noticeable on the ice in games.
“Obviously they’re feeling it right now,” Pesce said. “They beat two good teams to get here and obviously their goalie is playing world class right now.
“Yeah, they’re confident. At the same time, so are we.”
Pesce said the Canes don’t need to change a lot in Game 3 — not in his mind.
“I think our game is right there and I think easily this series could be 2-0 in our favor,” Pesce said. “Maybe we could be a little more physical. I think they’re doing a good job of that, getting on us. I think we could be a little better at that and be a little harder in front of their net.”
