How about that, Florida Panthers fans? The Panthers are Stanley Cup Final-bound for the second consecutive year after defeating the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 6. They followed a similar template to their previous two wins, smothering the Rangers and not allowing them to play their game. Here are three takeaways from their series-clinching victory.
Panthers Controlled the Game at 5-on-5 Once Again
The Panthers came into this series with a significant advantage at five-on-five over the Rangers. It took a bit for their process to pay off, but their strong five-on-five play was too much for the Rangers and culminated with a relatively comfortable Game 6 win on home ice in Sunrise.
The game started pretty evenly through about the first 10 minutes of the opening frame, but the Panthers slowly began to take over and smother the Rangers at five-on-five. The Rangers had three high-danger chances in the first period but had just three for the rest of the game.
Related: Panthers Beat Rangers in Game 6 to Advance to Stanley Cup Final
Those cross-ice and seam passes that the Rangers love to make in the offensive zone were never there. Every time they attempted one, it seemed like a Panthers skater knew it was coming and was there to intercept it. That was the case on the power play, too, something the Panthers completely took away from the Rangers all series long, as they had just one power-play goal in 15 tries.
Not only was the Panthers’ team defense a significant factor in taking the Rangers out of their game, but their offense was, too. It may be a cliché, but the best defense is a good offense. And the Panthers’ forecheck and cycling work wore down the Rangers as every game progressed this series (but especially in Games 3-6).
Because the Panthers had most of the territorial play in Game 6, the Rangers could never sustain offensive zone time and put any real pressure on Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers were always in the offensive zone, and when your opponent never has the puck, it’s hard to do anything with it. That’s their identity and how they made it to this point. And that’s how they closed out the Rangers in Game 6.
Bobrovsky Outdueled Shesterkin
Igor Shesterkin put up a hell of an effort in this series. He’s the reason it went six games instead of five, but Bobrovsky outdueled him in Game 6. As the Panthers have done for much of the playoffs, they made life relatively easy for their netminder last night.
Bobrovsky made 22/23 saves and saved 0.71 goals above expected. He only faced four high-danger shots, so the Rangers didn’t test him often. But sometimes, those are tougher games for goaltenders to get into. Still, he’s probably used to it since the Panthers have been doing this for nearly two months during the playoffs.
And it’s not like Bobrovsky didn’t make some timely saves to help keep the Panthers up 1-0 before Vladimir Tarasenko scored the eventual game-winning goal in the third period. There was a right-pad save on Adam Fox in tight about five minutes into the second period and another right-pad save on Kaapo Kakko later on that would’ve given the Rangers some life had he scored. Bobrovsky may not have had to do much, but he did enough and made timely saves to help the Panthers close the series.
Forsling & Ekblad Were Closers
Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling had an outstanding series against the Rangers, but they were true closers in Game 6. Head coach Paul Maurice tasked them with shutting down Mika Zibanejad’s line last night, and they made that unit look like ghosts.
Chris Kreider, Zibanejad and Alex Wennberg spent nearly 10 minutes of ice time against Forsling and Ekblad but finished with expected goals shares (xG%) of 38.6 percent. Kreider, a standout in Round 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, was nowhere to be found in this series. He had just one shot on goal in Game 6, partly because Forsling and Ekblad were hard-matched against his line.
Any time it seemed like the Rangers had a chance at an opportunity, one of Forsling or Ekblad was there to erase the play, like when Forsling dove and stick-checked the puck away from Kreider on a partial breakaway earlier in the game.
Not only were Forsling and Ekblad shutting down the Rangers’ top line, but they were also pushing play forward for the Panthers. They are a legit top pair and will be key to them coming away with the Stanley Cup against whoever comes out victorious in the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers series.
Quick Hits
- Tarasenko had a relatively quiet series, but he came up big when it mattered most. As mentioned, his goal ended up being the game-winner, but he was also one of the Panthers’ best players at five-on-five, finishing with a 67.09 xG% last night. Ironically, he eliminated the team that acquired him to make a Cup run just a season ago.
- The Panthers’ physicality was just too much for the Rangers. Some of it was hits, like Brandon Montour’s in the third period, but much of it was their work on the forecheck and cycle. Anytime it seemed like the Rangers cleared the defensive zone of danger, the Panthers were right back in on the forecheck, causing problems for the Rangers on their breakout. They were relentless, and it was too much for the Rangers to handle in the latter parts of the last four games.
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