In Sunrise, a Carolina Hurricanes player walked near the door to the locker room after Game 3 on Monday, smashing his stick against the cinder block walls of the hallway, shattering a presumably expensive twig into countless particles.
Really no mystery for the tantrum.
“How are you not frustrated?” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “There’s times when you lose and you’re frustrated because you got beat, but if feels like we’re losing but we’re not really getting beat, and that’s where it gets frustrating. So, it’s the old story. It’s one day at a time and we’ll pick the pieces up tomorrow, and then we’ll try to throw our best at them next game and take it from there.”
The Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 32 shots he faced for a 1-0 win for Florida, and a 3-0 series lead over the Canes.
“My teammates did a great job,” Bobrovsky said. “All those little details, blocked shots, got good sticks and the gaps and everything that goes to small details. So, it’s definitely a good result for us, and it’s a big team effort.”
Carolina skated the final three and half minutes of the third period with an empty net.
“It’s there for us,” Brind’Amour said. “We’ve got to find a way to put it in. We’ve got to find a way to just break through and give ourselves a chance maybe to get back in this. But it’s tough because we have played really well.”
It did them little good as the Panthers kept the shooters to the outside, and left no rebounds to be collected for second chances.
Add in that the Canes were skating without much purpose and were disorganized to put it kindly.
The only goal of the game was scored midway through the middle frame.
Sam Reinhart took a pass from Matthew Tkachuk on the right boards. Reinhart was in the right circle, accepted the pass, set himself and wristed the puck home on the power play.
“The most important thing was, no one felt like they had to change their game and no one did (after he left),” Reinhart said. “Everyone tried to execute the same game plan.
“You know, we really liked that third [period]. It might [not] have been on the shot clock, we didn’t have many [shots], but I really liked our pace. We weren’t sitting back. That’s the way you’re going to have to win games this time of year.”
The Panthers scored once in four chances on the power play.
Game 4 is Wednesday night in Sunrise.
“We’re happy with the win, but next game is going to be a big game,” Bobrovsky said. “They have a great team. They have great players. It’s gonna be another fight. We’re definitely excited for it.”
Carolina outshot the Panthers, 11-2, in the third period, but most were long range shots, with no traffic in front of Bobrovsky.
“He’s been incredible, all playoffs long. It’s really incredible to see,” the Panthers’Â Sam Bennett said. “It gives our team that much more confidence and that much more belief. Even if they have a big push, we know we’ve got a guy back there that’s going to fight and do whatever it takes. It’s a lot of fun playing when you have a goalie playing like that.”
The Panthers were whistled for one minor penalty that led to a power play for Carolina..
“I think if we start with one win here and we continue to play like that, I think we’re going to get a bounce and we’ll move on from there,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “I think it was right there again for us. We’ll take another stab at it and take Game 4 and go from there.”
At least it didn’t go to overtime.
“It’s right there,” Carolina forward Sebastian Aho said. “Every single game this series has been a one-goal game. They’ve been right there. We could easily win all of them. Obviously, we haven’t won any of them. The concept is there. I think the way we play definitely we can beat them, but at the same time, we’ve got to find ways to score more goals.”
The Panthers need to pick up their game as well. They were outshot, 25-7, over the second and third periods. Any other opposition team might have capitalized.
“It was a really good gritty win,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We blocked an awful lot of shots and I thought the best stretch of hockey we have is probably the last six minutes.”
Aleksander Barkov left the game late in the first period, and did not return. He suffered an apparent lower body injury after a hip check.
“He’s at a Bar Mitzvah. Yeah, that’s what we’ll go with,” Maurice said. “Bar Mitzvah, and he didn’t want to disappoint the kids.”
Frederik Andersen made 16 saves in the Hurricanes loss.
“Any team still playing has gone through some adversities,” Aho said. “We’re no different. Obviously, you have to get through a lot to get to this point, but we’re a confident team. This series is not over. We’ll bounce back the day after tomorrow.”
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