SUNRISE, Fla. — Less than an hour after his team had lost an overtime heartbreaker early Saturday morning, Paul Maurice was sitting at the Madison Square Garden podium craving jokes.
He hadn’t seen Barclay Goodrow’s game-winner yet, he said, because the layout of the Garden made it impossible for him to see his video guy.
“I’m not sure he still works for us,” Maurice joked. “I truly have not seen the goal, cause we have to send out telegrams.”
This, after a 2-1 overtime loss in the conference finals, is a rarity.
But Maurice and the Panthers alike feel perfectly comfortable with where they are in this series against the Rangers as it heads down to Florida for Game 3 on Sunday afternoon.
“Distraught is not the right word,” Maurice said. “I’m fine with tonight. You shouldn’t come in and beat the Presidents’ Trophy team twice in a row. You really shouldn’t.”
Earning a split at the Garden — and one in which they played a strong pair of games at that — is something the Panthers are happy with.
They have yet to lose back-to-back games in these playoffs, with a 3-0 record after losses.
And playing on home ice, with matchups now in their control, the Panthers appear confident in their position.
“I think after a loss, we come to the rink with a little bit more focus, a little bit more energy,” Nick Cousins said Saturday. “Tomorrow’s no different. It’s a quick turnaround, early-afternoon start. After a loss, you kinda want to get right back at it. We’re gonna get some rest today and then get on the plane, get ready to play a game at home.”
Unlike the Rangers after Game 1, Florida is not grappling with any lineup decisions.
Unlike the Rangers, the Panthers are fairly content with their special teams.
And they successfully stole away home ice in Game 1 — so Friday night felt a little bit for the Panthers like playing with house money.
Much as the Rangers recovered their game over the 74:01-long win, the Panthers did not really slip.
They played the same physical brand of hockey as two nights prior, continuing to look strong in the bottom-six and with Aleksander Barkov continuing to present issues for the Rangers whenever on the ice.
“Pretty even game, I think it could’ve gone either way,” Cousins said. “Just comes down to, they made a play in overtime, were lucky enough to get one. I thought the first 10 minutes of the game, they upped their level, they upped their intensity, they came out hard and we expected that.
“I thought as the game went on, we got a lot better. Now we gotta go home in front of our fans and use the crowd to our advantage.”
