Sam Bennett drops blunt wake-up call to Brad Marchand, Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers after deflating loss vs Oilers

Following the 4-3 loss in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers star Sam Bennett delivered a bold statement to Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand, and the rest of the squad, hoping to spark a fire under them ahead of the second matchup in the NHL‘s decisive stage.

It was an uncharacteristic night for the Panthers. Although Florida held a 3-1 lead at one point of the game, it never looked comfortable on the ice and Edmonton’s home-ice advantage seemed to put the Panthers in a hurry. Bennett recorded a crucial brace, being the best player on the ice for the Cats, but that was about it. Marchand had a good game, but the rest of stars—like Tkachuk—were conspicuously absent.

That’s a recipe for disaster—even for an NHL team characterized by its depth like the Panthers—and it came back to bite Florida, as Edmonton rallied for a paramount victory in the series opener.

For the first time under Paul Maurice’s guidance, the Panthers lost a postseason game in which they headed to an intermission with the lead. That stat helps paint a clear picture of just how rare Florida’s collapse in Game 1 was. Until then, the Panthers were 31-0 in such scenarios. Bennett is well aware of his team’s shortcomings and addressed them with a vivid postgame comment.

“Don’t sit back,” Panthers center Sam Bennett said, in dialogue with NHL.com. “We’ve been really good all year at not sitting back with the lead and for whatever reason we sat back tonight.”

Keep calm

The Panthers have been in similar situations before, falling behind early in a series. Of course, when it happens in the Stanley Cup Final and against the star-studded Oilers, it’s natural for some players to get anxious and want to hit the panic button. Fortunately, the Cats have a solid veteran core capable of calming the locker room and keeping the team grounded.

“It’s one game,” Marchand reflected after the game. “You can’t get stuck in the past here. So, we’ll regroup, refocus and get ready for the next one. They just pushed. A couple pucks we didn’t really get deep.

“Gotta be a little bit better making plays under pressure, getting our legs going a little bit more. We got caught just kind of flipping pucks, and they’d regroup and come back at us.”

Bad omen?

The Panthers are currently playing in their fourth Stanley Cup Final in franchise history, so they know better than to throw in the towel after one game. However, losing the series opener was far from ideal.

The Panthers are 0-3 in the Stanley Cup Final when losing Game 1. Regardless, if they are serious about making history with back-to-back championships, they can’t be stressing about such stats.