I learned a long time ago from the infamous exchange between Mark Cubans and Skip Bayless, that you can’t simply blame a loss on a bad individual and/or team performance. You have to take in consideration the opposition. More specifically, their play.
With that in mind, here are my three big takeaways from Game 1:
1. Toronto Game Plan Deserves Credit
With my opening blurb in mind, Cats fans can’t simply blame Florida’s (very) poor performance for their loss. We need to acknolwedge that the Leafs came in with a game plan that had the Panthers off theirs.
In a move that surprised me, Toronto played the aggressor. They got bodies on Florida players, pressed on the forecheck, and put the Cats on their heels with speed, strong rushes and serious skill.
Blaming the loss solely on Florida would do a disservice to the Leafs preparation and execution (IMO).
2. Panthers Were Awful
Now that point #1 is out of the way, let’s talk about how bad the Panthers were.
I mean…I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen the play like that - especially Bob, who looked bizarrely pedestrian in the blue paint.
I think what stood out the most to me was that Florida looked to have zero confidence. The whole game was peppered with the Cats mishandling the puck - something that is very uncharacteristic of this group. Just lots of bobbling and coughing it up. They lost control of it countless times in the offensive zone.
There was also a hefty amount of bad passing. Lots of guys flinging the puck expecting (or hoping) a teammate was there. One that sticks out to me the most was when Florida went on their first PP and the puck came back to Jones. For some reason, he never thought to settle it or hang on to it and get the PP setup. Instead, he no-look backhand passed it, expecting it to go to his partner, but it was way off and went out of the zone, forcing the Panthers to have to regroup and try to re-enter the zone.
Goofy decisions/stuff like that plagued them all night.
3. Optimism Through Loss
Perhaps the weirdest thing about Game 1 given how awful Florida was, was that the game ended in a 5-4 loss.
Despite their terrible play, the Panthers managed to scratch and claw to get four goals and put some fear into Toronto.
And that’s why I’m feeling optimistic.
I can’t believe Florida plays like that again. But even if they don’t play up to the level we know they can, they showed they can still be in it.
So, chalk Game 1 up to a fluke, because I don’t see it happening again.
TONIGHT
This has to be the easiest game plan of all time for Florida:
Just be better than you were in Game 1, and the bar is not high.
Cats will certainly get a boost from Ekblad and Samo back in the lineup.
The Hot Topic…
Stolarz is out tonight.
The Panthers got to Woll and will do right to fire at him nonstop.
We can discuss the whole Bennett/Stolarz hit in the comments section. Curious what each fanbase thinks…
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Big win here tonight, fellas!
Go Panthers!
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