Stanley Cup Playoffs Takeaways: Panthers' daunting depth on full display

“Ahhh, now that’s more like it!” – Florida Panthers fans everywhere.

The Presidents' Trophy-winning Panthers evened their first-round series with the Washington Capitals thanks to a complete Game 2 effort from perhaps the most talented offensive team in the NHL on Thursday.

Florida led the league in goals this season, setting a record for most by a club in the salary-cap era. The team’s 337 goals were the most scored by a roster since the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins.

They averaged a whopping 4.11 goals per game in the regular season and buried five past Vitek Vanecek on Thursday before Ilya Samsonov came in for the third period.

Florida began clicking offensively after scoring only twice in Game 1 and did so with a balanced attack. Five players scored a goal and 12 Panthers recorded at least one point in the 5-1 win.

Panthers' Huberdeau makes nifty move to set up Barkov for tap-in goal
Watch as Panthers' forward Jonathan Huberdeau makes a nifty deke and pass to set up forward Aleksander Barkov for a tap-in goal.
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    The team got help from the back end when Aaron Ekblad scored his first career playoff goal to open the scoring in the 2014 first-overall pick’s second game back from a leg injury sustained on March 18.

    The Capitals were outshooting the Panthers 21-8 midway through the game. The Panthers began dominating after killing off a four-minute power play in the second period when the score was 2-1. The final shots were 36-27 for the Panthers.

    Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, who notoriously struggles in the playoffs, let in a soft goal from a bad angle early in the second period. Thankfully for the Panthers, it was his only flub of the night. Before his Game 2 victory, Bobrovsky had won only one of his previous 10 playoff starts dating back to 2019.

    “Bob kept us in the game, gave us a chance to win,” Aleksander Barkov told reporters after the game.

    The Capitals were without Tom Wilson, who was inured in Game 1, and the line juggling had a clear impact on Washington’s ability to generate quality scoring chances. The series moves to Washington for Game 3, with puck drop set for early Saturday afternoon.

    Alex Ovechkin summed up his team's result this way: “S--- happens. We move on.”

    SHESTERKIN OUTDUELS DOMINGUE

    Igor Shesterkin had a historic 79-save performance in Game 1 earlier this week. It was a New York Rangers franchise record and the second-most saves ever recorded in a single NHL game. It was also overshadowed by Louis Domingue’s spicy broccoli double- and triple-overtime heroics

    Shesterkin bounced back with another strong, albeit less busy, showing against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2, a 5-2 Rangers win.  

    The runaway Vezina Trophy frontrunner made 39 saves and was named the game’s second star. The Rangers and fans held their collective breath after a collision with Jeff Carter late in the third period. Shesterkin was attended to on the ice and was able to finish the game.

    Shesterkin now has 118 saves in two games this series. When you add to the total the 27 saves he made during his lone post-season appearance in 2020, you get another impressive accomplishment.

    No goalie in NHL history has made more saves in their first three playoff appearances than Shesterkin’s 145.

    At the other end of the ice, Domingue was making his first start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He certainly had his moments and finished Game 2 with 35 saves on 40 shots but slowed down as the game went on and couldn’t stand on his head in the final period as the Rangers poured on the pressure.

    Domingue is one of the only right-gloved goalies in the NHL. His best moment was when he flashed that glove in the first period, robbing Mika Zibanejad in close.

    Domingue stretches out for a spicy glove save in Game 2
    Watch Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Louis Domingue show off his glove hand as he reaches cross-crease to rob New York Rangers centre Mika Zibanejad of a sure thing goal.
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      CROSBY LEAPFROGS JAGR, CLIMBS ALL-TIME SCORING LISTS

      You can point to plenty of reasons the Penguins dropped Game 2. Sidney Crosby’s performance was not one of them.

      The Penguins captain had one goal and one assist for his 65th career multi-point playoff outing and the second in as many games this series.

      Crosby leapfrogged Jaromir Jagr and moved into a tie with Sergei Fedorov for eighth place on the NHL’s all-time playoff assists list, with 124.

      The superstar centre tied Steve Yzerman for 18th-most playoff goals in NHL history when he beat Shesterkin late in the second. It was Crosby’s 70th career post-season goal. He and Ovechkin are the only active players with at least 70 playoff goals. Ovechkin has 71 despite playing 33 fewer playoff games than Crosby.

      Crosby’s incredible individual effort made it a 3-2 game heading into the third period, however it wasn’t enough to galvanize the Pens. It ended up being the first time Crosby has scored a goal against the Rangers in the playoffs in a loss.

      Crosby battles through Rangers defenders to score his first goal of playoffs
      Watch as Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby battles through the New York Rangers defence to score his first goal of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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        GUENTZEL’S PLAYOFF AND ROAD SUCCESS CONTINUES

        Jake Guentzel has been a productive member of the Penguins from the moment he made his NHL debut, and the winger tends to step up his game in the playoffs. This year has been no different.

        The 27-year-old scored twice in Game 1 and added his third of the post-season in a losing effort Thursday night.

        Guentzel has recorded a playoff goal in six consecutive seasons. He led all players in playoff goals in 2017, when he was a rookie to help the Penguins win the Cup, and his 29 post-season goals are now tied with Brad Marchand for third in the NHL since 2016-17. Brayden Point’s 37 and Ovechkin’s 30 are the top two goal totals from the past six years.

        The Omaha, Neb., native has historically been more of a setup man against the Rangers, with six goals and 17 assists in 23 career regular-season games when playing the Blue Shirts. That’s more assists than he has against any other team.

        Guentzel had an excellent 2021-22 season, tying a career high with 40 goals and setting new personal bests with 44 assists and 84 points. He was also more productive on the road with 23 goals, 24 assists in 38 away games, compared to only 17 goals and 20 assists in 38 home games.

        AVALANCHE BOOKEND HIGH SHOT TOTAL WITH GOALS

        You’ve got to feel for Connor Ingram. The Nashville Predators goalie made his first playoff start and it was a memorable performance, to say the least.

        He allowed a goal on the first shot he faced when Nathan MacKinnon used his speed to blow by the Preds and wire a shot by Ingram. It was just about the worst start imaginable for the Preds, considering Nashville was down 5-0 after the opening period of Game 1. That’s when Ingram took over. The 25-year-old made 48 consecutive saves to give his team a chance before Cale Makar scored the game-winner 8:31 into overtime.

        Ingram spent the 2021-22 season with the Milwaukee Admirals in the AHL, but you wouldn’t’ve guessed it based on how poised he was handling a barrage of shots and non-stop Avalanche scoring chances.

        Colorado outshot Nashville 50-25 and Ingram was named second star of the game behind Makar, who had 11 shots on goal and an insane 21 shot attempts.

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