Panthers take control with speed and physicality

It seems the Toronto Maple Leafs were so busy preparing for the Tampa Bay Lightning that they didn't equip themselves to play an opponent as fast, tenacious and physical as the Florida Panthers

Sam Bennett ran roughshod over the Maple Leafs in Game 2.

Maybe Sam Bennett will be suspended for Game 3 of the Florida Panthers’ second-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But probably not, because NHL. The prediction here is that:

• For Bennett’s crosscheck to the neck of Michael Bunting, NHL Department of Player Safety head George (The Violent Gentleman) Parros will spin his Wheel of Justice™ and it will land on, “$5,000 fine, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement.” (Nailed it.)

• For Bennett’s headlock, tackle and body slam on Matthew Knies, who are we kidding here? Those guys secretly love that kind of stuff.

But here’s the thing about all of that. Two interesting reactions came from the Leafs last night. The first came in the press box after their dreadful second period. GM Kyle Dubas, who clearly is showing the stress of the playoffs, exited the Leafs’ management loge and slammed the door so hard that it startled anyone within earshot. The second came after the game when goalie Ilya Samsonov was asked about the play of his rival Sergei Bobrovsky and responded with, “I don’t give a f---.”

If the Maple Leafs want any chance to get back into that series, the guys who play the game in front of Samsonov are going to have to adopt a similar attitude, and that has nothing to do with inserting Wayne Simmonds into the lineup or leaving their comfort zone and getting all in-your-face. The Panthers are leading this series because they’re beating the Maple Leafs in almost all the important facets of the game: goaltending, races for the puck, on the forecheck and in 50-50 battles along the boards.

Who would have though Florida’s playoff board would look like this two games into the second round?

After Florida’s 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs to take a 2-0 lead, Bennett was asked about his Knies tackle. “I think he tried to hit me and I jumped out of the way and he got tied up in my arm there,” Bennett said. And the crosscheck to Bunting’s neck, which was followed up by one to Bunting’s back when he was down? “I can’t take that penalty there. Going for his shoulder, just trying to move him out of the way and rides up and gets him a little bit,” he said. “But, yeah, that’s one I’d like to take back.”

But would he really? First, the Panthers have killed off six of the seven Toronto power plays in the series. Second, when Florida coach Paul Maurice holds up his fingers to the referees to show the disparity in power plays, he’s sending a message. The Panthers know the officials can call them only so many times, again because NHL, and if they have to kill a couple more penalties with the way Bobrovsky is playing, that’s a price they are willing to pay because it allows them to go hard at the Maple Leafs and finish every check, knowing that there will be times when they cross the line with impunity.

The Panthers get a lot of penalties called against them, because they should have. They were shorthanded 291 times during the regular season, but that is all part of the plan. Their penalty killing has actually been pretty putrid both during the season and in the playoffs, but they’ve clearly built giving up power play goals into their game plan. When asked about the Bennett-Knies incident, Panthers coach Paul Maurice quipped, “I think we’ve been on the other side of the ledger enough.” Give the man his props. Boy, can he work a room.

And the Maple Leafs, the nice franchise that has all kinds of guys who are great in the community and do all the right things, are not going to respond in kind. Which is fine. But if you’re not going to make them pay on the power play, and if you’re going to be constantly looking over your shoulder to see whether or not Matthew Tkachuk is anywhere near you, well, you’re playing a losing mentality. It seems the Leafs were so busy building a team that could beat the Tampa Bay Lightning that they forgot there are other teams. So far, this team has been unable to handle an opponent that plays at the pace the Panthers do, and play as physically and forecheck with such tenacity.

“That’s part of our identity,” Bennett said. “A hard forechecking team that finishes its checks. We can still do more, we can still forecheck a little harder and that’s going to be part of our game.”

Much is being made of the “disappointing” and “baffling” first 1:06 of the second period when the Panthers turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead with two goals in 27 seconds. It was a terrible stretch of play to be sure, but there were still 39 minutes to go in the game. If you were looking for an opportunity to change the tide of the series, there it was. The Leafs outshot the Panthers 22-18 from that point on and had some high-danger opportunities to tie the game, and they pretty much carried play, but were still being caved in when it came to crucial areas of the game.

Bennett has already said the Panthers have more to give when it comes to leaning on the Leafs and Maurice said this series has been a tickle fest compared the first round against the Boston Bruins. “The first four games of the Boston series were twice as physical as what we’ve played here,” Maurice said. “Both ways. It was even in physicality. In Game 1, I think the hit number was 87 (it was). You know when you go to different buildings and you kind of look at those numbers and…you know what I’m saying? (For sure. In Game 2, the hit count was 48-42 in favour of the Maple Leafs.) It was legitimate. It was as heavy a first game I’ve ever seen and straight through the first four.”

That’s not good news for those hoping to see the Leafs in the Eastern Conference final. The Panthers have an extra day to recharge and to revel in what they’ve accomplished and the Leafs have an extra day to try to figure out their opponent.