Panthers head coach Paul Maurice addressed the media after a 5-5 overtime win over the Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.
On deploying Anton Lundell’s line more against Auston Matthews’ line with the last change:
We had done it before. I don’t think the Lundell line has looked like that in times past, but we have done it before when you get behind it just to free up Barkov and Bennett a little bit. They did a really good job of it.
I don’t think they were a checking line. I don’t think they’re a trading line. They are pretty responsible guys. We also switched back in overtime because the best have to go against the best. Let them decide. Let the players decide.
I don’t think it had much to do with the game or its outcome. A bunch of really good players on both teams played against each other. I don’t think the matchup really had anything to do with it.
On the decision to insert a new fourth line and how the Greer-Nosek-Gadjovich line fared in Game 3:
They were good.
You know what happened? In the last month of the season, we had so many guys banged up and out of the lineup that the line played. It was one night where it was +11 in the analytics for and against. We haven’t had a forward at that number all year.
There is also something about the man (Gadjovich) and the line. They work so hard every single day. It just felt like we needed a bit of a style change. They play a different style of game.
They have been good. They played really well for us in the last month and a half — exceptionally well for us.
I moved single players in and out, but I thought if Tomas (Nosek) was coming in and AJ (Greer) was coming in, all three of them needed to come in. There is something there with the line.
On Carter Verhaeghe’s team-leading seven hits and battle level throughout the game:
I can’t explain it or articulate it well. There is a certain frequency that he plays at and can get himself to at playoff time. There is a physicality, a speed, a directness, and a simplicity to his game. When there is more chaos or more intensity, that is when he is at his best.
And he is not allowed to come off the ice in overtime. That is just a rule.
On the experience of competing against Brad Marchand in a big playoff game vs. coaching with him on your team:
I swear less.
On Marchand’s impact in this playoff run despite his older age:
There is a base fitness to this. He is well known for his diligence and consistency. He is a very, very fit man.
We traded for him coming off a significant injury that he couldn’t train much with. He fits with that. We have a bunch of guys who love the gym. You could just see him getting stronger and stronger.
We got into nine games in 15 days, and he played most of them. It wore him right out, and it was actually good for him. He kind of played himself back into shape.
He is a very, very fit man. I would put him in the Reinhart category of intelligence. He is not running around burning a lot of energy. He is picking his spots for when to get into holes.
He’s figured it out. When he came into this league, it was a way nastier league. I don’t think you survive at his size unless you are very, very smart about when to get in and when to get out.
On his group sticking with it despite an early 2-0 deficit, and the team’s play in the second period to spark the turnaround:
We kind of had that start where we just overskated one and got behind it. There is just so much time left on the clock that I don’t think it is hard to keep your group in it. It is a veteran group of guys who know you should stay in the fight and that you can.
The second period was the first block of time in this series that we looked like our identity. I think that would be true.
On whether there could be some carryover momentum from his team’s Game 3 win:
It just means you have a better day tomorrow. The context changes up until the puck drops. If you go down 0-3 against any of these… The eight teams that are left are all legitimate teams who can all win. If you go 0-3 to any of the eight teams, you are going to have a hard time getting out of that hole.
On what was going through his head when Knies and Nylander went on breakaways in the overtime period:
Just profanity.
That one is not for publication. It would be a fine. Embellishment.
On Sergei Bobrovsky’s stat line through three games (13 goals against in three games):
I don’t think Bob cares about his stats. He never has here.
I didn’t love his first game, but God, he has had some bad luck around his own net. We have had pucks bouncing all over the place off of defensemen. There is maybe some karmic justice on the game winner based on what we have been doing to him in front of our net.
It doesn’t faze him. His emotional level stays intense but always in control and composed. It doesn’t surprise us when he does that.
