Paul Maurice, head coach of the Florida Panthers
Paul Maurice, head coach of the Florida Panthers

Ahead of Game 5, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice discussed Auston Matthews’ lack of goals through the first four games of the series, his team’s ability to handle pressure-packed playoff moments, and his adjustment with Evan Rodrigues out of the lineup.

Morning Skate Lines – Game 5

Before the series started, if someone were to tell you that you would be going into Game 5 without Auston Matthews scoring a goal, what would you say?

Maurice: What is the series at? Jonah Gadjovich scored that goal, and we didn’t take it from him and give it to Barkov. Nobody cares.

Your group has faced a lot of pressure-packed moments over the years in the playoffs. What is your sense of the group ahead of Game 5?

Maurice: This is where we are supposed to be. This setup is exactly the Ranger game. We were down in the series, came back, and went into New York. It is the hardest thing, that excitement about it. That is kind of how we are moving around each other today.

Given how deep the team has gone in the last few playoffs and that this series is now heading into the later stages, does your team travel well as we get into this stage of the playoffs?

Maurice: They’re used to it — truly used to it. We sat on the tarmac for three hours trying to let the rain go down before we flew into Edmonton. I think we had a nine-hour festival on the airplane before we went in. We had to get roasted for not flying in two days early. We found a way to scratch one out.

For both teams — for any team of the eight left — there are going to be five things you can count as distractions and five things you think are working for you. This is all about trying to divine what is going to happen at seven o’clock tonight. When the puck drops, we go, and that is it.

Jesper Boqvist has been waiting to get back in for a while, and now he will take Evan Rodrigues’ spot on the top line. What are you expecting from him in that spot?

Maurice: The advantage of having him come in is that he can play all three forward positions, which gives us some options on either Tomas Nosek returning to the left wing with Barkov and Reinhart — as we did in the last 15 minutes of the third — or I can move him over to the right as well. There is a lot of versatility there for us.

He has experience. When we bring guys in from the outside, they have had a big impact for us. They have been critical. A part of that is that they are never really on the outside, right? They are all part of the chirping, the practicing, and all of the things that go on. They feel like they are a part of it.

Everybody is pretty excited for him.

Evan Rodrigues’ play was trending the right way before the injury. How close is he? Is he a potential option for Game 6?

Maurice: I don’t know the answer to that. I won’t give a detailed [answer]. He won’t play today, and we will list him as day-to-day.

I would agree that his play was very, very strong for us.

There are eight different players with at least eight points on the team, and five different players with game-winners. How advantageous is it to know you aren’t relying on one or two guys to produce?

Maurice: The change in that number would be your third line, however you order them coming off the bench. They hit the ice thinking they have a responsibility defensively, but that they can also score goals. They feel that. Confidence is a big part of that.

The fourth line played a lot of the season together, but they weren’t in the playoff lineup to start the run. What have you liked about their game that’s allowed them to stay in the lineup over some of the other options?

Maurice: I like that they earned it a certain way. I’ve complained about this enough, but our schedule was pretty tough in the last month or month and a half. We had a bunch of guys who were sort of banged up. We were pretty confident we were making the playoffs, but the schedule would not allow you to run your top end as hard as you would’ve needed to in order to finish in first or second.

Those guys went in there, and they created their own line and chemistry with each other. They sat on the bench and talked, and they had success. It is not always goal-scoring; they would play in the other team’s end, and they were very physical. They started to have fun.

It is not so much the individual. We put them in as a line to try to recreate that they can be their own team within a team. They do have some chemistry, for sure. They play off of each other very well.

Do you ever sit back in wonderment at Aleksander Barkov’s ability to throw a blanket on the other team’s top players?

Maurice: I think I caught him making a mistake twice this year. It made the video, too, because we had to enjoy that. There is that, and when he takes a penalty. That is usually a good one to catch him on.

He is so very, very consistent in making the right decisions. He is ego-less. I don’t know if I have that word right. Elite players have to have a belief in themselves and a confidence in themselves. Why would you push yourself that hard if you didn’t think you could get better or be elite? But he won’t make a play to try to generate something for himself.

There is no cheating the game. He hasn’t cheated for a play or a point in his life. It is just not who he is. When he is your captain, everyone has to follow that model.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR