TAMPA

Aaron Ekblad stared on the scoreboard excessive above the ice at Amalie Enviornment and tried to search for a solution to what had simply occurred.

Lastly, one of many Tampa Bay Lightning’s photographs bounced round sufficient across the web for the Lightning to do what they do greatest — and what they’ve completed all all through this second-round collection. Pat Maroon managed to knock a rebound out of the sky and into the web, and the top was lastly in sight for these Panthers. It was exhausting for any of them to consider it.

The aim was sufficient for Tampa Bay to win 2-0 in Tampa and sweep Florida out of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-0 collection victory.

“It’s a tricky tablet to swallow,” Ekblad stated. “Getting swept is hard. It hurts. It stings. There’s little doubt about it.”

With their season on the road, the Panthers bought shut out for the primary first time all yr. As soon as once more, their season is over too early. This time, it’s due to the large expectations they took into the Stanley Cup playoffs and, particularly, this primary second-round collection in additional than twenty years.

Their first journey to Spherical 2 for the reason that 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs lasted simply 4 video games and so they go into the offseason attempting to determine what, once more, what went mistaken in a postseason showdown with their in-state rival, which is now simply eight wins away from successful a 3rd straight Stanley Cup.

It’s the second straight yr the Lightning has ended the Florida’s season — they’d by no means met within the postseason earlier than Tampa Bay received in six video games first spherical of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs — and it brings a principally magical season to a devastating conclusion. The Panthers rewrote their franchise report e book all yr lengthy and, on the similar time, underachieved.

It’s unarguably one of many two greatest seasons in franchise historical past and in addition maybe essentially the most irritating ending the staff has ever had. They noticed breakthrough seasons from stars like Jonathan Huberdeau and Sergei Bobrovsky, and in addition noticed these stars get outplayed by their counterparts. Florida is in place to contend for years to return with many of the roster locked up on multi-year offers, but it surely additionally but to do a lot of something of significance within the Cup playoffs.

For a few week, the Panthers’ first-round win in opposition to the Washington Capitals counted as an actual second. Florida hadn’t received a postseason collection in 26 years earlier than it completed off the Capitals in six video games Could 13 and the Panthers, particularly the celebs who’ve been a part of the franchise for near a decade, felt a mountain of frustrations and expectations carry from their shoulders.

The enjoyment and reduction was brief lived. Florida misplaced Recreation 1 to the Lightning on Tuesday at house, then Recreation 2 on a game-winning aim with 3.8 seconds left Thursday. After getting two days to regroup, the Panthers responded with their most lopsided lack of the collection Sunday and a season-ending loss Monday in entrance of 19,092 giddy followers within the Tampa Bay space.

“I believe we’re nearer, however we bought swept and there was one other stage we’ve bought to climb, so we’re nonetheless climbing,” interim coach Andrew Brunette stated. “I believed that we have been prepared for that subsequent step. Sadly, we fell brief.”

It’s not fairly as demoralizing an ending as a first-round upset by the hands of a No. 8 seed would’ve been, but it surely’s not far off. Florida is simply the fourth staff to get swept out of the playoffs after main the NHL in factors within the common season.

These questions the Panthers thought they’d possibly answered — about the way forward for Brunette, about whether or not a core led by Huberdeau and star heart Aleksander Barkov can win within the playoffs, and about whether or not basic supervisor Invoice Zito sacrificed an excessive amount of of Florida’s future to load up on the commerce deadline — are open once more.

Brunette continues to be an interim after stepping in for Joel Quenneville following the previous coach’s resignation within the first month of the season, and his first postseason as coach ended with him disputing a WDAE report about a few of his gamers spending the evening out partying earlier than Recreation 4 and his staff bowing out in uncommon style. Barkov and Huberdeau have now misplaced 4 of 5 postseason collection of their profession, and mixed for simply three factors in opposition to the Lightning. Versatile All-Star ahead Claude Giroux and defenseman Ben Chiarot — each of whom price Florida first-round picks to accumulate forward of the deadline — are about to change into unrestricted free brokers and neither contributed a degree in Spherical 2.

There was additionally an open query about whether or not the Panthers’ high-flying model would work within the playoffs, when defenses usually tighten up and advancing often takes successful low-scoring affairs. It’s one they by no means got here near answering within the affirmative.

Within the common season, Florida averaged 4.11 objectives per recreation to change into the primary staff to common greater than 4 per recreation for the reason that 1995-96 NHL season. Within the postseason, the Panthers averaged simply 2.3 — and scored simply three objectives in opposition to Tampa Bay — to deliver their season-long common, together with each the common season and playoffs, down to three.91.

They went simply 1 for 31 on the facility play within the playoffs and 1 for 13 within the second spherical.

“Particular groups, for me, was a difficulty. Clearly, I take a number of the blame for the facility play. That was my fault. It needs to be higher,” stated Brunette, who ran the facility play as an assistant coach at first of the season. “I don’t know if I trusted an excessive amount of to show round. That one I’ll kick myself all summer time. It’s already induced me sleepless nights. Now, it may cost me a sleepless summer time.”

The primary interval Monday was the closest Florida got here to trying like its regular-season self in opposition to the Lightning. The Panthers fired 17 photographs on aim and held Tampa Bay to only three. They generated 17 scoring possibilities, 4 high-danger possibilities and bought two energy performs. They spent principally the whole interval pinning the Lightning again into its personal zone.

On this collection, it didn’t matter. Andrei Vasilevskiy was too good. Florida couldn’t beat him as soon as within the first interval or on 17 photographs within the second, or 15 within the third. The All-Star goaltender stopped all 49 photographs he confronted and 151 of 154 he confronted for a .981 save proportion.

“It was the perfect recreation we performed as a 60-minute recreation. It appeared like us,” Brunette stated. “There have been video games the place we confirmed flashes of it, however the 60-minute recreation, at that tempo, appeared like us.

On this collection, the Panthers had extra photographs than Tampa Bay in 2 of 4 video games and extra scoring possibilities in all 4. The distinction was Vasilevskiy enjoying like the perfect goalie within the league — and outdueling star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who was greater than respectable with a .919 save proportion in 4 video games — and Florida, even with one of the star-laden rosters within the league, being fully unable to resolve the 27-year-old Russian and his battle-tested teammates.

Regardless that they have been swept, the Panthers lamented how shut they felt the collection truly was. The aim with 3.8 seconds left in Recreation 2 is a part of it. The whole lot of Recreation 4 is, too, and particularly ahead Carter Verhaeghe’s shot off each posts and the crossbar with 12:15 left within the second interval.

It was the closest Florida got here to beating Vasilevskiy and taking its first lead since Recreation 1, but the sport remained scoreless into the third interval regardless of the Panthers outshooting the Lightning, 34-15, within the first two intervals and wiping away a pair of Tampa Bay objectives with profitable challenges.

The collection successfully ended with 13:44 left within the second interval, which is when Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian fired a shot from the purpose to create a tumbling rebound across the crease. The puck bounced behind Bobrovsky and Maroon knocked it into the web to offer Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead.

“Each recreation was just about a one-goal recreation till the third interval,” Barkov stated. “Many of the video games have been tight video games, however they ended up approaching high each recreation, in order that’s the way it went.”

Though it tied an NHL report with 29 come-from-behind wins within the common season and completed off Spherical 1 with three straight comebacks, Florida by no means discovered its “Comeback Cats” magic in Spherical 2.

On the time of the game-winning aim, the Panthers had a 41-18 edge in photographs on aim. Florida, nonetheless, performed 4 minutes of the ultimate 13:28 on the penalty kill and had solely eight extra photographs after falling behind, most approaching an influence play with 2:30 left.

With 22.1 seconds left, the Lightning sealed the victory with the kind of swing it feasted on all collection. On one finish of the ice, Vasilevskiy stopped a slap shot by defenseman Gustav Forsling and denied the Panthers any rebound try, and Tampa Bay took off within the different path. On the opposite finish of the ice, Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat buried an empty-net aim and Tampa Bay doubled its result in 2-0.

It introduced an finish to a season in contrast to every other in South Florida. The Panthers by no means dominated a daily season like they did this yr and solely made it additional within the playoffs with one unbelievable run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals of their third season of existence. They scored extra objectives in a season than anybody for the reason that wage cap was carried out and, actually for the primary time ever, could be seen as one thing near a mannequin franchise with the best way Zito has rapidly remodeled them from afterthought into contender.

Whilst they get nearer, they continue to be removed from the final word aim — 12 wins in need of a primary championship, to be precise. Now, they’ll have to attend one other 12 months to search out out if they’ll once more get even nearer to what they need.

“It’s one other step to study, a studying curve for them. There was one final yr and we bought by means of one spherical, and we’re able to faucet that once more,” Brunette stated. “There’s extra there and I consider the group will take one other step, however we’ll get there.”

This story was initially revealed Could 23, 2022 10:47 PM.