The Florida Panthers shocked the hockey world with their deep playoff run. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be this year. Florida has fallen to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers had one of the toughest paths in the playoffs we have ever seen. Florida matched up with four of the top five teams in the regular season, including the top two teams.
Florida overcame a lot to get to the Finals, but they just cannot call themselves champions. So, what happened? How did a team so red hot coming into this series lose in this fashion? Here are three reasons for the Panthers loss in the Stanley Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights.
3) Back to Earth
Perhaps the most simple reason at play is the team coming back down to Earth. The Panthers went on an incredible heater, winning 11 of 12 at one point in these playoffs.
They were due to come down at some point, and they weren’t given any favors after the Eastern Conference Finals. Florida had a 10 day rest before Game 1 against Vegas.
As a result, the team just didn’t have the same spark about them. Florida got off to good starts in a lot of these games, but they couldn’t maintain those starts. Vegas caught up to them, and they took over.
It’s a rough sight to see. However, it’s just the nature of the game unfortunately. Florida did so well to get this far, but just couldn’t keep it up to claim hockey’s ultimate prize.
2) Bully hockey
This is perhaps the biggest internal factor beyond coming back to Earth. The Panthers just tried to bully the Golden Knights throughout the series, and it just didn’t work.
Matthew Tkachuk was ejected in each of the first two games of this series. Nine players in total were kicked from Game 2 as tempers flared. Things got even crazier at the end of Game 4.
Florida could have went toe-to-toe with the Golden Knights. Instead, they wanted to rattle Vegas and get in their head. It didn’t work, and they were completely outclassed as a result.
1) The Adin Hill show
The biggest external factor here is Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill. The 26-year-old goaltender haunted Panthers skaters all series long and Florida just had no answer.
Hill wasn’t unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination. Florida scored three goals in three of the five games of the series. But he also made incredible save after incredible save to keep Florida from scoring more.
Many will remember his jaw-dropping paddle save in Game 1 to keep that game tied. Vegas went on to win the game, and eventually the series. But Game 1 wasn’t the only time Hill stoned the Panthers.
The Panthers had their share of scoring chances in many of these games. Florida could have scored a bunch more in Game 5. However, Hill just found some way to keep the puck out of the net.
Sergei Bobrovsky came into this series as the goalie everyone had their eyes on, and for good reason. Bob reverted back to his Columbus days with the way he played against Toronto and Carolina.
In the end, however, it’s the 26-year-old pending unrestricted free agent who stole the show. Hill earned himself this Stanley Cup, and a massive pay rise this summer in the process.