The Florida Panthers are in familiar, albeit unenviable, territory. One more loss in the Stanley Cup Final will see the Vegas Golden Knights lift the Stanley Cup as the Panthers watch on.
The Panthers have come back from a 3-1 series deficit before. Just this postseason, they did so against the Boston Bruins in the very first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Winning three straight games is nothing new for this team, either.
However, the pressure isn't all on the Panthers in this series, as veteran Florida forward Eric Staal pointed out on Monday. And he knows a thing or two about being so close to Stanley Cup glory.
“I've been there before, on the other side of it,” Staal told Panthers reporter Jameson Olive on Monday. “I've been in the Stanley Cup Final up 3-1. It's not easy. There's pressure there.”
Staal's experience being up 3-1 in the Stanley Cup Final nearly ended in disaster. He and the Carolina Hurricanes were up 3-1 over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. Edmonton forced a Game 7, which the Hurricanes won on home ice.
And to Staal's point, we have seen the Golden Knights slip a bit when close to winning a series. Vegas took a 3-0 series lead over the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals. Dallas rattled off two straight wins before falling in Game 6.
Staal and the Panthers certainly hope to catch the Golden Knights looking past them in Game 5. They will take it one game at a time and hope that Game 5 is not the final game in Vegas.
Fans can catch Game 5 on Tuesday night at 8 PM ET. The Stanley Cup will be in the building for the game. Let's see if the Vegas Golden Knights end the night celebrating their first championship victory.