Three takeaways: Barkov brilliance, shut down defense when it mattered most

The Florida Panthers have nearly climbed the mountain.

Florida walked into a raucous Rogers Place and did what they’ve done on the road all season: they took a lead, held it and got the hell out of there.

Now the Panthers are leading the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final.

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We’ll see if the Cats can close the deal when they hit the ice again on Saturday night, but for now, the Game 3 takeaways await.

Big night for Barkov

The major topic of discussion around the Panthers between Games 2 and 3 was the health status of Florida captain Sasha Barkov.

He was knocked out of Game 2 midway through the third period after taking an elbow to the head from Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl.

Fortunately for the Panthers, Barkov arrived at the team’s practice facility the next morning feeling much better, and continued on that path right up until he was deemed good to go for Game 3.

Barkov played 19:05 on Thursday, logging a goal, an assist and a plus-2 rating. He was all over the ice, impact the game in positive ways for Florida in each of the three zones.

“Some of the games that he's played this year where he's had the most impact, he doesn't show up on the score sheet,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said of Barkov. “And then, what his gift is, he defines everyone else's game. ‘I’m Aleksander Barkov, this is what I’m willing to do, this is how I’m going to play the game.’ You talk about quiet leadership, and I learned too, he’s a unique personality. But his consistency with that game, and the number of nights that he's not on the scoresheet necessarily, that everybody on the bench is going ‘oh my God, that guy is a player.’ That’s his gift to us.”

Getting to Shutdown City

Florida went into the third period leading Game 3 by a commanding 4-1 margin.

Slowly but surely, the Oilers scratched and clawed the deficit down to a single goal, thanks to some unrelenting pressure and a little puck luck.

As they’ve shown all season, the Panthers remained the calm, cool and collected group that they know they can be, and when the game got into its final moments, there was nothing Edmonton could do.

Despite having their goalie pulled, the Oilers did not get a single shot on Sergei Bobrovsky. They only mustered a single shot attempt, and that was blocked by Barkov.

It’s that kind of defensive effort on a regular basis that makes Florida who they are.

“You don’t get here without it,” Maurice said of Florida’s clutch defending. “What would happen at the end of this game would have had to have happened in three series prior, and it did. We’re 2-2 against the New York Rangers and we score an overtime winner (in Game 5) to change possible of course of what happens, but in that game…the block there is every bit of as important as the block tonight.”

Bracing for the big one

Florida needs to win just one more game and they’ll be Stanley Cup Champions.

That’s some unbelievable weight to carry into a game.

For Maurice, he’ll surely have some articulate, pointed and personal words for his players over the next 48 hours as they prepare for what could be the biggest moments of their professional lives.

How in the world do you handle that as a head coach?

“Well, you have to have a plan, and that plan can’t come in yesterday,” Maurice said. “You have to be very careful about walking into the room as a coach with something they haven't heard before at this time of the year. So we would have talked about our recovery post-game, and they've done that, not just in the playoffs but the regular season, we have a plan. Then I'm looking forward to going to bed. So I'm going to keep my focus that, enjoy the heck out of it, and if I’m fortunate enough to wake up, I have a plan for tomorrow, and then I’m not looking anywhere past that.”

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