Panthers hoping to be 'a half-inch better' against Rangers in Game 4 of East Final

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Although the Florida Panthers didn't practice Monday, this undoubtedly was a work day for them in preparation for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Despite trailing 2-1 in the best-of-7 series after a 5-4 overtime loss in Game 3 on Sunday, the Panthers have reasons to feel good about how they've played, and their video session Monday confirmed a lot of them, as well as some of what went wrong.

Florida controlled play territorially for much of Game 3, outshot New York 37-23, had a 108-43 advantage in shot attempts, and erased a 4-2 deficit in the third period, but lost on Alex Wennberg's deflection goal at 5:35 of overtime.

"I think we did a lot of good things," defenseman Gustav Forsling said Monday. "A big stretch throughout that game I think we played just how we wanted, and we created a lot. I feel like we had a lot of chances. Just we're not too happy about the five goals we let in though."

Panthers coach Paul Maurice didn't want to discuss with the media which player was responsible for losing coverage on Wennberg on the winning goal, but said, "We dealt with it," in reviewing the game.

The Panthers likely also talked about the breakdowns that led to Alexis Lafrenière's breakaway goal in the first period and end-to-end goal in the second, and Barclay Goodrow's short-handed goal in the second.

Maurice spoke Sunday about wanting the players to "keep the growl" from their frustration in losing that game, but he also wants it applied in a positive way toward Game 4.

"Sometimes you're just looking for a certain attitude," he said. "[Sometimes] you come in and you're, 'Well, we'll flush that one.' Why would we flush that one? We put up 108. Gave up [43]. Where can we get better? Where can we turn that into a win? So coming to the rink today determined to find answers, to deal exactly with the whole thing, to take a look at it and say, 'All right, make us better. Make us a half-inch better, and better for tomorrow night's game.'

"That's kind of what the coach's job is, to make them walk out of the room certain, 'This is how we'll win.'"

The Panthers know well the importance of winning Game 4. The alternative is returning to New York for Game 5 on Thursday trailing 3-1 and one loss away from elimination. But they're also trying to keep in perspective the big picture of the series.

"It's playoffs," Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. "There's going to be big swings just from one game, one goal. That's what playoffs is like, and you've just got to be able to control your emotions and work on parts of the game that we need to work on. We went over it and take the good stuff because we did a lot of good things last night. You just got to go through it day by day."

Among the areas the Panthers discussed was improving their execution in the offensive zone. Although Florida scored four goals against Igor Shesterkin -- only the second time in 13 starts during the Stanley Cup Playoffs that he allowed more than three -- and had large advantages in shots on goal and shot attempts, they felt they didn't do enough to make life difficult for the New York goalie.

Of the Panthers' 108 shot attempts, 42 were blocked and 29 missed the net. And the Rangers actually had a 10-8 advantage in high-danger shots on goal, according to NHL EDGE Puck and Player Tracking.

"I think you have to get the puck to the net, but also you've got to go to the hard areas more," forward Vladimir Tarasenko said. "You have to stay in front of him and make it hard for him to make a save. I feel the more you go to the net-front area, the more chances you have to create a rebound or create a scoring chance."

Florida did well with that strategy against Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman in the second round. Swayman allowed two goals or fewer in each of his first seven starts in the playoffs, including Game 1 against the Panthers, before they scored 12 goals against him and 15 total in winning the next three games.

If the Panthers can execute better against Shesterkin and clean up their defensive mistakes, they believe most of what they did in Game 3 will be good enough to win in the kind of long series they still expect this to be.

"Obviously we wanted to win that game," defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. "We want to win every game. But at the same time, we're playing against a good team on the other side and they're trying to win too, so it's hard. I think we did some good stuff in that game. We had some chances at the end of the third to win it in regulation and then some good chances in overtime as well. Obviously it didn't go our way yesterday, but I think the mood is good.

"We're realizing that we're playing good and that's why you play a series of seven games, to get better for the next one and that's our focus right now."