Panthers loose, having 'so much fun' ahead of Game 4 against Maple Leafs

SUNRISE, Fla. -- There have been moments during these Stanley Cup Playoffs when, in other circumstances, pressure might have started to creep in. Tension, maybe. Tightness, for sure. But, for the Florida Panthers, there appear to be no such concerns. No such worries.

They are light. They are loose. They are where no one -- except them, maybe -- expected them to be.

They are having a blast.

"We have a very serious team where guys really want to do well," forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "But I mean, tie game, late in the third, we're enjoying it on the bench, laughing, smiling, just looking around at the moment that we're in and just really, really enjoying it. We're having so much fun."

It shows.

The Panthers might be the most free-and-easy team in these playoffs, up 3-0 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round. They are the first team this postseason with a chance to sweep a series -- and one of the least likely after being the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.

They will go for that sweep in Game 4 at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS).

RELATED: [Complete Maple Leafs vs. Panthers series covergae]

"We don't really feel a ton of high pressure, I don't think," Tkahcuk said. "There's no sense in feeling pressure for us. Eighth seed, limped in. We've been fighting our way for the whole year. It's just about having fun. Why play if you can't enjoy it, right?

"There's no pressure on us. It's just about making sure that we're enjoying it."

The feeling might not be the same in the opposing dressing room, where the Maple Leafs are facing playoff elimination amid heavy expectations after the Panthers knocked out the No. 1-seeded Boston Bruins in the first round.

But for the Panthers, it's also an attitude that coach Paul Maurice has worked to foster, believing it to be important for his team, important for their approach, and just the right way to be.

"We openly talk about that idea in between periods," Maurice said. "If you can't enjoy it, then you need to leave and I know it for a fact. I'm not saying you're not nervous or you're not wound up or all jacked up. You are. But if you can't find a way to enjoy that, then that's kind of sad.

"Why work your [butt] off your entire life to get to a place that you really don't enjoy the day that you worked your [butt] off to get to? That would make little sense."

The Panthers have been playing this way, in essence, since December, when they were all but counted out despite having won the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team in the NHL in 2021-22. On Jan. 2, after a run of five losses in six games, the Panthers were eight points out of the second wild card with four teams between them a postseason position.

"It's been awesome," forward Sam Bennett said. "Our team's really just embraced the whole experience. We're having a blast, whether it's on the road or after games all in our team suite together, whether it's on the bus or on the plane. I think we're really just embracing the whole moment. Everyone's really enjoying it right now."

They haven't gotten tense or anxious. They haven't gotten nervous.

They haven't needed to. Because while the Bruins had pressure and the Maple Leafs have pressure, the Panthers seemingly haven't had any. As Tkachuk said, "[It's] just a great stage for us to be on. It's just something to go out there and enjoy for us."

And they're doing exactly that.

"We're a loose group in the sense of we're just in the moment," Tkachuk said. "We're not really allowing anything else to get in the way of our thinking here. We're coming just to each game, doing everything we can to try to win the game, we're preparing right and just ... it's pretty simple: We're not overthinking it. We're not taking it too easy. We're just here to win the game."

One more win and they'll reach the Eastern Conference Final. Think how much fun that would be.