Panthers look to pounce on secondary opportunities in Game 5 of Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- The Florida Panthers know what they must do to generate more offense in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS).

The Panthers were getting somewhere by the third period of a 3-2 loss in Game 4 on Saturday. They were getting inside more on their scoring chances. They were getting to the net and giving themselves great scoring opportunities.

Trailing 3-1 in this best-of-7 series, they know they'll have to do more of the same to stay alive in Game 5.

"Specifically, so much of it's just speed based, being able to move quicker, attack with more of a singular mindset of what you're doing, so you have a better idea where the puck's going to be. That's the big thing," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Sunday. "We got 30 shots blocked (in Game 4), so we put up a fair number of shot attempts in that game that didn't get to the net, between miss and block. When you want to talk about generating more offense, that's the place. You're not going to get a scheme that allows far more odd-man rushes, or you're going to loosen the game up.

"You've just got to get the offense we have, and that's an awful lot of shot attempts that we've got to find a way to get to their [goalie] and in those scoring areas."

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The Golden Knights' big defensemen have made it difficult for the Panthers to get inside, and as Maurice said, Vegas has gotten in the way of a lot of their shots too. The Golden Knights have blocked an NHL-leading 424 shots in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including 97 in four games against Florida, which is second with 332 blocked shots this postseason.

The Panthers did get to Vegas goalie Adin Hill early in the third period of Game 4 when center Aleksander Barkov scored at 3:50 on a snap shot from 23 feet away to cut it to 3-2.

"I think we just raised the pace of the game," Barkov said after the loss. "I think we wanted more, we wanted to score more, and I think that might be it. Of course, we've got to look at the video and see what we can do better, but I like our effort, especially at the end of the game. That's what we've got to do next game."

The Panthers were there at the end Saturday, with forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett on the doorstep. But their attempts came just after the final horn.

Nevertheless, that's what they're looking for in Game 5.

"Play with a little more speed, get inside, get some more shots on net," Florida forward Anthony Duclair said. "The second and third chances we're really going to have to key in on tomorrow. Hill's making those first saves, but it's getting to those second opportunities, third opportunities.

"I've said it even before the series started, they've got some big bodies back there that like to box our forwards out, but we have to make sure we find a way to get inside and get those opportunities."

The Panthers know what they have to do to force Game 6, which would be held Friday back in Florida. It'll be easier said than done, but it's vital if they want to prevent the Golden Knights from winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in their six NHL seasons.

"We're just going to keep playing our game," Bennett said. "We could do a better job of moving in the offensive zone, creating more separation, and then we'll be able to get more pucks to the net. I think that'll be a big key for us."