LAS VEGAS --All you have to do is watch and listen to Paul Maurice to know what this Stanley Cup Final, heck this entire season, means to the Florida Panthers and their coach.
"I've enjoyed this year as much as any," Maurice said, "and in some ways more than I ever thought you could enjoy as a coach."
That's saying something for Maurice, now 56, who came into the NHL as a head coach with Hartford Whalers 28 years ago.
You can bet that Maurice won't let the Panthers forget who they are, how they got here and what this experience should be all about just because they lost Game 1 to the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, to fall behind 1-0 in the best-of-7 series going into Game 2 on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS).
If anything, the loss should be a reminder for the Panthers to enjoy everything they're going through and that most importantly, it should be fun.
"Stanley Cup Final," Florida forward Ryan Lomberg said, a big smile on his face. "I think we all dreamt about having this opportunity. For many of us it was pretty farfetched so if you can't enjoy it, you shouldn't be here. Although we lost, it's first to four and I'm sure Paul also mentioned how we lost the first game in Boston. We learned from it. We got better. It's important to have fun, stay light. It's part of learning."
The last thing Maurice was going to do both after the game Saturday and when he addressed the media Sunday was vent about why the Golden Knights wound up three goals better in Game 1, be it Matthew Tkachuk's turnover that led to Mark Stone's goal that gave Vegas a 4-2 lead in the third period or Florida going 0-for-3 on the power play with three shots on goal.
He instead spent most of his press conference giving perspective on why the Panthers shouldn't be bothered by any of what happened.
"I came into this league at a time when you just growled all the time," Maurice said. "It's 28 years ago. You've all been around, you've seen the culture shift in how people interact, coaches and players, it's completely different. But I did come in a long time ago, so you bring a little of that with you.
"When you're trying to take a team that hasn't made the playoffs in a long time, five or six years there in Hartford and one playoff series in Winnipeg, you are grinding, right? This was a different animal because there's so much fun. You watch our game last night, we made some mistakes, but they play hard. Truly. Matthew turns that one over, I'm not saying a word to him about it because he's worked his butt off and produced and been great."
There was more. A lot more.
"These guys push so hard, so they make coming to the rink fun," Maurice said. "My staff too. I've got eight guys I work with, and you call them assistant coaches. That's not right. It's just eight coaches in the room. We talk hockey all day. We laugh and we have fun, but we work. The underlying thing that you don't know is that none of this is casual."
Maurice is because he knows demeanor matters and that how he acts rubs off on his team.
"Why do I have to be in a bad mood today just because we lost the game?" Maurice said. "That also doesn't do my team any good, sending messages. That's not how we want to operate."
Instead, it's Maurice's confident honesty that his players take to heart.
The Panthers know they need to score more to defeat the Golden Knights, more than they scored against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes.
They were 6-1 when they scored three or fewer goals against Toronto and Carolina in the Eastern Conference Second Round and conference final. Vegas has scored at least four goals in 12 of its 18 playoff games, going 12-0.
But Maurice didn't object to the offense the Panthers produced. He said he didn't leave Game 1 lamenting a lack of opportunity.
"There's a lot of trust there," forward Sam Reinhart said. "You guys see it. There's so much confidence in the way he conducts himself and when he speaks there's so much passion. The players sense that, sensed that right from the beginning. The trust in his systems that he's providing us, and his adjustments, have been second to none. We have all the confidence in him, and I think it's mutual. It goes both ways, and we appreciate that as well."
Best yet, Maurice doesn't get in the way of his players being themselves.
"These guys have made it fun for me because they've allowed the coaches to laugh, but they did it because they've worked so damn hard and they treat each other in a wonderful way," Maurice said. "The art of chirping on the ice, it's a dying art, it just is.
"Some of those guys were awesome back in the day. They researched things. They put time into it. But these guys are pretty funny, and you get a glimpse of it. It's been an incredibly fun year and we've worked really, really hard to allow it to be fun."
That can't change now. It can't ever change in the Cup Final, win or lose. The Panthers wouldn't be themselves and this season wouldn't be a success if it did.
After all, regret is no fun.
"You're in this position, it could be a once in a lifetime opportunity," forward Anthony Duclair said, "so make the most of it and just move on, have a short memory."
