Panther Postcard: Boyle on Bubble, Big Win in Game 3

Hey Panthers fans,
It's a much better feeling around here today.
I can't speak for everybody, but other than losing out in a series and having your season come to an end, I don't think I've ever felt as down as I did after a game in my career than I did after that 4-2 loss to the Islanders in Game 2 on Tuesday.

That was a tough one, especially the way it went down, with the leads we had and the reality that even if we played a good game we were facing elimination.
So, that night, some of the guys spoke and said, "Look, this is a series and we have to win one game." I've been down 2-0 in a series before, and the mindset then was we just have to win one game. That's where we're at now and we feel great.
I thought we played a simple game during our 3-2 win over New York in Game 3 on Wednesday. From a team aspect, I think everybody wanted to play that way, just win battles, win positions, win that territory game. We did a great job of that.
My goal was sort of a microcosm of the entire game, I think. It was basically just a hard-working shift by everybody. We moved the puck up quick, got it out, and Ekblad jumped up in the play. I didn't expect to get that chance, and when goals go in like that when you're not expecting them to, the emotions can run high.
I was elated.

That being said, guys have been just as excited for big blocked shots as they have been for goals in this series, which is a great sight to see. As a group, we want to extend this. We want to keep this going. We have a great opportunity.
Another good thing about that win was that it came in the afternoon, so we had plenty of time to feel good about ourselves yesterday. Today, it's about listening to your body and recovering because tomorrow we just have to win one game.
Off the ice, there's some golf on today, but I've been watching a lot of hockey. I tend to watch mostly games from within our conference, but some of the hockey and the storylines so far have been really fun to watch. Hopefully the fans love it, too.
A lot of people did a lot of things to put this on. We're all happy to be playing. A lot of my downtime in the bubble has been spent just being horizontal on the bed, but today we played a little Spikeball. I'd only done that once before, maybe twice. We didn't skate today, so it was a good way to have a little active recovery.

There's also a golf simulator here that we've given a try. We've already done that a couple times. It's good for about nine holes, and it's a little tricky to putt. All of this is unprecedented, but it's a lot of fun being with the team in this environment.
Then, of course, there's the poker table.
Haula is up a lot right now. I've been up and down, but I think I'm up overall at the moment. We've had some new guys come lately. Some of them have done OK, some not so great. There's been some donations, but I won't name names.
However, I will say that there is one guy that's down quite a bit right now. But let's just say that he can afford it, so we're not too worried about it. It's all fun.
Looking back at my career, my fondest memories of playoffs in the past are when you're just on the road and have time to hang out. You can watch hockey and get to know guys even better. We've done quite a bit of that over the last two weeks.
We all want to be here for a lot longer, but it starts with winning just one game.
Looking forward to Game 4 on Friday,
Brian Boyle
\As told to FloridaPanthers.com's Jameson Olive*