"We've proved it all year that we can bounce back in big games," Panthers forward Anthony Duclair said. "It's no different tonight. We know that we're a confident group. We know what to do out there. We know how to execute things. It's just a matter of going out there and doing it."
Looking to follow an intriguing trend in the early goings of the postseason, all four teams that entered Sunday's slate of games down 2-1 in their respective series managed to win Game 4.
In order to join that list, the Panthers know they need to manage momentum better.
"Just play our game and not get tied up in the penalties and the things that aren't helping momentum for us," Panthers defenseman Ben Chiarot said. "Just play the game, play the way we know we can, play with confidence, and we should be OK."
Trailing 2-1 in the tight best-of-seven series following a 6-1 loss on Saturday, the Panthers are positive that they've yet to play their best hockey in the series - a notion backed up by numbers.
After leading the NHL with an average of 4.11 goals per tilt, the Panthers, despite cruising to a 5-1 win in Game 2, have scored just three combined goals in the other two games of the series.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers have led 89-79 in scoring chances in all situations.
"The past few games sometimes we were trying to be too cute, looking for the extra pass," Duclair said. "Sometimes you just have to put it in deep and go to work. We've got to make it harder on their goaltender. Get more screens, more shots, and make it a long night for him."
In Game 3, Jonathan Huberdeau helped the Panthers take an early 1-0 lead when he sniped a shot past Ilya Samsonov less than three minutes after puck drop. But with 26 seconds left in the first period, T.J. Oshie tipped in a long shot on the power play to clean the slate and make it 1-1.
Opportunistic in the second period, the Capitals went up 2-1 after Marcus Johansson pounced on a loose puck after a blocked shot and backhanded it past Sergei Bobrovsky. Later on, Trevor van Riemsdyk wired home a shot through traffic after a turnover by the Panthers to make it 3-1.
Deserving of a better result, the Panthers led 34-11 in shot attempts and 11-5 in that period.
From that point on, the Capitals would add three more goals in the third period - including a power-play tally from Alex Ovechkin - to lock down the 6-1 win as the Panthers were forced to take more risks all over the ice in hopes of finding a goal to shift momentum back in their favor.
"They came a little harder, and then we gave up a late goal," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "I thought that if we got out of that [first] period it would've been a great sign. We've had a couple of goals the last games that we gave up late in the period, and they're kind of momentum changers. … When we got going in the second it looked like our game, and then we gave up a late goal again. Those are those little momentum swings we talked about."
Brunette said the Panthers won't be making any lineup changes for Game 4 - although some pieces could be moved around during the game - which means that Bobrovsky, who sat out Sunday's practice to rest up a little bit, will be between the pipes for the fourth straight game.
Prior to Game 3, Bobrovsky, who has been a steady presence for the Panthers between the pipes in the early goings of the playoffs, owned a stellar .938 save percentage in the series.
As for the Capitals, head coach Peter Laviolette announced that hard-nosed forward Tom Wilson, who suffered a lower-body injury early in Game 1, will miss his third straight game and remains day-to-day. Additionally, Samsonov is expected to make his second straight start in net.
After stopping 17 shots in the third period after coming into the game in relief of Vitek Vanecek in Game 2, Samsonov stopped 29 of 30 shots to backstop the Capitals to the win in Game 3.
"They're and experienced group, and when they get things going their way they know how to kind of hang onto it," Chiarot said of Washington, which is only a few years removed from winning the Stanley Cup back in 2018. "It's something we're still kind of figuring out. That's something we're learning as we go here. We need to be getting better at that tonight."
If they win Game 4, the Panthers will regain home-ice advantage in the series.
"I think we've answered the bell all year, and tonight's no different," Brunette said. "We've just got to get to our game. It's important to get off to a good start tonight, but to me the big picture is just executing a little more with the puck, supporting the puck a little more and playing faster."
