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Greg Wyshynski, ESPNJun 7, 2024, 04:42 PM ET
CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk believes the Florida Panthers’ reputation as the NHL’s chief agitators no longer applies.
In last season’s run to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Panthers earned a reputation as the NHL’s bad boys, goading opponents and frequently carrying over their physical play to after the whistle.
But Tkachuk said the Panthers are back in the Final, facing off against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 on Saturday night in Sunrise, because they — himself included — learned how to curb most of that extracurricular activity.
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“I’d say that used to be a part of my game and that now it’s pretty nonexistent anymore,” Tkachuk said at Stanley Cup media day Friday. “I’ve kind of learned what works, and what works is playing as hard as I can for 30 to 45 seconds — well, sometimes I take the long shift, so 30 seconds to a minute — and just leave it all out there, come back to the bench and get rested for the next one. There’s no need to waste your time doing extra stuff.”
Coach Paul Maurice has praised his team’s maturity all season, as the Panthers came to training camp with a businesslike approach to winning the Stanley Cup that eluded them last season. He said avoiding incidents after play has stopped that could lead to penalties has been a function of that.
“I would like to think it’s maturity and that we’ve gotten better,” Maurice said. “There’s no value in it. We’ve been an exceptionally disciplined team since midway through the Tampa series [in the first round].”
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For all that discipline, the Panthers still take their share of penalties. Florida’s 12:10 penalty minutes per game is…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40299955/super-disciplined-panthers-no-longer-nhl-bad-boys
Author : Greg Wyshynski
Publish date : 2024-06-07 22:01:44
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