Well well well, the Paul Maurice-led Panthers just keep on cooking, and this time they rolled into the Eastern Conference Final like they owned the whole dang rink. Florida wasted zero time snatching up home-ice advantage, with Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad dropping back-to-back daggers in the first to let the Canes know that this ain’t the same dance as last time.
A.J. Greer cashed in on a picture-perfect 2-on-1 in the second, Sam Bennett threw in a power-play gem in the third, and Eetu Luostarinen said ‘why not’ and tossed in another just for good measure. And Bob? Oh, Sergei Bobrovsky was cooking too; dropping 31 saves like it’s nothing, even during a wild 15-minute shot drought that didn’t shake him one bit. And in the middle of all this playoff storm, Coach Paul Maurice sat down postgame, cool as ever, and served up a dose of his own honesty.
Coach Paul Maurice kept it hilariously honest when asked if he ever spots early signs that Sergei Bobrovsky’s dialed in before puck drop. “I don’t look for any at all,” he admitted straight-up. “I have seen him come out and I think look off. And then something will happen in the game.” He even added, “I have had moments with Sergei, especially if he didn’t like one, where I went, yeah, they’re not getting another one.” That’s classic Bob; might look shaky for a second, then slam the door shut the rest of the night.
As for goaltending insights? Maurice couldn’t be more hands-off. “I’m not trying to be funny. I don’t know anything about goaltending,” he said, completely owning it. “And because I’m hyper aware of that, I don’t insert myself in it.” There’s no behind-the-scenes goalie breakdowns with Robbie Tallas, and his relationship with Bobrovsky? Pure vibes. “Sergei and I and the other goalies are just kind of, how you doing at the coffee machine?” he said with a shrug. And in true Maurice fashion, he dropped the mic with, “I got nothing to do with whatever happens within that crease.”
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