After turning in one of the worst losses in Stanley Cup Finals history in Game 4, blowing a 3-0 lead to even the series up at 2-2, the Florida Panthers found themselves at an inflection point.
They could look at their two blown game losses and wonder what they did to anger the hockey gods, or the Panthers could note that they’ve been the better squad for the vast majority of the series and only lost two games because of their own mistakes.
Fortunately for the Panthers, it was the latter, with Brad Marchand leading his team to a 5-2 win in Game 5.
Discussing how the game unfolded for the Panthers and how they battled back from adversity to secure a clutch Game 5 lead, Marchand told TNT’s postgame show that he and his teammates came together to take advantage of the moments and fought together to victory.
“Yeah, I mean you got to be in the moment, right if you start looking behind our head it’s a dangerous game to play and I think with the amount of situations this team has been through you look at last year being down three nothing and battling back in game seven and and then obviously you draw from that and and I think we realize how special of a group we have and we just seem to be able to have fun,” Marchand declared.
“You know, obviously, we know it’s not going to be an easy series against this team. They’re incredible group. You know the best players in the world on that team, and they’ve been playing very well, so we didn’t expect an easy series, and you know, we’re expecting it to be a grind. I just got to embrace that. So yeah, we’re just we’re just having fun every day. It’s a gift to be part of the Stanley Cup Playoff Final series, and I think we all know that and appreciate it.”
The gift, in Game 5, was solely addressed to Panthers fans, as the only folks celebrating throughout the contest either came to the game in a red jersey or switched into one because of Florida’s scoring outburst. With the series now in their hands, fans will be eager to see if the Panthers can bring home the series and schedule a parade once more.
Steam rooms, Dairy Queen, doesn't matter… Brad Marchand and the Panthers continue to find ways to overcome and win on the road 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bz5TFMM8p4
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) June 15, 2025
Be the first to comment