George Richards, FHN Publisher
On Monday night, the playoff-bound Florida Panthers won yet another game that went into overtime as Sasha Barkov’s power play goal lifted his team to a 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars.
Florida has been really good in overtime this season, winning 11 of 16 games decided in the five-minutes OT session and are 1-2 in the “skills competition” which is the shootout.
With the playoffs coming up later this month, one would surmise that Florida’s success in overtime will bleed over into the postseason.
If Florida is good in overtime during the regular season, well, it should be in the playoffs as well, right?
Perhaps.
There is no doubt the Panthers have cut their teeth this season in close games.
By beating the Stars on Monday, Florida is 17-3-5 in games decided by a goal.
That’s pretty good.
But when the playoffs start, gone will be the gimmicky yet exciting 3-on-3 overtime rules.
While it can be a thrill to watch players like Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Anthony Duclair and Frank Vatrano roaming that wide-open ice during overtime, the playoffs will be a whole different animal.
Gone will be the five minute overtime period as will the 3-on-3 play. In the postseason, an overtime period can last 20 minutes and, save for penalties, will feature normal 5-on-5 play.
It can be grueling.
Rarely will we see games decided in a flash as was the case a few days ago when Barkov picked up the puck in his own zone, drove the length of the ice and zip one past the opposing goalie.
No, goals scored in the playoffs usually are the ugly, grinding variety.
And they can be the difference in moving on or heading home.
In last year’s playoffs, the number of overtime games went up as the importance of the games increased.
In the first round of the playoffs, eight of the 43 games (18.6 percent) went to overtime.
By the second round, it was six of 26 (23 percent).
Four of the 11 games (36 percent) in the conference finals went to extra time while two of the six games in the Finals between Tampa Bay and Dallas needed OT to determine a winner.
“Overtimes are thrilling with 5-on-5 play,” said Florida coach Joel Quenneville, whose teams have played plenty of overtime postseason games over the years.
“I think our 5-on-5 play has been fine. You’re going to be playing some very important shifts as you go along, as the game grows it becomes magnified. In overtime, it’s a different pace of game.”
Although the Panthers will not benefit from the rules of regular season overtime, neither will their opponent.
As Quenneville notes, the Panthers have been very good when it comes to 5-on-5 play this season and that, more than winning OT games in the regular season, is going to help when the playoffs get going.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers are among the league leaders when it comes to various offensive statistics in 5-on-5 play.
The Panthers are seventh in 5-on-5 goals, 11th in goals against and fourth in expected goals for.
Tampa Bay, Florida’s likely first-round opponent, is ninth in 5-on-5 goals and fourth in goals allowed. The Lightning are ninth in expected-goals.
In overtime, the Panthers are going to be crashing the net with more frequency.
They have already been doing a good job of that but expect to see the likes of Sam Bennett, Patric Hornqvist and Alex Wennberg doing even more in overtime.
The Panthers are fifth in the league when it comes to scoring chances; Florida is eighth in high-danger chances but 12th in HDC goals.
Florida also gives up the seventh-fewest HDC chances in the league.
Tampa Bay is 11th in high-danger chances but fourth in high-danger goals.
Expect both the Panthers and Lightning to tighten up their defense around the net when the playoffs start.
Monday against Dallas, the Stars scored twice in a span of 11 seconds right around the goal.
Florida cannot let those kind of chances go during the playoffs or it will be a short stay.
“We found a way to get the two points,” MacKenzie Weegar said, “but we’ve got to clean a few things up for sure.”
ON DECK: LIGHTNING AT PANTHERS
When: Saturday, 7
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise
Tickets: AVAILABLE HERE
Season series: Florida leads 3-2-1
TV: BS-FLA, Fox Sports Go streaming
Radio: WQAM 560-AM