“The only players we hit are the ones with pucks,” Jon Cooper said, as he was asked about an interference call involving Matthew Tkachuk. Interestingly, this was the same response from Paul Maurice earlier, when he was interviewed after Game 2. As the Lightning pulled one back, Cooper had the luxury to take a cheeky dig at Maurice. However, ahead of Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs later today, Maurice responded in style to a probing question.

During the pre-game interview, a reporter asked Maurice to comment on the frequent clashes between coaches, be it on the bench or away from the game. Not one to be outdone, he chirped Cooper in return, and said, “My wife got a good chuckle, she thought it was really funny. The coaches may have to take up chirping since it’s sort of a lost art behind the bench. It’s all good.’’

Meanwhile, Maurice is in good company with none other than chirper extraordinaire Brad Marchand on his team. It was only a few days ago when Marchand reignited his friendly feud with NHL on TNT’s Paul Bissonnette during a post-game interview. “These are the series that you want to be a part of. They’re a lot of fun, they’re very intense and very emotional,” said Marchand. “Obviously, you guys all know. Well, Biz may not, but when you get to that level, it’s a lot of fun out there.” So if Maurice is ever looking to up his repartee game, there’s a clear and obvious teacher to turn to.

It all began after Lightning’s Brandon Hagel was suspended for a heavy check on Aleksander Barkov. Subsequently, Maurice remarked, “The only players we hit are the ones with pucks.” However, Cooper gave it back to Maurice after Matthew Tkachuk received a major penalty for interference, and his play drew comparison to that of Hagel.

Despite the slip-up in the last game, the Panthers lead the Lightning 2-1 in the round 1 tie. Coach Maurice isn’t worried about his team’s form and remains confident about progressing through to the next round.

Paul Maurice backs his team to come back stronger

Over the course of this season, the Panthers have had several close defeats. Additionally, their goal-scoring abilities have also come into question. For example, earlier this month, they suffered a 2-1 loss against the Red Wings, where they couldn’t really break the opposition’s defense. Nonetheless, Maurice believed in the team’s abilities and was confident about a good show in the playoffs.

He said, “It’s all structural for us. We’re not scoring goals? I don’t care. We want to be in tight games. … If we can maintain our structure right now, then we’ll look at this as being a really good thing for us, because that’s all we’re talking about is the hard parts of our defensive structure, and it’s been good to the point that we can survive in a game.”

The Panthers will take on the Lightning in Game 4 later today. They will have a chance to edge closer to the next round with a comeback win over the Lightning. Meanwhile, the latter would hope to continue their domination and level the tie. All in all, it promises to be a thriller of a game later today.