In the end, television was Aaron Ekblad’s only friend. Days earlier, he had returned from a 20-game suspension (without pay) for violating the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. Having missed Game 1 and 2, the next three were supposed to be the perfect comeback. However, come Game 4, an unfortunate elbow on Brandon Hagel’s head earned another 2-game suspension. Make no mistake, Ekblad has been one of best the players in the roster, so panic ran high on how the Florida Panthers would fare. Heads-up: Ekblad didn’t have to toss his remote in anger, and coach Paul Maurice made it to the post-game press conference with his head held high.

On Thursday, the Panthers triumphed over their cross-state rival in a fashion that can only be described as dominant. For the second straight season, the Tampa Bay Lightning were forced to go home by the Panthers, in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a 4-1 series defeat. In the last game (that the Panthers won 6-3), Anton Lundell contributed with one goal and two assists, Sam Reinhart with a single goal and an assist, while Brad Marchand garnered two assists, and Eetu Luostarinen scored four points while pulling off a penalty kill, and three assists. The Lightning, on the other hand, went 0-3 at home in the series.

Not quite what they were expecting, as evident by Tampa coach Jon Cooper’s monologue. “It was our turn…Now it’s theirs…It’s unfortunate we’ve had to run into them.” And then there was Paul Maurice who’s clearly not done yet, and believes there’s still room for improvement. You know, for a team to continue to grow, we actually have to find a way to be better than we were in the third,” the HC said before turning the interview into a window into the soul of his team. The wcoach did more than just recap Game 5 while quietly pulling off the curtain of his locker room.

“I’d like to take credit for it, but it was almost there when I got here…The idea of Luostarinen was playing in the four hole at center ice. And we got to training camp and he was clearly a Top-9 guy…The pieces were there. They went together and they were a very good line the next year. A really important part. I think Anton [was] still 21 at that time. The next year, Reinhart takes off with Barkov, and Tereschenko comes in…The original driver of that line is Luostarinen [who is] very responsible defensively, but there’s more there. Lundell scored 18 goals as a youngster in this league. And sometimes it’s…you have to believe that that you can score..,” he was quoted saying, while offering a thoughtful glimpse into the evolution of the team’s fierce lineup featuring Lundell, Reinhart, and Luostarinen.

After all, in the recent game, they proved it. And for Brad Marchand? Well, Maurice made sure he didn’t overlook the impact he had in the recent game—“And Brad is a higher level of skill—with all due respect—a different level of skill,” he said. And not just because of his two assists in Game 5, but his words had a lot of insight to offer when he spoke of the ex-Bruins star. “Brad’s personality is a really important part of that too; both Eetu and Anton are very quiet guys, serious great competitors, but Brad brings something else out of them. They were fantastic tonight, but they were also really strong in l[the] ast game as well,” he further stated.

Well, that’s certainly good to hear before the team awaits a battle against the winner of the Ottawa Senators-Toronto Maple Leafs clash, that the latter currently leads 4-2. But while the players’ performances have been stellar, there’s one thing very crucial to note: The multiple suspensions that have shaken up the Panthers roster…

Suspensions are no big deal for Paul Maurice!

Earlier it was Jesse Puljujarvi who was suspended for two games while making an illegal check to the head against Tampa Bay’s Mitchell Chaffee, and now it’s Aaron Ekblad. The NHL Player Safety on X posted the headline, “Florida’s Aaron Ekblad will have a hearing today for elbowing Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel,” the post read. Well, a bittersweet moment for Ekblad when the NHL handed down a two-game suspension to him! Had it not been a hit to Brandon Hagel, things would have been different for the Panthers’ defenseman. But just like Maurice addressed the quality his players delivered on ice, it was Ekblad too who didn’t fumble but managed to score the game-tying goal!

And when the press brought up the suspension talk for Maurice, his response was packed with confidence yet again! “If it’s the first time it happens, there’s even questions from the coaching staff about what’s the right adjustment to making your lineup,” he mentioned while acknowledging that the Panthers would be missing key players regardless, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be a big deal! The coach simply shrugged it off like it’s just an everyday hustle for the team.

And now with the Panthers pulling off a major win in Game 5, don’t they advance to the second round despite one of their players serving a suspension? Stating that, the concern should rather be on their ability to keep up with this momentum without Ekblad on the ice in the coming games! To say that the playoffs are just heating up but the suspension is just one part of the overall game. Because for the Panthers, let’s just say it’s a push that takes them forward now. And for Paul Maurice? He already made it clear—“Now you’ve got a battle on the walls, and we’ll turn some over, and we’ll learn from that.”