Panthers’ mental fortitude paying dividends in Stanley Cup Final

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It’s not that the plan is for the Florida Panthers to take until Game 7 in every series. They would have gladly taken a shorter run in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, given that they went up 3-0 against the Edmonton Oilers, for instance.

It’s that they’re prepared for seven games.

The same idea goes for overtime.

“Every game is one game, every shift is one shift, and you’re just trying to win your shift, physically, mentally, emotionally,” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “We talk about a Game 7 mindset, it’s just a shift-by-shift mindset of trying to wear down the other team.”

And overtime?

“It’s just another shift,” Ekblad said. “You have to go out and you have to try and wear down your opponent, every shift. Overtime, third period, first period, second period, it doesn’t matter. We play the exact same way all the way through.”

They’re prepared. They’re ready. It fits their mentality, their structure, their ability to take a punch and bounce back, their sense of who they are as a team.

Both Game 1 and Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and Oilers have gone to overtime, one extra session in Game 1, won by the Oilers, two extras in Game 2, won by the Panthers. So it stands to reason in a series as evenly matched as this one that there might just be another overtime or two in the remaining games of the series.

That could happen as soon as Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC), with the best-of-7 series tied 1-1.

“I think the biggest thing is going into the game, just know that it’s going to be a long one,” Panthers forward Brad Marchand said. “You’re prepared for it to go down to the last second and the way things are going, probably go into overtime.”

Game 1 ended at 19:29 of overtime, on a Leon Draisaitl goal, for a 4-3 Oilers win.

Game 2 ended at 8:05 of the second overtime, on a Marchand goal, for a 5-4 Panthers win.

“It’s just being mentally prepared that it doesn’t matter what goes on on the ice, either team is in it all the way to the end,” Marchand said. “You saw it again last game. It’s just understanding mentally that nothing’s going to be easy. You have to be really dialed in because one mistake is enough to cost you a game.”