Florida's third and fourth lines are grinding down Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Final
Brad Marchand joked that when he was traded to the Florida Panthers from the Boston Bruins, he looked at the lineup and wondered if he would be playing on the fourth line again.
'Back to my roots,' Marchand said.
Sorry, Brad. There was no room there. But coach Paul Maurice figured the third line alongside young Finns Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen was the perfect place for Marchand, and it has worked out swimmingly.
The Marchand-Lundell-Luostarinen trio is responsible for six goals in the Stanley Cup Final, and the gritty fourth line of A.J. Greer, Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich has been a big part of wearing down the Edmonton Oilers to take a 3-2 lead in the series going into Game 6.
'We're not here without them,' Maurice said. 'Both of those lines have a strong identity, and they shape the identity of our team.'
All three of Greer, Nosek and Gadjovich were healthy scratches for the opening two games of the second round against Toronto. Florida lost those games, Maurice brought them back and the Panthers won that series in seven and rolled over Carolina in the Eastern Conference final.
In the Cup final, the third and fourth lines have not only helped at even strength but against Edmonton's potent power play, holding it to four goals on 23 opportunities, a 17.4% conversion rate. That, combined with tilting the ice on the Oilers, has been a recipe for success, especially after Greer returned from injury in time for Game 3.
'The Lundell line is producing offense, Marchand's producing offense, these guys have good numbers but they're all penalty killers,' Marchand said. 'That's what makes them special because there's no cheat in their game.'
More travel
There was only one day between Games 4 and 5 going from Sunrise to Edmonton. There is an extra travel gap to return to Florida, but it's still a five-plus hour flight for each team.
'It's part of the NHL schedule: a lot of travel,' Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. 'There's a lot of science behind it of the importance of sleep, nutrition, all that recovery, exercises that go into it just so that the players are feeling at their best or as close to their best as they can.'
Vanecek's recognition
Sergei Bobrovsky has been the Panthers' starting goaltender this entire playoff run. Backup Vitek Vanecek only got some attention after cameras caught him and the Oilers' Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard in a stare down during warmups prior to Game 4.
'I was just doing my routine,' Vanecek said.
In Game 5, Vanecek watched from his usual seat at the end of the bench as Bobrovsky made 19 saves to push Florida to the verge of another championship. Afterward, Gadjovich — who got the game puck for fighting in Game 3 — handed it to Vanecek.
'There's a great recognition (and) care in the room for all the hard work that goes on,' Maurice said. 'Some of those guys don't get to be on the ice for a celebration after a win, but they're critical to the group, to the personality of the group and the closeness of it.'
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