How Tarasenko’s experience in Cup Final Game 7 helps Panthers. Plus team’s confidence in Bobrovsky

If anyone on the Florida Panthers roster knew what they were about to expect heading into Monday night’s Stanley Cup Final Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers, it’s Vladimir Tarasenko.

The 32-year-old forward who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Ottawa Senators is the only player on either team who has played — and won — a Stanley Cup Final Game 7, doing so with the 2019 St. Louis Blues. Tarasenko had an assist on a third-period goal in that game, a 4-1 Blues win against the Boston Bruins for their first ever Stanley Cup.

Fast forward four years, and Tarasenko is in a similar position, looking to help the Panthers hoist their first Cup.

“That’s why he was targeted,” Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said. “That’s why guys wanted him in their locker room. We’ve felt that experience. We felt that knowledge that he’s brought to our group, and it’s for situations like these. You’ve gotta utilize past experiences. He’s certainly been here before, and he’s succeeded.”

And he has been invaluable for the Panthers in the short time he’s been with the organization.

He has five goals and nine points for Florida in the playoffs entering Monday’s winner-take-all Game 7 and has served as a mentor for several of the Panthers’ younger players, including Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.

“That’s been a really great experience on my part,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I didn’t know Vlad as a person before he came here. The experience of that Game 7, you see long before you get to it. All of the best coaching doesn’t happen from coaches to players. It’s player to player on the bench. The mentorship on the bench, that’s really where the nuances of the game are passed down. ... That’s where Vlad’s been great.”

Panthers still confident in Bobrovsky

In the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final, Panthers goaltender Bobrovsky had a .953 save percentage, stopping 82 of 86 shots that came his way. Florida won all three games.

In Games 4-6, his save percentage has plummeted to .793 (12 goals allowed on 58 shots against). He was pulled in the second period of Game 4 after giving up five goals on 16 shots.

Even with that, the Panthers weren’t worried about Bobrovsky’s demeanor heading into Game 7 and took the blame for his lackluster statistics.

“It’s definitely not his fault,” star Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “It’s on us to tighten up defensively, get off to better starts. We’ve been trailing in each of the last three games, which might open you up a little bit and cost you more chances against, so we have to be a lot better in front of him. ... We expect all of us to play our best game of the year [Monday]. We certainly know that he’s going to get really dialed in for us. He has been for two years. It has been outstanding, the way he prepares, his focus. We talked in the last few days, talked after Game 6, the players, about how we can get better. Now everybody’s ready.”

Final game for many Panthers

Monday very well might be the final game for the majority of the Panthers’ roster.

Eleven players on the team are slated to become unrestricted free agents this offseason.

Reinhart and defenseman Brandon Montour are the main names from the group.

The rest of the pending free agents: Forwards Tarasenko, Kevin Stenlund, Ryan Lomberg, Nick Cousins, Steven Lorentz and Kyle Okposo; defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dmitry Kulikov; and goaltender Anthony Stolarz.

In addition, Lundell and defenseman Josh Mahura are restricted free agents.

One lineup change

Maurice is inserting Okposo into the lineup over Cousins for Game 7. Okposo will be on the fourth line with Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Stenlund.