Unsung heroes on Florida Panthers play key role in Game 3 win over Tampa Bay Lightning

Want an example of just how valuable the Florida Panthers’ forward depth will be for their playoff run? Look no further than this sequence late in the second period of Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning:

Fourth-line center Steven Lorentz pursued Nick Perbix and managed to keep the puck in the offensive zone. As Lorentz got to the wall behind the Lightning net, he sent the puck up the boards to winger Nick Cousins, who had two Lightning skaters surrounding him. The puck squeaked away, and winger Kyle Okposo pursued. Okposo then flicked the puck to Lorentz, who sent it to Montour at the point, who then blasted the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy. After nearly a minute-long of hard-nosed work, the Panthers took the lead with 3:30 left in the second period and never looked back.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Montour said of the fourth line’s performance. “We need good effort from everybody. No matter what they’re playing, they’re going to bring it. It was nice to see all three of them contribute, and now we keep growing and building off that.”

So often during the playoffs, the natural instinct is to put the focus on the stars — and Florida’s stars did make an impact on Thursday. Matthew Tkachuk scored twice. Sam Reinhart tied the game. Sergei Bobrovsky made timely saves.

But when looking back at the Panthers’ 5-3 win over the Lightning on Thursday to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-7, opening round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, remember this shift — this gritty performance from a generally unheralded trio — as the moment the game fully went in Florida’s favor.

“Their line,” Tkachuk said, “was arguably the reason we won the game. They were so huge for us.”

Just how good was Florida’s fourth line? The Panthers scored twice in just 3:39 when the trio of Lorentz, Okposo and Cousins were on the ice together.

In addition to the Montour goal, which was set up by the trio of forwards, Lorentz scored the eventual game-winning goal 9:41 into the third period with a wrist shot from the slot after defenseman Gustav Forsling dumped the puck into the offensive zone.

“Depth, it’s no secret, wins championships,” Lorentz said.

It’s also a tough act to balance for the players who are classified as that “depth” — including Lorentz and Okposo.

Entering the playoffs, Lorentz and Okposo were two of the Panthers’ three depth forwards — the guys who saw most of their contributions to the team come during practice only to be a healthy scratch come game day. They had to bide their time and be ready at a moment’s notice. And even when they do play, their minutes are generally limited.

Neither played in Game 1 of the series against the Lightning. Lorentz drew into the lineup in Game 2 with Ryan Lomberg out due to illness. Okposo then got the nod in Game 3 with Sam Bennett out with a hand/wrist injury.

But before the opportunity arose, both Lorentz and Okposo had to deal with the grind that comes with being one of the extras at differing points of their NHL careers.

Lorentz, in his fourth NHL season after not debuting until he was 24 years old, dealt with that grind midway through the season. After being a steady presence on Florida’s fourth line to start the season, he found himself being the odd man out once the team got healthy and beefed up its forward presence at the trade deadline. Lorentz played in just 13 of Florida’s final 39 regular-season games.

“There were some darker days throughout the season that I just wasn’t fitting in,” Lorentz said.

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One of those deadline acquisitions? Okposo, who is in his 17th NHL season and is still chasing his first Stanley Cup. Prior to Thursday, Okposo hadn’t been in the playoffs since 2016 when he was with the New York Islanders. At 36 years old, he knew time was running out so he was willing to go to a contender even if it meant playing a lesser role on the ice to achieve a greater goal.

“It’s just fun to have that feeling again,” Okposo said of being back in the playoffs. “The postseason is extremely special. You don’t know how good something is until it’s gone. You’re not in it for eight years, you’re just sitting there watching and you’re yearning to get that feeling again.”

But neither deviated from the process. They continued to put in the effort behind the scenes knowing the work would eventually, hopefully, reap the benefits.

It led to both having their playoff moment on Thursday and helping the Panthers get within one win of taking their first series of the postseason.

“That was always the dream,” Lorentz said. “I never doubted myself for a second. I always knew I was a late bloomer and would take the longer, harder road than other guys. I believed in myself and put the work in each day, and here we are. It’s nice to see it pay off, but at the same time the job’s not finished and hopefully it’s not going to be done until the middle of June.”