Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett broke his silence after a difficult team performance in Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Florida Panthers don't often have a bad night on the ice, but when it happens, it's a very bad night.
Contrary to what we saw from the Panthers all playoffs, the team couldn't impose its rhythm on the ice and couldn't even score a goal on Frederik Andersen and the Hurricanes.
After all, the Cats were without Sam Reinhart, one of their best forwards; Niko Mikkola, who's been reliable on the blue line since the playoffs started; and AJ Greer, who brought great depth to the lineup.
Following the 3-0 loss, Panthers' Sam Bennett didn't seem worried about his team's tough night, saying they couldn't bring the same energy they had in prior games.
'I think just a little jump. I think we were a little hesitant tonight. The last three games we were aggressive, we had more pace to our game, more jump. I think just a little sitting back a little bit tonight.''I mean, that's our game. Tonight wasn't our game. We sat back, but that's not the norm for us. I'm sure we'll have a pretty easy fix to turn that around.'
Bennett didn't score a point for the first time in the series and ended the night with a -2 goal differential.
With 14 points in 16 games, he's tied with Matthew Tkachuk at the 2nd rank among the team's scorers, only a point behind captain Aleksander Barkov.
Bennett, 28, will be one of the most interesting free agents available on July 1st. While the Panthers would love to keep him, they are likely to struggle to find enough money, with the latest rumors suggesting Bennett could get over $10M a year in his next contract.
Bennett and the Panthers will be looking to bounce back tomorrow night in Carolina to beat the Hurricanes in five games.
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