FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
GAME 6
MAY 26, 2021
Amalie Arena – Tampa, Fla.
| FLORIDA PANTHERS | TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING |
| 0 | 4 |
- The Panthers were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-2 series loss.
- Jonathan Huberdeau led the Panthers with 10 points (2-8-10) over the six-game series, setting a franchise record for most assists and points in a playoff series. Coming into tonight’s game, Huberdeau had recorded the most points of any skater in the playoffs.
- Huberdeau recorded four total and three consecutive multi-point effort performances in the series.
- Four different Panthers tallied two goals in the series: Patric Hornqvist, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mason Marchment and Carter Verhaeghe.
- Aleksander Barkov produced at least one point in five of the six games, amassing seven points (1-6-7).
- 13 different Panthers recorded multiple points over the six-game matchup, including two rookies: Owen Tippett (1-3-4) and Mason Marchment (2-0-2), and four defensemen: MacKenzie Weegar (1-2-3), Radko Gudas (1-1-2), Gustav Forsling (1-1-2), and Keith Yandle (0-2-2).
- Marchment was the first rookie in club history to record multiple playoff goals.
- Radko Gudas led FLA with 39 hits over the series.
- With his win in Game 5, Spencer Knight became the youngest goaltender in franchise history to record a playoff win, and the youngest goaltender in NHL history to win a playoff game when facing elimination.
- Ryan Lomberg’s overtime goal in Game 3 was Florida’s first playoff OT game-winner since Mike Hough (Game 5, ECQF at PHI, May 12, 1996).
- The Panthers’ 2020-21 regular season was the best regular season in franchise history in terms of points percentage (37-14-5, .705).
PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES – MAY 26, 2021
Head Coach Joel Quenneville
“We learned how hard it is to win…There’s a lot of good things that happened to our team. I love how we competed in this playoff…The guys laid it out there and we had a chance.”
“I thought all year long we were pretty consistent in being involved and getting points every night, playing hard night in and night out. Our depth, we pushed one another in a productive way. I think Benny [forward Sam Bennett] and some of the later additions made us a deeper team. Offensively we’ve been good, defensively I think we had some good stretches, but our team game I thought really improved.”
“Those regular-season games [goaltender Spencer Knight] played, it’s a tremendous start to your career, great exposure to the best players in the game, great shooters. Goalies are like an acquired art, learn from your experiences, different shooters, you can anticipate a bit more, predict where the shot is going a little bit more, he’s a student of the game, it’s only going to be beneficial over time, hard to say he’s going to keep getting better, pretty excited about Spencer Knight.”
“We go home in the summer here, you look at it. There’s a lot of positives, but you’re always looking to get better. You can’t be satisfied with the improvement that we did have this year, which was significant. That’s the rate we want to keep getting better at.”
Forward Jonathan Huberdeau
“I thought we had our chances in the series, it could have gone either way. We were down 2-0 early, that could have went the other way. We’re disappointed but you play hockey to win. Our crowd, I loved the atmosphere at home and we wanted to come back for Game 7…(This year was) the most fun I’ve had. We had a good group, it just didn’t go our way in the first.”
“We had a good year this year, and in the first round we played a really good team. We got beat but we played well, we had our chances…Organization-wise, it was good to see that, good to see the fans and get back into the winning culture. That’s what we wanted, this year was a great season…I think next year we come back with a better attitude and we can be a great team.”
Forward Aleksander Barkov
“I’m really proud of every guy in our room. We had a hell of a regular season and in the playoffs we played good hockey…We tried our best but credit to Tampa too.”
“We really wanted to go back and play Game 7 back home, but it just didn’t happen and we are disappointed about that but it was a great regular season, we were having a lot of fun and we enjoyed playing with one another.”
“This year felt way different…It was like a new start for me and everyone in this organization. That’s how we felt and that’s how we played. We played like a fresh team, fresh organization. We had a lot of fun and it sucks that it ended this way.”
Goaltender Spencer Knight
“It was good just to get a taste of what playoffs are like. For me coming in, I was just trying to help the team win. That was my priority, and to have fun while I was doing it. In a couple weeks, after I decompress, I’ll look back on it with a different point of view, but for now it’s tough to lose. I don’t like losing any hockey games, but when it ends your season it’s tough. But overall, coming in was great, great group.”
“I think when I came in, everyone in the room, all my teammates, the coaches, staff members, everyone around the rink welcomed me with open arms. It was really helpful, made me feel comfortable right away. That allowed me to transition to doing what I like to do, and that’s play hockey.”
