Paul Maurice’s message to Tomas Nosek after critical OT penalty in Game 1
What impact will it have on him and the rest of the Panthers for Game 2 tonight? Story below:
It was a heartbreaking ending to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final for the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night. At the end of the overtime period, Panthers forward Tomas Nosek was called for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass from inside Florida’s defensive zone. He was sent to the penalty box and, for there, saw Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl score the game winning-goal giving the local team the 1-0 lead in the series with the 5-4 overtime win.
The Panthers were dealt a tough blow, but no one has taken it harder than Nosek.
After Game 1, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice had a special message to his player. No he did not throw him under the bus, instead surrounding him with love and finding ways to make him feel better.
“You just remind him after the game of being down 0-2 to Toronto and that line came in and changed everything for us, and how we’re not here without Thomas Nosek,” Maurice said. “It’s a tough break, so we just make sure he doesn’t get eat alone tonight. He’s got lots of people sitting at his table and reminding him how good he’s been to us.”
“It’s going to be a tough one,” Maurice added. “He’s going to eat that one for a day, but, from his penalty kill to, again, that line really changed the flow of that Toronto series, (so we’ll) just remind him about that a whole bunch of times before the puck drops.”
Nosek’s teammates have felt the same way.
“That stuff happens in the game of hockey, it’s a bad break,” said Panthers forward Brad Marchand. “He’s been a great player for us all year, all playoffs, so we have his back with that one.”
Nosek has been great for Florida, recording three assists and a plus-five rating in the postseason while primarily centering the fourth line and playing regular minutes on the penalty kill.
He does not have much time to move on from his critical mistake in Game 1, with the second contest of the Stanley Cup Final taking place later tonight in Edmonton.
After one game in this series, it is easy to tell this is going to be quite the Stanley Cup Final.
