Marchand staying in moment with Canes on brink: 'Prepared to go 7'
The Florida Panthers may be one win away from their third straight Stanley Cup Final appearance, but Brad Marchand made it clear that he and his teammates are only concerned about the here and now.
"You don't think about that," the veteran forward said. "We're prepared to go seven here. I think the biggest thing for this group is, we're really good at just focusing on what we need to do and staying in the moment and not looking ahead. You can't start looking ahead. I mean, that's such a dangerous game to play."
He added, "There's a lot of guys that have been through these moments before and kind of know how to deal with them, so you just rely on that."
Florida put the Carolina Hurricanes in a 0-3 hole following its 6-2 victory on Saturday night. The Panthers have been dominant in the series - their plus-12 goal differential is the largest through the first three games of any conference final in NHL history, according to Sportsnet Stats.
The reigning Stanley Cup champions are also the third team in the past 30 years to score five or more goals in four straight playoff games, per NHL.com's George Richards.
Marchand is well aware that the fourth game will be the hardest to win, and Panthers head coach Paul Maurice is hopeful his club can draw on its past experiences to help keep things calm.
Maurice pointed to two series in particular. Florida went up 3-0 on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round in 2023 before losing the next contest, and the Edmonton Oilers waxed the Panthers 8-1 in Game 4 after dropping the first three matchups of last spring's Stanley Cup Final.
"They have the desperation advantage. You have, potentially, the desire advantage, just the achievement idea that you get to move on, and both teams will fight that," the bench boss said. "That will be on display in the game. Can we control the desire emotion and play the game? Can they control the desperation emotion and play the game?
"So what the common denominator is, you've just gotta play the game. it's just hockey. There's nothing else to this game but hockey, but neither team's gonna feel that coming to the rink."
Game 4 is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. ET in Florida. The Panthers have gone 4-2 on home ice in these playoffs and will have a chance to advance in front of their fans.
"We've been fortunate with some bounces and some calls and stuff like that that have helped us get to the point we're at," Marchand said. "But we haven't achieved anything yet. Until you win everything, you accomplish nothing."