Paul Morris ‘incoherent’ admits after Capitals win

The Florida Panthers extended theirs strong form on Monday night, but the head coach Paul Maurice he was quick to admit that the performance itself was far from flawless.

After Florida erased another third-period deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 5-3 at Amerant Bank Arena, Morris offered an honest assessment of how the game unfolded. After the victory, Morris described the competition as unusually tense.

“It was a little bit of a disjointed game just with the amount of power play and the timing and tempo of the game. It didn’t feel like our last one. Hopefully we can build into our sharpness,” Morris said, via NHL.com.

His comments came in the context of a game that never quite settled into a five-on-five flow, forcing both teams to constantly adjust.

The Capitals struck first when Tom Wilson completed a jumper at 3:53 of the opening period, but Florida answered almost immediately. Just 42 seconds later, Anton Lundell tipped in Jeff Petrie to tie the game, and Sam Reinhart later gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with a game-tying snipe from the right circle.

Washington answered late in the first, again through Wilson, who took advantage of a 5-on-4 to send the teams into halftime tied 2-2.

A scoreless second period followed, highlighted by Sergei Bobrovsky’s outstanding sleeve save against Wilson during a two-on-one rush, denying the Capitals a potential hat trick. The lack of hits only added to the stop-start nature that Morris mentioned later.

Washington briefly took control early in the third when Dylan Strome fired a long shot past Bobrovsky on a delayed penalty to make it 3-2. However, Florida’s resilience showed once again.

Brad Marchand tied the game moments later after a Panthers power play expired, and Florida rallied from there, scoring three unanswered goals to complete another comeback. Morris emphasized the psychological importance of the response, especially after the recent setback.

“We had a tough match the other night, so that’s important in the game, but maybe more important overall in the psyche of your team,” he said, stressing how resilience has become a defining characteristic of this group’s solid comebacks.

With the win, Florida improved to 21-5-2, winning nine of its last 12 games. While Morris admitted the Panthers weren’t at their sharpest, the ability to come through an imperfect night and still deliver remains a promising sign in Florida looks ahead to tightening enforcement during their upcoming work.