I thought the team looked tired.
There were plays where the puck was in reach, or they could go for an offensive chance, but they dumped and changed, or held off from fighting for pucks.
I get trying to play conservative, but they looked like they were out of gas. Until Highmore blew through those two Panthers...I think the entire rink was surprised. I know I was.
We'll see the impact in about an hour.
What I will say to the team's credit is that they scored the game's first goal in both match-ups. We saw last year what it was like to have our goaltending tandem leak the first goal on the first or second shot of the game. How many games did we dominate but having given up the lead first, it didn't matter in the end?
The goalies deserve most of the credit, but it isn't a win unless someone scores and Ottawa scored first which can be huge.