By the time the puck dropped for Game 5 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night, the Florida Panthers were a beat up team.
Literally.
The amount of injuries the Panthers were dealing with was staggering, and it turns out a couple of them were suffered during their historic first-round upset over the Boston Bruins back in April.
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One of those injuries was Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad breaking his foot during Round 1. But that wasn't the only injury Ekblad suffered during Florida's 21-game postseason run.
"We were swinging out of our weight class in the playoffs. We played four teams that had 110-plus points, one had 135," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said in his press conference after Game 5. "Aaron Ekblad broke his foot in the Boston series. He popped his shoulder out twice, passed a concussion test and tore his oblique, then went up the ice the other night and drove the puck into the offensive zone and tied the game. He scored tonight. We have four broken bones. We have three shoulders that are going to have to be taken care of. We have an oblique tear. It's not an excuse. We don't need one. These guys have everything they had."
Maurice later added: "Everybody's got injuries. I've never seen guys play with what these guys have played with, and the sheer number of them. You need luck for sure. We didn't necessarily need puck luck. I think if you get to the Final, both teams have had their share of bounces. But we ran out of health luck, and we needed it if we're going to swing above 110-point teams. You need your bodies."
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Maurice also told TNT's Jackie Redmond after Game 5 that "the vast majority of (our) injuries came in the Boston series." Aside from Ekblad, though, he didn't name any other specific injuries that occurred in Round 1, so perhaps we will learn more details in the coming days.
Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers' best player and leading playoff scorer, was hurt later in the playoffs. He missed Game 5 against the Golden Knights with a fractured sternum and needed help getting his gear on and tying his skates before and after Game 4. Radko Gudas and Sam Bennett also were dealing with difficult injuries.
The Panthers and Bruins played a really tough, physical seven-game series. Florida emerged victorious with a Game 7 overtime win to complete the stunning upset. But the triumph came at a steep price.
The Panthers deserve a lot of credit for winning two more rounds (in just nine games) and reaching the Stanley Cup Final, but at some point injuries of this magnitude are too much to overcome, especially against an awesome team like the Golden Knights.