Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice may be behind the bench, but it seems he's enjoying his club's epic Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers as much as the fans are.
"This is as good as this thing gets," he said Thursday. "This is Christmas. This is the payoff. You want to be a good pro, but Tuesday on the road on the West Coast in November, not as much fun as you'd think. This is where you get the payback. ... This is truly the juice that you live for."
The series certainly hasn't lacked thrills through the first four contests.
Games 1 and 2 were decided in overtime, with Leon Draisaitl scoring the winner in the former and Brad Marchand tying the series in the second extra frame in the latter.
The Panthers made it two straight wins with a 6-1 rout in Game 3 and looked like they'd be taking a 3-1 stranglehold on the Stanley Cup Final after jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 4.
However, the Oilers rattled off four straight goals to put Florida on the back foot. Sam Reinhart scored the equalizer with 20 seconds left, but Draisaitl secured Edmonton's 5-4 victory, once again in overtime.
Reinhart's late tally wasn't even the matchup's first last-gasp equalizer: Corey Perry scored the latest tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history with 18 seconds left in Game 2.
"You kind of ride that wave," Reinhart said of dealing with the momentum swings. "It's an emotional grind. That's part of it, that makes it so sweet when you win it. We're in another battle and we wouldn't want it any other way."
Before the start of the series, Matthew Tkachuk said it'd be a meeting between the two best teams in the league, and the Panthers forward's statement has held up so far.
"It's so fast," Maurice said. "Every board battle, everything can turn into something so there's a tension because both teams can score. From my point of view, there's been phenomenal goaltending in this series. The numbers are telling me I'm lying, the final score says I'm lying. ... Everything is dangerous all the time.
"There's a mental intensity, mental toughness I think both teams show. ... You get three of four games of a final into overtime, you've got two really good, evenly matched teams."
This is the third Stanley Cup Final in NHL history where both teams have combined for seven or more goals in each of the first four games, following 1980 and 1918, per NHL PR.
The Panthers will look to take a 3-2 series edge in Edmonton. Just like last spring, Maurice expects this Final to go the distance.
"If you plan for seven games, that means you're losing three of them," he said. "You have to take that pain, use it, then come back."
