Surprising moment from Paul Maurice after Florida Panthers win vs. Washington
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Jonathan Ouimet
Jan 18, 2026 (0:02)
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Photo credit: screenshot
Florida Panthers resilience and Paul Maurice swagger showed up fast in a Washington Capitals win.
Friday in Carolina was one of those games you want to burn the tape on, then move on. On Saturday, Florida did exactly that, playing a tighter, meaner game and turning the emotional page the right way.
The turning point felt like it came in a blink. Washington had a goal waved off for offside, Daniil Tarasov followed it with a massive save, and suddenly A.J. Greer buried a loose puck in the slot after a Sam Bennett crease chance.
Paul Maurice and Florida Panthers define resilience
As a fan watching this, you could feel the bench breathe again when the work started turning into goals.
Uvis Balinskis stayed hot right after signing his two-year extension Friday, ripping home a power-play goal that put Florida ahead for good.
Maurice even took a moment late to show the whole group some love, admitting the team handled the emotional baggage from the previous night.
The coach also pointed out that after Friday night's loss in Carolina, the players essentially policed themselves.
They took ownership of the situation, handled things internally, and responded the right way by meeting the challenge head-on on Saturday.
«It's a hard thing we went through for 48 hours,» head coach Paul Maurice said. «Back-to-back is not easy in this league. You're playing a team that's fighting for their playoff lives. I ran the top end really hard. We had a very difficult night emotionally [against the Hurricanes], and they handled it.»
Tarasov ended up outdueling Logan Thompson, stopping 22 of 24 while things got tense.
Then Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe each hit the empty net to slam the door on a 5-2 final.
That's the kind of win that doesn't just add two points, it puts the heartbeat back in the room.
Now you ride that feeling into the next one and keep stacking honest games.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 18 | 26 ANSWERS Surprising moment from Paul Maurice after Florida Panthers win vs. Washington Did the Florida Panthers resilience vs the Washington Capitals change your confidence level? | ||
| Yes big time | 19 | 73.1 % |
| Not yet | 7 | 26.9 % |
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