Forward, who won the championship with the Blue Army in 2019, played an important role both on and off the ice after winning the championship once in Florida
Edmonton Vladimir Tarasenko is not the most talkative person, at least for the media.
But for Florida Panthers coach Paul Morris, Tarasenko’s voice, especially on the bench, is an important reason why this veteran forward seamlessly integrates into them.
“He will sit on the bench with center Alexander Balkov, and they will never stop talking about hockey,” Morris said on Friday. Just like, throughout the entire game, they were all talking about the game.
For me, the best part is that he is currently doing this with (forward) Anton Rendell. Anton has a lot of playoff experience, but he is still a young player. He has involved him and talked to him about the details of what happened on the ice. Therefore, communication on the bench has a leadership component. He is very influential in this regard.
Tarasenko is also very influential on ice. After helping the St. Louis Blues win their first ever cup match in 2019, the 32 year old player is attempting to do the same as the Black Panthers in the fourth game of the Stanley Cup final held at Rogers Square on Saturday (8pm Eastern Time) against the Edmonton Oilers; CBC、TVAS、SN、ESPN+、ABC）。
After winning 4-3 at Rogers Square on Thursday, Florida led the 7-game three win series 3-0, thanks in part to Tarasenko’s second quarter goal, which was the first in three consecutive games for the Black Panthers, turning a 1-1 draw into a 3-1 advantage for Florida.
Tarasenko arrived in Florida after being acquired in a deal with the Ottawa Senators on March 6th. He was one of the two Black Panthers players who had previously won the cup, and forward Carter Verhaeghe also won the cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020. As the right winger of the 2019 Blue Army, Tarasenko scored 17 points (11 goals and 6 assists) in 26 playoffs.
As for providing advice to teammates who haven’t won all the championships, Tarasenko said, “When people ask me, I share something. Sometimes I share something on the road. The most important part is playing one game at a time.”.
This season’s playoffs, Tarasenko played as a right winger on the third line with left winger Etu Lostarining and center striker Rendel, scoring 8 points (4 goals and 4 assists) in 20 games. This includes Florida’s 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in the sixth game of the Eastern Conference Finals on June 1st, scoring the winning goal in the third quarter at 9:08 seconds.
“He’s so valuable,” said Black Panthers forward Matthew Tekachuk, a native of St. Louis who grew up watching Tarasenko in the Blue Army.
He is one of my favorite players. I am currently on the same team as him, which is really crazy. When everything is said, we will look back on one of the coolest moments for me, seeing him score many important goals, and last night was no exception. This is cool. (Luostarinen)’s brilliant performance, “Lundy”‘s brilliant performance begins. For us, this is a very good route. I’m sure my 12-year-old or 15-year-old self would be completely shocked by the opportunity I have to play with him now.
Forward Evan Rodrigues said Talasenko possesses the DNA of the Florida Panthers.
“He is physically strong, weighs heavily, and has great grip,” Rodriguez said. He scored some big goals for us. In the third game, they put a lot of pressure on us. They scored a goal and they were a bit pressing on us. Then, with a bang, he scored a big goal for us.
He defends very hard, he defends back, he has a lot of Panther DNA on his body, and he seamlessly integrates into our team.