Aaron Ekblad managed his feelings the very best he may after the Florida Panthers had been eradicated by the Vegas Golden Knights in a 9-3 loss Tuesday evening in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.

As the Knights celebrated their first championship, Ekblad and the Panthers remained somber after a exceptional and unbelievable run by way of the playoffs because the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed.

“It’s a tough feeling right now and you can’t sum it up in one game,” Ekblad stated, preventing again tears. “Thought we came out, played hard tonight, so you can look back on that as a positive. The things you go through to get to this point, you couldn’t imagine.”

Like overcoming a 3-1 deficit within the opening spherical towards the NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins, and opening the subsequent three rounds with two street video games, in Toronto, Carolina and Las Vegas.

“What a team, right?” Ekblad stated. “It’s not easy to do that. Some of the best teams in regular season history, so there’s a lot of positives to look at.”

The Panthers additionally handled quite a few accidents, most notably factors chief Matthew Tkachuk.

PHOTOS: Panthers discover positives in 5-game Stanley Cup loss to Vegas

“I’m not sure - it’s his collarbone, sternum, clavicle, SI joint is I think the words I heard,” Florida coach Paul Maurice stated.

Maurice confirmed Tkachuk suffered the fracture after being hit by Golden Knights ahead Keegan Kolesar in Game 3, and went on to say he wanted help dressing for Game 4 with somebody serving to him put his gear and jersey on whereas additionally needing somebody to tie his skates.

“That was a bit of a problem,” Maurice stated. “He’s, I don’t know, one of four guys with broken bones.”

Nevertheless, Ekblad, stated the Panthers got here collectively to kind a bond solely they’ll be capable to respect contemplating the obstacles they overcame.

“There’s a lot of guys that played through a lot of stuff, and that was tough for sure,” Ekblad stated. “As a bunch, we caught collectively and … we discovered loads about ourselves and our sport and who we're as individuals. What we went by way of is miraculous and the best way some guys performed and collectively as a group, the best way we performed, was fairly unbelievable.

“Ultimately, we just didn’t get the job done here.”

What he and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stated they did get performed was laying a basis for subsequent season.

“There’s no stopping now,” Ekblad stated. “There’s no stopping here. Bump in the road and it’s going to sting. It stings now. But we’ll find a way to come back next year and be stronger because of it. I mean, how could you not go through what we went through this year?”

Added Bobrovksy: “I’m really proud and it was a privilege for me to play with them and fight with them. It’s definitely tough, definitely tough way to lose that way, to lose the game that way and end the season that way. But we have done a fantastic job and I want to stick to that. Last year we won only one round of playoffs. This year we won three rounds. So we’re building. We’re getting there and we’re excited. Next season, we’re going to have another opportunity and I’m excited for that.”

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