It didn't matter that the Florida Panthers were playing 48 hours since having to win a Game 7 on the road to reach the Eastern Conference final.
Nor did it matter they were playing in front of a rowdy hostile crowd, against a team that had yet to lose at home and had been lockdown-elite on the penalty kill .
Instead, the Panthers methodically jumped on the Carolina Hurricanes, immediately ripped away home-ice advantage and played with an edge befitting their status as reigning Stanley Cup champions in Tuesday night's 5-2 win in Game 1.
"I don't know if it's a statement," said Carter Verhaeghe, who had a power-play goal midway through the first period to put Florida ahead and keep Carolina in chase mode for good. "They're going to come back with their best. We're just trying to go in and play our game every single time."
To listen to Verhaeghe and coach Paul Maurice, it wasn't the result of some lights-out performance of relentless perfection. There were hiccups in transitioning from series against Tampa Bay and Toronto, teams with different styles that rely on, as Maurice said, being 'so dynamic up the middle of the ice" compared to a different rush style with a Carolina team that relies on a an aggressive forecheck to pressure and control the puck in the offensive zone.