Paul Maurice critical of the officiating in Game 1.

The Florida Panthers find themselves trailing in a series for the first time since their first round series against the Boston Bruins, but head coach Paul Maurice is preaching patience nonetheless

Following a tough loss for his team in the opening game of the series on Saturday night, Maurice made it clear that no one in the Panthers locker room would be beating themselves up over this one.

"We lost the first game in the Boston series and got a little better, then we lost two more and got a little better, everybody just f***ing breathe," said Maurice with a smile after the loss.

Maurice's calm demeanor didn't mean he was happy about everything that transpired in Game 1 however, and that would seemingly include the officiating. Maurice was asked about the coach's challenge that he made relatively late in the third period, and he made little effort to mask his displeasure.

"Must’ve been excited to get us back into the box one more time," said Maurice of the officials.

It's not hard to see why Maurice wasn't too thrilled about the calls on Saturday night, at least not when looking at things purely from a numbers perspective. The Panthers were awarded two penalties in the first period to just one for the Golden Knights, both teams each received a single penalty in the second period, but in the third the Panthers would finish with a whopping 8 penalties called against them to just 3 going the other way against Vegas.

That being said it isn't like either team gave the officials a lack of infractions to take notice of during the first game of the Stanley Cup Final.