Paul Maurice makes his feelings known about Jon Cooper's controversial comment after dominating Game 3 win against Panthers

Paul Maurice's Florida Panthers lost 5-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday. The Panthers won the first two games but could not hold their early lead this time. The Lightning came back strong and earned their first win of the series. Now, Florida leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

After the game, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper chirped at Maurice. He repeated Maurice's comments word-for-word from the previous game when asked about Matthew Tkachuk's hit on Jake Guentzel.

"The only players we hit are the ones with pucks," Cooper told the media.

Maurice reacted to Cooper’s comment during his media session on Sunday.

"He chirped me. My wife had a good chuckle. I think she thought it was pretty funny," Maurice said. "And I think the coaches probably all have to take over the chirps at some point. It's kind of a lost art on the bench. So it’s all good.”

The Panthers scored first with a goal from Matthew Tkachuk, but could not stop Tampa Bay’s momentum afterward. Cooper also praised his team’s mental strength.

"The first few minutes, we're down 1-0 and the building is buzzing," Cooper said on Saturday. "I think the mental strength of our team is tying their heads around that, keep going, and eventually tie it. Then we pierced that bubble, finally had the lead."

In Game 2, Paul Maurice praised Panthers goalie for 2-0 shutout win

The Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference first round on Thursday. Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for his fourth career postseason shutout, helping Florida take a 2-0 series lead.

Nate Schmidt opened the scoring at 4:15 of the first period. Sam Reinhart passed the puck from the left point, and Schmidt fired a one-timer past Andrei Vasilevskiy. Later, Sam Bennett sealed the win with an empty-net goal with just four seconds left.

Paul Maurice praised Bobrovsky's performance after the game.

"Over the course of his career, the amount of time he puts into being great... you can't be surprised," Maurice said via NHL.com.

Maurice also called Bobrovsky's work ethic a "wonderful life lesson" for others. The Panthers captain, Aleksander Barkov, had left the game after a hit from Brandon Hagel.

The Florida Panthers will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.