After three-straight one-goal-margin games to end their first round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins opened the second round with a decisive 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Monday.
After three-straight one-goal-margin games to end their first round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins opened the second round with a decisive 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Monday.
On just two days rest, the Boston Bruins came out with a statement game to open their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Florida Panthers, scoring five unanswered goals to win 5-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.
Jeremy Swayman shined again with 38 saves for Boston. Mason Lohrei scored his first NHL playoff goal and added an assist. Justin Brazeau also scored his first playoff goal, and Pavel Zacha had two helpers.
"I always had the belief that I could be here and do this type of stuff," Brazeau told reporters in Florida. "I wouldn't say I had no belief in it, but obviously it was a bit [...] far-fetched coming into the year [on an] AHL deal, so I'm obviously extremely happy to be here."
Brandon Carlo – who arrived in Florida this afternoon following the birth of his son, Crew, on Monday morning – scored a crucial goal at the end of the second period.
Matthew Tkachuk scored the lone goal for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves.
Game 2 is 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
The Panthers dominated the early goings of the game, with Boston struggling to get past the neutral zone, but Swayman stood tall and things eventually leveled out as the first period wore on.
"I think we had a great start in general, which gets me going," Swayman told reporters in Florida. "I think my job is to stop regardless of what kind of save it is, and we were fortunate to get that early save and getting pucks early to the net, so that was something that we could build on."
Florida had a similarly strong start to the second period, but it took a Charlie McAvoy turnover to give the Panthers the chance they needed to get on the board. McAvoy miscalculated a pass off the boards intended for Beecher, and Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov picked up the loose puck and sent it over to Tkachuk, who fired it off Hampus Lindholm’s leg and in from behind the right circle at 11:45 of the second period.
It didn’t take long for the Bruins to respond, with Morgan Geekie tying it just 67 seconds later and Boston scoring two more times in the next 6:47 to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
Geekie tied it 1-1 at 12:52, banging in a rebound after Bobrovsky collided with Pavel Zacha at the net front. Aaron Ekblad’s turnover off the boards to David Pastrnak sparked the play.
Lohrei put the Bruins ahead 2-1 at 16:17, pinching up in the left circle and receiving a pass from Parker Wotherspoon before sneaking the puck top shelf for his first career playoff goal.
Carlo pushed it to 3-1 with 21 seconds left, going bar down off a pass from Coyle.
Florida came out firing in the third, outshooting Boston 11-1 through 5:48 before Montgomery called his timeout.
"I just wanted us to relax, be calm, have poise and execute," Montgomery told reporters in Florida about his timeout call. "I thought that- I could tell players were hurried, a little frantic with the puck. We had opportunities to make plays, saw a couple of icings, so I just thought it would be a good time to just reset."
Just over a minute later, Brazeau jumped out on a breakaway and elevated a backhand over Bobrovsky’s pad to increase the Bruins’ lead to 4-1 at 7:13.
The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky with 5:30 left in regulation, and Jake DeBrusk netted an empty-net goal at 16:38 for the 5-1 final.
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