In a do-or-die Game 5, the Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers to stay alive in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Boston Bruins will live to see another day.

Facing elimination down 3-1 in their second round series against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, Boston eked out a 2-1 win in Game 5 on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.

Charlie McAvoy snapped a seven-game point-scoring drought with the winning goal and an assist, and Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves.

"For us, the main thing was to stay in the moment and keep putting [in] a full 60 [minutes], and whatever more time that was left," David Pastrnak told reporters in Florida. "Overall, I think I'm really proud of the group, the way we played the whole game today." 

Sam Reinhart had the lone goal for Florida, and constantly threatened to add on with seven more shots on goal. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.

Morgan Geekie opened the scoring at 4:49 of the first period, tucking the puck around Bobrovsky after receiving Jake DeBrusk’s behind-the-net pass.

The Bruins had a 13-4 shots on goal advantage in the first period, a stark difference from the last three games. The Bruins had fewer than 19 shots on net in each of those games; they hit 20 at 14:26 of the second period on Tuesday.

"We made really good decisions with the puck tonight, in the first period," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters in Florida. "Which led to the most period we had of O-zone time, which led to quality scoring chances, not just pucks to the net."

Reinhart tied it 1-1 at 6:23 of the second, slamming in a net front rebound after an extended Florida offensive zone possession.

McAvoy retook the lead at 10:25, coming off the bench and finishing off a strong passing sequence from Boston. Florida challenged the play for goaltender interference, with Danton Heinen potentially obstructing Bobrovsky during a tie-up with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but the call stood.

"I saw we had numbers, and I saw [Andrew Peeke] was coming for a change, so second period sometimes you can win the change battle and get a chance," McAvoy told the media in Florida. "I started yelling right away, and great play by him to have patience with that puck and to find me, and I was pumped to see it go in."

The teams were tied 4-4 in shots more than halfway through the third period when Hampus Lindholm jumped off the Bruins bench early to lead to Boston’s sixth too many men penalty of the postseason at 11:28 of the third. 

Reinhart nearly scored on that power play from the left side of the zone at 12:04, but it slipped wide past a falling Swayman. He had another good chance 41 seconds later, but it elevated too high. In the end, Boston managed to kill off the penalty.

Pastrnak nearly doubled the Bruins lead at 16:30, slipping the puck through Bobrovsky’s legs, but it drifted just outside the post to keep it 2-1.

The Panthers applied a ton of pressure with Bobrovsky pulled for an extra attacker in the final minutes, and Swayman made a point-blank stop on Reinhart with less than 10 seconds remaining to hang on and force Game 6.

"Never say die, we're going home and this series is wide open," McAvoy said. "Let's go home and win a hockey game."