The Florida Panthers tied the Eastern Conference Second Round series 1-1 with a 6-1 win at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.
The Florida Panthers tied the Eastern Conference Second Round series 1-1 with a 6-1 win at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.
That got ugly.
After claiming a dominant 5-1 win in Game 1 on Monday, the Boston Bruins crashed back to Earth with a 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 2 at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.
The Bruins had a 1-0 lead after the first period, but allowed six unanswered goals in a game that devolved into a WWE Free For All by the end.
Here are four takeaways before both teams head to TD Garden for Game 3 on Friday:
1. No Love Lost
In case anyone was wondering, these teams still don’t like each other. Between last year’s first round series and each team blowing out the other through the first two games of this series, tensions boiled over when the game got out of hand.
In total, 13 players from both teams received game misconducts. The Bruins totaled 87 penalty minutes, while Florida tacked on 71. Justin Brazeau, Trent Frederic and Morgan Geekie engaged in a line brawl. Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour stuck his tongue out at Brad Marchand – referencing Marchand’s licking incident in 2018 – after scoring a short-handed goal, which led to another scrum. David Pastrnak even dropped the gloves with Matthew Tkachuk.
"Definitely [did it] for the team," Pastrnak told reporters in Florida. "He was asking me so I feel like I also had to step up, and game was over, it was 6-1 so [I] gave it a go."
To say things got out of hand is an understatement, and it’s only Game 2 with the series tied 1-1 heading to Boston. Everything escalated once the Bruins essentially punted on the game, but emotions will be running high all series long, and the team that can manage it the best by picking the right times to engage and not taking unnecessary penalties will put itself in a much better position as things go down the wire.
Move over, Kendrick Lamar and Drake. The Bruins-Panthers beef will add a Grade-A wrinkle to this series, but we probably could have seen this coming anyway.
2. Defensive Breakdowns
In Game 1, the Bruins took advantage of Florida turnovers. Even their lone goal in Game 2 was spurred by a strong press from Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand in the offensive zone.
However, the Panthers were able to capitalize on a Bruins defense that looked lost on Wednesday.
Steven Lorentz tied the game 1-1 just 1:56 into the second period, tipping Montour's shot with plenty of space in front of Jeremy Swayman. Derek Forbort had gone to the empty left corner to receive Swayman’s pass from behind the net, but the 25-year-old goalie sent it right to Parker Wotherspoon amid other bodies. Florida recovered the puck, and Forbort didn’t get back to the middle in time.
Then, Aleksander Barkov gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead at 9:49, getting past a stickless Charlie McAvoy with relative ease to tap in a rebound.
With 12 seconds left in the period, Johnny Beecher won a defensive zone face-off but the Bruins failed to clear the zone, and Gustav Forsling ripped a slap shot from the left point to beat Swayman with 1.3 seconds left to put Florida ahead 3-1. The Panthers outshot Boston 11-4 at 5-on-5 in the second period and generated six high-danger chances to the Bruins’ two, according to Natural Stat Trick.
"Florida executed better than us today," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters in Florida. "And last game, we executed, right? And it's a long series, we got the one game we needed to get in Florida, and we go back to Boston."
Swayman (19 saves) was pulled after the Panthers made it 4-1 at 1:28 of the third period, but he was left completely out to dry by a Bruins defense that will have to refocus come Game 3.
3. Goalie Rotation Reignited?
Certainly Linus Ullmark coming in for Swayman won’t be blown out of proportion, right?
Indeed the 30-year-old saw his first real action since Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 22. He allowed two goals on 10 shots, albeit the game had devolved past ‘Lady Byng’ standards by that point.
In reality, with the game decided, the Bruins were able to rest Swayman, who had made a career-high seventh consecutive start, while giving Ullmark some game reps after 15 days off.
Swayman allowed more than two goals in a game for the first time this postseason, and while the players in front of him certainly didn’t do much to help him, management did say “performance and results” will determine who plays in goal down the stretch.
Could Ullmark get Game 3 in Boston to shake things up after Wednesday’s beatdown? Or will the Bruins return to Swayman, who has otherwise been arguably the best player in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs? I’m leaning towards the latter, but we’ll see what Montgomery decides on Friday.
"We have so much belief in this room," Swayman told reporters. "We have so much confidence in this room, and to see the way that we responded, we're never gonna back down."
4. Top Contributors Need to Show More
This one might be low-hanging fruit, especially after they scored five goals in Game 1, but the Bruins’ main contributors are leaving more to be desired.
Coyle’s goal on Wednesday was his first of the playoffs, while Pavel Zacha still doesn’t have one. And not just this year, but his whole career (21 games). Pastrnak had zero shots on goal on Wednesday, and Marchand has gone five games without a goal.
"They get a lot of momentum off their forecheck, and zone time, so definitely some areas we need to clean up along the boards to help us out," Marchand told reporters. "But this time of year it doesn't matter if you win in overtime or if you get blown out. You gotta reset, get ready for the next one, so that's what we'll do."
Mason Lohrei and Brandon Carlo scored big goals from the back end on Monday, but Charlie McAvoy’s scoring drought hit five games. The big names have to carry the offensive load on a night-to-night basis with the supplemental pieces filling out the margins.
Coyle’s goal was an excellent effort by the whole line. The Bruins will need more of that in Game 3 and beyond if they want any hope of advancing.
Other Links:
Boston Bruins Fall 6-1 To Florida Panthers In Scrappy Game 2
Bruins Erupt With 5 Unanswered Goals, Take Game 1 Against Panthers