Florida now faces a must-win Game 4 on Sunday afternoon
For the first time during the playoff series between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, it felt like a one-seed playing an eight-seed.
Boston was dominant during the game’s first two periods, running the Panthers out of their own building in front of what was, at one point, a packed and loud FLA Live Arena.
The Bruins 4-2 win returned home ice advantage to the Presidents’ Trophy winners, backing Florida into a corner heading into Game 4.
In a series where it’s become clear that playing with the lead is integral to either team’s success, Boston went up 1-0 at the 2:26 mark and never looked back.
The game remained tight, though Boston was taking away any and all space from the Panthers.
In particular, the second period felt like the Bruins were putting on a ‘How to win during the playoffs’ Masterclass.
Florida now must regroup, and quickly.
Game 4 is on Sunday afternoon and the Panthers cannot afford to fall into a 3-1 series hole against the powerhouse Bruins.
FIRST PERIOD
Right off the opening faceoff Jake DeBrusk set the tone, putting Eetu Luostarinen on his backside with a forceful neutral zone check.
Taylor Hall got thing started on the scoreboard, ripping a long wrist shot past Alex Lyon from above the right circle.
It was certainly not the kind of goal Lyon, or anyone else, would be happy about seeing go in, but regardless, Boston was up 1-0 less than three minutes into the game.
Tyler Bertuzzi was sent to the penalty box at the 4:19 mark after slashing the stick out of Sam Bennett’s hands, giving Florida the first power play of the game.
The Panthers didn’t score, but it was a solid power play that generated several good looks on Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark.
Boston’s first power play came not long after when Sam Bennett was called for an offensive zone interference penalty.
Florida’s penalty killing unit was up to the task, limiting the Bruins to only a couple decent looks, and the only one that found its way to the net was stopped by Lyon.
The period ended with the Panthers holding an 8-7 edge in shots on goal, but Boston had the advantage where it counted.
SECOND PERIOD
Boston got the better of the opportunities early in the second, eventually capitalizing on an offensive zone start.
A shot from Brad Marchand toward Florida’s net was deflected by Charlie Coyle on the doorstep and the puck went into the air and landed behind Lyon before trickling across the goal line.
Boston had the lead and was clamping down on the home squad, at one point holding Florida to just one shot on goal through the period’s first ten minutes.
Lyon’s biggest save of the game came with Florida on the power play, sliding to his right to get a pad on a backdoor look from Pavel Zacha.
The period ended with Florida getting outshot 12-4 and trailing in the game 2-0.
THIRD PERIOD
Florida opened the final period with a couple different looking lines.
The Barkov line now featured Anton Lundell and Anthony Duclair on the wings, while the third line had Luostarinen centering Ryan Lomberg and Sam Reinhart.
The changes didn’t have much impact on the game though the first half of the period.
With 11:28 to go David Pastrnak got behind Florida’s defense tandem of Brandon Montour and Gus Forsling, beating Lyon with a shot from far enough out that Maurice had seen enough.
Boston led 3-0 and Sergei Bobrovsky was summoned for his first action in nearly a month.
Nick Foligno made it 4-0 Bruins right after the Panthers killed off a Lomberg hooking minor and the fans began filtering out of FLA Live Arena with just over eight minutes to go.
Forsling got Florida out of the shutout doghouse with a shorthanded goal, converting a nice pass from Luostarinen with the two on an odd-man rush.
The Panthers kept pushing and got another goal off the stick of Reinhart, jamming away at a loose puck at the of the crease before pushing it past Ullmark.
Ultimately the 4-2 final made the game seem closer than it actually was.
On to Game 4.
GAME NOTES
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