Boston was outshot by the Panthers 44-31 but still won by four goals
The Florida Panthers took penalties and turned the puck over in a crucial Game 4, losing to the Boston Bruins 6-2.
The Panthers now pack up and head back to Boston trailing in the best-of-7 series 3-1.
It’s amazing how much can change in just a few days.
Florida was flying high and feeling great after picking up a big win in Game 2 and getting out of Boston with a split of the first two games of the series.
A pair of road wins by Boston later and the Panthers are suddenly facing a seemingly impossible task of winning three straight against the Presidents’ Trophy winners, two of which that must come in the Bruins’ den.
Florida Captain Sasha Barkov knows the team has their backs against the wall, but he said belief will not waiver.
“We don’t think about whoever says what,” he said of the Panthers being written off down 3-1 in the series. “We have a great thing going on here in the locker room, everyone believes in each other.
“We come out every game and play as hard as possible for each other, and love each other.”
Barkov and the Panthers will have a couple days to prepare for their first true must-win game of the year.
Game 5 from Boston is Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
FIRST PERIOD
Barkov came out firing on his opening shift. He threw hard shoulder check into Brandon Carlo in the corner of the Bruins’ zone, leading to an extended shift and a pair of quick shots for Barkov.
Florida’s defense was very active in the early stages of the game, blocking three Bruins shot attempts in the first five minutes.
When the game reached its first TV timeout with 13:17 to go, shots were 6-0 Panthers.
The edge reached 10-0 in shots before Boston began buzzing, drawing a cross-checking penalty on Colin White that came on a scrum around Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Brad Marchand scored on the power play immediately after Bobrovsky made two spectacular saves.
The puck sat between Bob’s spread legs as he fell backward, and it just sat there for a moment. Marchand eventually poked it in as the whistle blew.
Referee T.J. Luxmore was literally on top of the net, so he had a great view, and initially waived off the goal, but after conferring with his fellow officials, he later announced it as a good goal.
By the time the period ended, Boston had closed the shots gap as the Panthers took a 15-12 edge into the intermission, but still trailed the Bruins 1-0 on the scoreboard.
Florida outshot the Bruins 13-5 at even strength during the opening twenty minutes.
A post-buzzer cross check to Garnet Hathaway by Tkachuk would land the latter in the penalty box to start the second. Not ideal for Florida.
SECOND PERIOD
Once again, the Bruins would make Florida pay for an undisciplined penalty.
Jake DeBrusk put home a perfect backdoor feed from Dmitri Orlov to give Boston a 2-0 lead with eight seconds left in the Tkachuk penalty.
As the period went on, Florida was able to get zone time in Boston’s end and direct shots toward Ullmark, but nothing dangerous and nothing on the rush.
The Panthers began to open up their game a bit, leading to more turnovers.
Florida had four giveaways during the second period after being charged with none during the first.
A lucky bounce finally went the Panthers way and Tkachuk turned it into a goal.
The puck bounced off the back of the net as Montour skated by, trying to corral it. He missed and the puck stayed on the net, but Ullmark followed Montour to the far post thinking he had the puck.
Tkachuk saw this and quickly went after the puck, and then from below the goal line reached back with his stick between his legs to deposit the puck into the empty side of the net.
It was exactly the boost the Panthers needed heading into a crucial third period.
Florida outshot the Bruins 12-7 during the second and held a 27-19 edge after two.
THIRD PERIOD
A Tyler Bertuzzi deflection from next to the faceoff dot bounced off the ice and through Bobrovsky’s legs to give Boston a 3-1 lead early in the period.
A couple minutes later Nick Foligno was called for tripping Anton Lundell and the Panthers finally broke through on the power play.
Their best zone time while up a man led to a goal when a Montour one-timer was partially blocked and bounced to Ullmark.
The goaltender couldn’t hang onto the puck and Sam Bennett saw it loose in the crease and jammed it into the net.
Less than two minutes later, a Marc Staal turnover at Florida’s blue line led directly to Boston re-taking a two-goal lead.
Zacha fired a wrist shot from between the circles that Bobrovsky made a glove save on, but he couldn’t hold on and the puck dropped right to the stick of DeBrusk.
His second goal of the game made it 4-2 Boston with just under 12 minutes to go.
Taylor Hall made it 5-2 after a friendly bounce over Radko Gudas’ stick gave him a breakaway on Bobrovsky. A quick backhand forehand move had Bob down and out with nothing but a wide-open net for Hall to guide the puck into.
Late in the game, Tkachuk and Ullmark were sent off after Tkachuk got a bit too physical with the goaltender and was rightfully mauled by several Bruins.
Officials held back Tkachuk and Ullmark as the two took off their gloves and helmets, trying to fight.
Hall scored again into an empty net, and both teams skated off in very different places.
Florida now must travel to Boston and try to avoid elimination on Wednesday.
GAME NOTES
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