Carter Verhaeghe scored his second series-clinching overtime goal to send Florida to round two
They did it.
The Florida Panthers just pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
One-seed vs. eight-seed.
Presidents’ Trophy winner against Wild Card squeaker.
The two teams were separated by a ridiculous 43 points in the standings.
Didn’t matter.
Florida fell behind three-games-to-one after losing both Game 3 and 4 on home ice. To win the series, they’d have to beat the historically good Bruins three straight games, including two in Boston.
No big deal.
The Panthers had to come from behind twice during the third period of Game 6, and they did it again in Game 7.
Florida won two overtime games on the road.
The list of improbable accomplishments goes on and on.
For now, enjoy reliving a wildly entertaining Game 7.
FIRST PERIOD
Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky started the game strong, making a nice stop on David Pastrnak in the opening minutes.
Nick Cousins was called for high sticking Tyler Bertuzzi deep in the Bruins zone about five minutes into the game, once again putting Florida on the PK early in a game.
A solid penalty kill came to a slightly early end when Eetu Luostarinen drew a tripping penalty on Brad Marchand while skating after a puck in the neutral zone.
Somehow, it was Marchand’s first penalty of the series.
Boston’s first penalty kill was as good, if not better, than Florida’s, and the game remained scoreless.
When Marchand came out of the penalty box, the Bruins were ready with Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Bertuzzi already on the ice. Boston would proceed to put on its heaviest pressure of the game, but Bobrovsky and the Panthers bent without breaking.
Florida would get another crack at the power play after Taylor Hall tripped Anthony Duclair in front of the Panthers bench.
Once again, the Bruins penalty kill was swarming and dominant, but the Panthers kept pushing and the persistence would pay off.
Brandon Montour and Anton Lundell came up the ice and ran a little give-and-go over the Bruins blue line.
Montour snapped a quick backhand that squeaked through Swayman’s legs and into the net.
Not long after, Luostarinen got loose on a semi-breakaway that beat Swayman over the blocker but caught the crossbar with just over a minute to go in the period.
Both teams had their moments, but it was Florida that outshot the Bruins 11-9 and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
A great early shift by Florida’s third line would give them a sudden 2-0 lead.
A turnover in the Bruins end forced by Ekblad led to a quick passing play from Lundell to Luostarinen to their linemate Sam Reinhart.
Getting loose in the high slot, Reinhart wired a wrist shot over Swayman’s glove, putting the Panthers up 2-0 just 1:14 into the period.
Reinhart got another great look a few minutes later, but his one-timer from the bottom of the left circle was stopped by Swayman.
Boston would get their third power play opportunity of the game following a tripping call on Marc Staal, who was trying to slow down a rush by Pastrnak but got his stick in the speedy superstar’s skates.
Late in the penalty, it would be veteran David Krejci who got the home team on the board. He fired a one-timer from the left faceoff dot that flew past Bobrovsky’s waiving blocker, cutting Florida’s lead to 2-1 with just over 12 minutes to go in the frame.
Riding the momentum, Boston’s next couple shifts were spent in the Panthers zone. Bobrovsky held his ground, and the Cats were able to withstand the pressure.
A back-and-forth next few minutes would be disrupted by another penalty called on Florida.
This time it was Montour who was called after he cross-checked Bertuzzi into Florida’s goal, sending it crashing off its moorings.
The Panthers responded with an excellent penalty kill that saw Florida garner the best opportunity when Barkov and Reinhart went in on a shotless 2-on-1.
Montour was called for another penalty in the final minute of the period after his stick got up and caught Pastrnak. The call was roughing, albeit a questionable one, as the replay appeared to show a bit of an embellishment by Pasta.
The second period ended with Florida ahead 2-1 but staring down a big penalty kill waiting for them on the other side of the intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
It didn’t take a minute for Boston to tie the game with a power play goal.
Bertuzzi tipped home a wrist shot by Dmitry Orlov, sending the TD Garden crowd into a frenzy.
Three straight power plays for Boston, and they scored on two of them to erase a two-goal deficit.
Pastrnak gave the Bruins their first lead when he one-timed a Bobrovsky rebound home with 15:49 to go.
With Boston leading, they began working very hard to muck things up for the Panthers in all three zones, but particularly in the Bruins end of the ice.
Florida was given a power play with 9:12 to go after Cousins was hit by Charlie McAvoy at the Bruins blue line with the puck nowhere close.
The Panthers got some decent zone time but never any high-end chances on Swayman, and the penalty expired with Florida still trailing and less time on the clock to muster a comeback.
From then on out, the Bruins did a great job clamping down on Florida and giving them very little to work with.
In the waning minutes and with Bobrovsky on the bench, the Panthers got a faceoff deep in Boston’s zone with about 90 seconds to go.
Florida kept the puck moving and it eventually found its way to Barkov at the point. His shot was blocked, but the puck bounced right to Montour, who one-timed it past a sliding Swayman to tie the game at three with 59.3 to go.
Game 7 was going to overtime.
OVERTIME
Boston got a couple good looks on Bobrovsky during the first shift of OT, but he stopped Pastrnak twice, including a nice blocker save through a screen.
Everyone in the building held their breath when Tkachuk got behind the Bruins defense and went in alone on Swayman.
This time it was the home team’s tendy who came up with the big stop, slamming his pads to the ice and closing the five-hole Tkachuk was aiming for.
A couple minutes later Duclair found Verhaeghe alone at the top of the crease, but his deflection was stopped by Swayman’s right shoulder.
It was about five minutes later when game would end on a hard-working shift by the Bennett line.
Both Bennett and Tkachuk went to work behind Boston’s net, eventually pushing the puck out to Verhaeghe in the right circle, who had just come on the ice for Cousins.
Verhaeghe had just enough room to fire a perfectly-placed wrist shot over Swayman’s shoulder and into the top corner of the net.
Game over.
Series over.
Bye bye Boston, the Panthers are moving on.
GAME NOTES
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