A swapping of centers midway through the game paid big dividends for the Panthers

The Florida Panthers are on to the conference finals.

Go ahead, drink it in. It always goes down smooth.

Following Florida’s 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 6 on Friday night, the Panthers will now get five days to rest, recuperate and recharge before Game 1 against the New York Rangers arrives.

Before we start looking ahead to the challenges to come, we’ve got one more game against Bruins in Boston to talk about.

Here are the Game 6 takeaways:

Forsling steps up

The game started out a little bumpy for Florida’s top defensive pairing, but the team as a whole didn’t really have the best start to Game 6 either.

Things would change for Forsling as the game progressed.

While leading the team in ice time, playing 25:16, Forsling also led all Panthers with five shots on nine attempts, he blocked a shot, and, oh yeah, he also scored the game winning, series clinching goal with 1:33 to go in the third period.

“His gap was fantastic,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said of Forsling. “The thing that we didn’t like about our Game 5 was our gap, and it’s really what he does for a living. Oh my God, right from the start, he was so good with it, and then he throws in some offense. I think that’s what the Norris Trophy is. I don't think it's the defenseman necessarily that gets the most points. It’s very difficult to identify a guy then, if we're talking about things that aren't easily measured. There are different styles of defenseman. In his style, he’s the best in the world.”

Barkov block late

On Saturday we’ll learn if Panthers captain Sasha Barkov will win the second Selke Trophy of his career.

Late in Game 6, with the puck in Florida’s end of the ice, Barkov showed why he’s just as valuable in the defensive zone as he is when on offense.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy walked down from the blueline with the puck on his stick, quickly sliding a pass to a locked and loaded David Pastrnak at the left faceoff dot.

Pasternak’s one-timer was sailing toward a gaping net, if not for the fearless, open-palmed block by Barkov.

Initially, Barkov left the game and went to Florida’s locker room, but he was back on the bench a few minutes later and finished the game without any further issue.

“You're talking about the highs and lows of emotions on the bench, that's a gaping net and a legitimate block,” Maurice said. “And then, oh my god, did he break something? He's off the bench, and you don't hear anything. So at that point, he makes the block, we ended up tying it, we score the goal, it's a little bit of chaos down there, right? We lost to centreman, Mikkola has left, and then here (Barkov) comes back, and then he's fine. So it was quite the roller coaster. His Game 5 was fantastic. We lose the game, so it doesn't get noticed, but man was he a powerful, dominant man that just plays a different game now than he's ever played. He was so good at both ends, so hopefully he's the guy.”

Center swap

There have been multiple times throughout the season when Maurice has shown how well he knows his team.

He’ll make the subtle, or not so subtle, changes or tweaks to the lineup, he’ll push the right button, and the team responds.

In Game 6, Maurice did something he hadn’t done before. About midway through the game, Lundell scored the game-tying goal while on the ice with Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe.

With Lundell playing some of the best hockey of his career lately, Maurice kept the trio together for the rest of the game. Lundell also had the primary assist on Forsling’s game winner.

“That was huge,” Lundell said of his goal. “I think our whole team was just waiting for that moment, one goal that is going to bring us more energy and belief and confidence. It was a tight game, but we believed and just kept going and never quit.”

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