Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky speaks after Florida's 3-2 win over Boston on May 12. The Boston Bruins have made it clear that they don’t like Sam Bennett. Florida’s scrappy second line center has made quite an impact on their second round series with the Bruins considering he’s only played in two of the four games. Bennett’s controversial hit on Brad Marchand during the first period of Game 3 has been the subject of much scrutiny since. Multiple angles of the hit have been analyzed by the media while members of both teams, and their head coaches, have made their opinions known. Boston Head Coach Jim Montgomery and several of his players have said they think Bennett delivered a dirty, deliberate hit to Marchand’s head. Florida Head Coach Paul Maurice feels the story has been blown out of proportion while adding during his Game 4 postgame media availability that he feels the injury that kept Marchand out of the game wasn’t due to Bennett at all. “I think you’ve missed the point of the injury and I think you missed the hit that caused it,” Maurice said. “I think you missed all of it. That’s how I feel about it.” Bennett has maintained that he did not try to hurt or punch Marchand [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/sam-bennett-defends-hit-on-brad-marchand-as-panthers-take-control-of-series], calling it, "just a hockey play in my mind." Nevertheless, the series has gone on, with Florida departing Boston on Monday with a pair of road wins in their pocket and a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7. Much of the attention during Sunday’s Game 4 was focused on how Boston would respond to Bennett after all the talk leading up to the game. There were a few big hits by Bruins players, but none on Bennett. At one point, Boston’s resident tough guy and player who generally deals with situations like this, Pat Maroon, appeared to be trying to get Bennett to drop the gloves. Bennett showed no interest and skated away. “I’m sure everyone’s wondering why I haven’t done anything,” Maroon told the Boston media [https://twitter.com/_TyAnderson/status/1790060297627037827] on Monday. “It’s not like I haven’t tried. I love my captain and I love the guys. Everyone looking at me to do something. I have tried and I am trying.” Bennett, who missed over two weeks with an injury to his hand or wrist, isn’t going to be fighting and risk reaggravating that injury. It sounds like Maroon and some of his teammates have been looking for anyone to trade punches with, but the Panthers aren’t having any of it. The Panthers are using their heads, and it appears to be paying off. Through the first four games of the series, Boston has only had 11 total power plays. Their only power play goal came off the stick of David Pastrnak during Game 4. Florida, meanwhile, have gone on the man advantage six times in each of their past three games. For the series, Florida has gone 6-for-21 on the power play. As Maurice said last week, Florida's players are a bit more mature and battle tested than they were a year ago. They understand the importance of staying focused on the task at hand. We'll see if that leads them to a second straight appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. Game 5 from Sunrise is set for Tuesday night at 7 p.m. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Three takeaways: Panthers showing playoff maturity, Bobrovsky quietly coming up big [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-panthers-showing-playoff-maturity-bobrovsky-quietly-coming-up-big] Sam Bennett defends hit on Brad Marchand as Panthers take control of series [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/sam-bennett-defends-hit-on-brad-marchand-as-panthers-take-control-of-series] Bennett, Panthers pick up big win in Game 4, pushing Boston to brink of elimination [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/bennett-panthers-pick-up-big-win-in-game-4-pushing-boston-to-brink-of-elimination] Panthers enter Game 4 in Boston looking to take control of series [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-enter-game-4-in-boston-looking-to-take-control-of-series] The Hockey Show: Talking Panthers, playoffs and Maple Leafs future with Sara Civian [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/the-hockey-show-talking-panthers-playoffs-and-maple-leafs-future-with-sara-civian] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
