The Boston Bruins had the game of their lives, went into Florida, and extended their season with a 2-1 over the Panthers on Tuesday night.
This is exactly what the doctor ordered. In what was maybe their most complete game of the post-season, everyone did their part to get the win.
Jeremy Swayman had 28 saves, and the Bruins’ defense did their part with 21 blocked shots.
The Panthers are no doubt the more physical team. However, on this night, the Bruins outhit Florida 49-35 and stood strong through every wave the Panthers threw at them.
Without their captain and any production from superstar David Pastrnak, the Bruins found a way, and the two teams will head back to Boston for Game 6 on Friday.
Quick Start Paves the Way for Bruins
One of the biggest issues for the Bruins in this series has been the lack of urgency to start each game. Even in Game 4 where they scored 2 goals in the opening frame, they only put 5 shots on goal. In the first period of games two and three, the Bruins had 6 and 3 shots respectively.
On this night they started strong totaling 13 shots in the first, and maybe more importantly, held the Panthers to only 4 shots.
The Panthers had a strong second period after a very public scathing rebuke on the bench from Coach Maurice. The Bruins still found a way to escape the period with a 2-1 lead, which ended up being all they needed.
Bruins Coach Jim Montgomery had high praise for how his team played, especially how they started.
“I thought we made really good decisions with the puck in the first period, which led to the most O-zone time in a period, which led to quality scoring chances – Tonight was our best game of the series.”
Morgan Geekie started the scoring for the Bruins. After Reinhart tied the game up in the second period, Charlie McAvoy quickly restored the Boston lead and they never looked back.
Even with playing their best game of the series, they still may not have won if it wasn’t for the brilliance of Jeremy Swayman. The Panthers made a huge push at the end of the game to tie it, and Swayman held his ground.
Lack of Attention to Detail Hurts Panthers
In our Game 5 preview, we told you that the Panthers didn’t have to change anything in order to clinch the series. They clearly didn’t read our article. They started flat and didn’t get going until a profanity-laced rant given to them by their coach. Maurice echoed this sentiment.
“They had a good first period, but the game is there – We had our chances, but I didn’t like our game. But, from where we were in the first, we got it to a much better place.”
After only 4 shots in the first, they had 25 shots in the final two periods and had their chance to win the game. Not to mention the 21 shots in which the Bruins defenders blocked.
The whole game from the Panthers just felt different. They didn’t move the puck overly well, including 17 giveaways, which is very uncharacteristic for this team.
Overall, the Panthers are fine. They have everything they need to close this game out on Friday. That being said, if they drop Game 6, anything can happen in Game 7.
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