Sergei Bobrovsky earned his seventh series-clinching win, Gustav Forsling was the first Panthers defenseman to score a series-clinching goal, and the Florida Panthers clinched Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With the series on the line in a tight game, and a defensive lapse by the Bruins, Forsling scored the go-ahead with 1:33 remaining in the third period, after a tightly played Game 6.
After blowouts in each of the first three games, the last three games were within one score.
As the defense for both sides tightened their screws, ultimately the Bruins just couldn’t generate the scoring necessary to get the job done. In Game 1, Boston scored 5 goals. In the next five games they could only muster 8, and it just wasn’t enough against this Panthers team.
Bobrovsky, Panthers Do Just Enough
Going into this series, the general consensus was that the Florida Panthers would roll the Boston Bruins in five, maybe even four games.
After a 5-1 loss in Game 1, that idea went out the window. After a 6-2 win in Game 2, it was completely restored. Even though the series ultimately finished in six games, the last four games were a dogfight, and the Panthers did just enough to get through and book a ticket to New York City.
So far in these playoffs, for the most part, the Panthers offense had been carried by the big boys. Tkachuck, Barkov, and Verhaeghe have done the statistical heavy lifting with a good amount of depth rounding out the effort.
In Game 6, Anton Lundell was the hero offensively, while Sergei Bobrovsky was the hero late, making some clutch saves throughout a late Bruins surge.
For the first half of the game, the Bruins carried the majority of the game. More than halfway through the second period, that all changed. Lundell scored his second of the playoffs, and you could feel the momentum shift for the Panthers.
Lundell also contributed to the game-winning goal, and it ended up being just enough.
As for Bobrovsky, the Panthers didn’t need him to be brilliant for long stretches of this series. However, in every game the Bruins made a push, and the third-period of Game 6 was no different.
Boston is a good team, but offence was never what scared you about this team, but when Bobrovsky was needed, he did what he had to do. There’s a team waiting for Florida in Manhattan that relies on firepower from many different players, so starting on Wednesday, we’ll see how Bobrovsky and the Panthers handles the challenge.
The puck drops at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday at 8:00 pm EST.
Swayman Not Enough for Bruins
Jeremy Swayman is an absolute beast. All indications point to the other half of the goaltending tandem, Linus Ullmark, being traded in the off-season and the team calling on Swayman to be their true number one. After a strong post-season, they will get an argument from no one.
In Round 1, Swayman never allowed more than two goals, and after a rocky couple of games in Round 2, he allowed only six goals in the final three games.
This may come as a surprise to you, but, in order to win a hockey game, you need to score more goals than the other team. So Swayman can shut the door all he wants, but if his teammates can’t score, it’s just not good enough. That’s ultimately what this series came down to.
In the final three games of Round 1, the Bruins scored only 4 goals, with one of them being in overtime. In Round 2, they opened the series with a 5-1 win and scored only 8 goals the rest of the way.
In a season where they adapted well to losing two star players to retirement and a few others to free agency, the playoffs showed the truth behind the depth problem for the Bruins.
In Game 6, superstar David Pastrnak did get himself 5 shots, but ultimately couldn’t get one past Bobrovsky. This was an issue for him for the entire post-season run, only netting 4 goals and totaling 8 points.
Jake DeBrusk is a fine player, but when he’s leading your offensive charge with 5 goals and 11 points, you’re in trouble, and that proved to be the downfall for the 2024 Boston Bruins.
The Florida Panthers are a true Stanley Cup contender, and they have been all year. There’s no shame in bowing out to this team. But, with all-star performances from Jeremy Swayman, it does feel like if the Bruins could have found a way to score, this could have been a storybook run.
For More Sports News:
Click here for a more in-depth analysis of every series this NHL post-season from Marc and others, plus what’s happening around the league.
Check out all the great content Total Apex Sports has to offer. Check us out on X @TotalApexSports and our other sites: Total Apex Sports Bets and Total Apex Fantasy Sports.
