For the first time in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Jeremy Swayman allowed more than two goals, and the Florida Panthers ran away with Game 2 on Wednesday night.
Heading into the third period, the Panthers were up 3-1, and even though Florida was controlling the scoreboard, Swayman made some big saves, and the Bruins were hanging around. Within 90 seconds of the period starting, Luostarinen scored for the Panthers, and the game completely flipped on its head.
After 40 minutes, the teams combined for 12 penalty minutes, and neither team could score on the powerplay. Between the 10:25 mark and the end of the game, the teams combined for 136 penalty minutes, completely erasing any memory of what was a tightly played, professional outing for the Panthers.
Big Boys Get it Done for Panthers
In Game 1, Reinhart and Tkachuk combined for 11 shots and had plenty of good looks. Swayman was just better, plain and simple.
With the game tied at 1-1 halfway through the contest, the dam finally broke.
Barkov scored his third goal of the playoffs and Reinhart got his first of four helpers on the night. Stud defenseman Gustav Forsling netted a dagger with two seconds left in the second, setting up a whole different dynamic with the Panthers heading in the break up 3-1.
At the aforementioned 10:25 mark of the third, Pat Maroon and Nick Cousins received the first two of thirteen game misconducts in the period. 27 seconds later, Barkov scored his second of the night, putting the Panthers up 4-1.
What can’t be lost in all of the mayhem is the fact that the top dogs, or cats in the Panthers case, showed up and delivered for Florida in a big way. Barkov and Reinhart combined for 8 points, while Verhaeghe had 5 shots, and Tkachuk made his presence known physically, capping it off with a fight against Bruins’ superstar David Pastrnak.
After getting dominated by Swayman in Game 1, the Panthers needed to get back to the bone-bruising, dominating hockey that won them the division, and they did just that.
Goaltending: The Tale of Two Games
In Game 1, Swayman stopped 38 of 39 shots, shooting down any chance of a Panthers comeback. On Wednesday, he allowed four goals on 23 shots. Statistically, a game like this had to happen at some point. Boston’s recipe for success has been either getting a lead or keeping the game close and letting Swayman do the rest.
The Bruins delivered on the former, but on this night, Swayman couldn’t give them the latter. Ullmark took his teammate’s place partway through the third and gave up the final two goals.
On the Panthers’ side of the ice, Bobrovsky needed to bounce back badly. Despite a handful of quality chances, Boston only mustered 15 shots on goal, giving Bobrovsky the perfect scenario to redeem himself from Monday’s sins.
The Tone Has Been Set for a Physical Series
A lot of people, media and fans alike, picked the Panthers to win this series handily. After a dominating win to even up the series, that could still very well happen. However, one thing we know after the last ten minutes of this hockey game is that Boston will not go down with a whimper. If the Panthers want it, they’re going to have to rip it out of their opponent’s hands.
The impressive thing about the end-of-game shenanigans is that they weren’t just your usual suspects. Yes, Maroon and Cousins are the first two, you would guess, and you’d be right. But after that, Frederic, van Riemsdyk, Marchand, McAvoy, and Pastrnak received misconducts for Boston, putting their physical mark on this series.
For the Panthers, Reinhart and Tkachuk were two of the skaters sent to the lockers early.
It’s hard to imagine any further disciplinary action will be handed out between now and Friday. However, there’s no doubt the refs will be handing each team warnings early in Game 3.
Long Road Ahead
Any thought of this being a short series should be put to bed after two games. One team one 5-1, the other won 6-1. Both goalies have had tough starts. Every star has made their mark. This has all the makings of a long series, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the blowouts end here.
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