SUNRISE, FL – After over a week of rest and waiting, the Florida Panthers were riding high as they returned home to open their second-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins.
But any momentum they carried from sweeping the Lightning was quickly extinguished by a rested, battle-tested Bruins squad that capitalized on a decisive three-goal flurry late in the second period to seize control.
When the final horn sounded, the Panthers were left picking up the pieces of a disheartening 5-1 defeat in Game 1 on Monday night at FLA Live Arena.
A capacity crowd was silenced as Boston rookie Jeremy Swayman stymied Florida’s vaunted offense with 38 saves.
“We gave up seven shots in that period and they put three of them in,” a perplexed Panthers coach Paul Maurice lamented after the loss. “It’s not Sergei [Bobrovsky].
Two of them, we didn’t break the puck out, the third one, we got beat off the rush on a play that should’ve been killed fairly easily.”
The game had begun promisingly enough for the Panthers. After a scoreless opening frame, Matthew Tkachuk snapped the deadlock by burying a rebound chance at 11:45 of the second period to give Florida a 1-0 lead. But that advantage would be short-lived.
Just 67 seconds later, the Bruins pulled even as Morgan Geekie jammed home a loose puck in the crease amidst a mad scramble, beating Bobrovsky through heavy traffic. The tide began to turn decisively in Boston’s favor from there.
With 3:43 remaining in the second, the Panthers failed to clear their own zone and rookie defenseman Mason Lohrei made them pay by wiring a wrist shot past a screened Bobrovsky to put the Bruins ahead 2-1.
Florida’s defensive lapses continued, with Gustav Forsling’s missed clearing attempt the next culprit.
Brandon Carlo pounced on the turnover and whistled a shot through Bobrovsky’s five-hole with just 20.8 ticks left in the period for a back-breaking 3-1 Bruins lead after 40 minutes.
“They played really well, so they didn’t let us make those simple plays,” admitted Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov. “They stayed really hard on the pucks, got a couple of turnovers there.”
Any hopes of a Panthers comeback were quickly dashed in the third. Just 7:13 into the final frame, Justin Brazeau intercepted an errant Florida pass and streaked in alone on Bobrovsky, deking the veteran netminder for a 4-1 Boston advantage.
Jake DeBrusk would add insult to injury with an empty-netter in the final minutes as the Bruins stunningly stole home-ice advantage to open the series.
While the Panthers controlled the shot attempts 39-28, the quality of their chances was severely lacking as Swayman was spectacular between the pipes.
The rookie backstop, who has taken over the starting duties after a rough first two games for Vezina winner Linus Ullmark, improved to 5-2 with a 1.36 goals-against average and .953 save percentage so far this postseason.
“We had a lot of volume tonight, but I don’t think a lot of our looks were dangerous,” Okposo said of the struggles in solving Swayman. “So we have to do a better job of getting there.”
The stagnant Florida power play was also a major issue, going 0-for-3 and repeatedly allowing momentum-shifting shorthanded chances the other way. Lohrei’s go-ahead goal came just seconds after a failed man-advantage.
“They are a very good PK team, especially in the playoffs,” said Tkachuk. “We had a couple looks, but we were probably just too slow tonight on the power play. That’s something we gotta figure out.”
While much was made of the Panthers’ extended layoff before the series began, Maurice refused to use it as an excuse for his team’s sloppy effort. However, the stark contrast was evident as the Bruins arrived battle-hardened from a draining seven-game victory over Toronto.
“I think poor execution,” Okposo said bluntly when asked about the defensive zone gaffes. “We got to be a little bit quicker to support each other. They were on top of us, they were skating, they were moving and I think that we’re going to clean some stuff up and be better.”
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery definitely saw the impact of his team’s recent high-intensity reps.
“Our guys have been in those types of tight games recently against a really good Toronto team,” Montgomery said. “That definitely prepared us for the intensity we saw tonight.”
While the officiating was a factor, with a couple of borderline non-calls going against Florida, the Panthers had no one to blame but themselves after the self-inflicted mistakes. If you want you can also read- NHL Approves Coyotes Move to Utah.
“We’re not expecting to get calls in here,” Bruins coach Rick Carlisle said. “It would be nice if they laid off that one, but they didn’t. So that’s just the way it goes.”
With Games 3 and 4 shifting to Boston, the resilient Presidents’ Trophy winners must find their game in a hurry to prevent the Bruins from seizing a commanding series lead. The urgency only increases from here.
“I think it’s best when players decide the outcome of the game,” Maurice said. “For the most part you can’t leave the game to be decided by the refs, so we have to take accountability as well.”
Bobrovsky will need to regain his form from the Tampa series. The Panthers’ big guns like Barkov, Tkachuk, and Carter Verhaeghe, have to start generating higher-quality chances. And the defense must be far more crisp in their puck management.
Because if the Panthers turn in another dud like Game 1, their dream of returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996 could be at risk of slipping away entirely against this impressive Bruins squad.
With the series now shifting north, the pressure is squarely on Florida’s shoulders. After squandering home ice, their response will go a long way in determining how deep this playoff run can ultimately go.
