Electrifying Scenes: Bruins Dominate Panthers in Intense Game 1 Playoff Clash
During the playing of the national anthem in Florida, the crowd was absolutely intense. They sang with full force, sometimes shouting, and the energy in the building was electrifying.
Boston’s goalkeeper, Jeremy Swayman, glanced towards those fans during the anthem, and on their faces, the most prevalent expression was of utmost confidence. He seemed to be aware that he would silence them for the remainder of the night.
Swayman’s stellar performance continued after the season, persisting with 38 shots saved, Brandon Carlo scored a goal just hours after his wife gave birth to their son, and the Bruins defeated the Panthers 5-1 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Monday night.
Swayman said, “The way we all took ‘no’ for an answer as the North, it really impressed me.” “Physically, mentally, everything looked really good, and I’m really excited for what’s to come.”
Morgan Geekie, Mason Lohrei, Justin Brazeau, and Jake DeBrusk also scored for Boston, which improved to 5-0-0 against the Panthers this season. Pavel Zacha had two assists as the Bruins overturned a 1-0 deficit with three goals in the last 7:08 of the second period and never looked back.
Swayman has remained unbeaten in all five wins for Boston in these playoffs, once again shining brightly — just like he did in Round 1 against Toronto, which ended with a Game 7 overtime thriller on Saturday night. He stopped all seven shots he faced in the three power plays Florida had in this playoffs, improving his already impressive stats among the league’s best netminders in these playoffs.
Through seven playoff performances, Swayman has made 210 saves, averaging 1.42 goals against, the lowest among all league goalies.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said, “We made a lot of mistakes.” “If Jeremy Swayman wasn’t here, it would’ve been a very close game, and perhaps they would’ve come out on top.”
For Florida, Matthew Tkachuk scored, making it just the second time in their last nine opportunities that they have failed to hold a lead after going up 1-0 — the other came last year against Boston in Round 1 “Sergei Bobrovsky thwarted 24 attempts on goal for the Panthers, marking their return to the ice after a seven-day hiatus.”
Game 2 is Wednesday night.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, “I didn’t care for our game tonight.” “And I think there’s a lot of things we can address that we didn’t like.”
This was the first one-sided game between the clubs this season, with Florida leading the Atlantic Division at 110 points and Boston second with 109. The Bruins won all three regular-season matchups, two by one goal and another by two, but Florida spent 78% of those games either tied or ahead.
This one was different. Once Boston got the lead, the Bruins, who have now overcome a 1-0 deficit to win four of their five games against Florida this season, defensively strengthened completely.
Tkachuk said, “We made some mistakes and maybe we weren’t as hard as we needed to be tonight.” “And they played well.”
Swayman handed Tkachuk his first goal of the game, the Panthers star’s fourth goal of the postseason, just between two more goals when he and Bobrovsky were in the goalie’s duel for the first 31 minutes. He was spared most hardships for a short while.
It took just 67 seconds for Boston to equalize, as Geekie cleared a loose puck in front “Just 3 minutes and 25 seconds later, Lohrei secured his inaugural playoff goal, unleashing a formidable shot from a challenging angle that soared past Bobrovsky’s outstretched glove.”
It added a memorable day for Carlo, who wasn’t with the Bruins for their Sunday flight to South Florida as his wife Mason was giving birth. He welcomed his son Crew on Monday morning, just in time for Carlo to board a plane for the three-hour trip south. He arrived after his other teammates but scored before being in the lineup — and he scored with 21 seconds left in the second period, giving his club a 3-1 lead.
“I definitely wanted to play,” Carlo said. “And I’m really glad I did.”
Brazeau sealed it with 12:47 remaining, beating Bobrovsky from behind Florida’s defense. The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky with 5:30 left, and nearly two minutes later DeBrusk added an empty-netter.
Reuters News :https://www.reuters.com/