Panthers Knock Out Bruins, Advance To Second – Straight ECF

Boston, MA – Indeed, the Florida Panthers did what they seem to do best – dominate in the TD Garden. It took all of 59 minutes, but the Panthers went on to knock out the Boston Bruins by a score of 2-1. They win the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

Boston’s last win over Florida in the northeast was on April 17th, 2023 – Game One of the first round of last year’s playoffs. Since then, the Cats have played some of their best hockey up north, and tonight, while rocky, was no exception.

If there’s one thing both Florida and Boston had in common, it was excellent penalty killing. Despite multiple opportunities for both squads tonight, (three power-plays for the Panthers, two for the Bruins) goals were still hard to come by.

Barkov with a huge save, Panthers kill off the penalty.

Back to 5-on-5.

— Colby Guy (@ColbyDGuy) May 18, 2024

First Period Struggles

It looked like the first period was going to go down as a wash until there was a minute left. Pavel Zacha of Boston broke away from both squads and nailed a backhander that got by Bobrovsky for a “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of goal. Florida didn’t have a chance to gather their bearings and respond before the clocks hit triple zeroes.

Admittedly, Florida has struggled in the first period in just about every game this series. In addition, Boston turned up with mental errors, including a “too many men on the ice” penalty early on which helped rev up the Panthers’ offense.

It took a while, but the Cats finally broke through. Anton Lundell capitalized on a war zone in front of an open puck, with no one seeming to figure out where it was. As a result, a Lundell wrister caught everyone off guard as Florida got their equalizer.

LUNDY FINDS IT!!!! pic.twitter.com/Oos697ualo

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 18, 2024

Despite 16 shots on goal against Swayman, the Panthers couldn’t cash in on a go-ahead goal in the second. On the other side, Boston’s offense slowed down to a crawl as Florida’s defense limited opportunities.

Flip The Script

The third period felt like a repeat of the first, with both teams desperate to find some magic on offense. A pair of penalties on both squads didn’t result in anything. It looked like we were going to see Florida’s second overtime of the postseason.

However, the Cats found their magic. With a little over 90 seconds left to go, Lundell looked for goal #2 with a wrister that bounced off of Swayman. As the puck trickled to his right, Gustav Forsling tried his luck and sent in a wrister – with very limited vision of his shot – that went in between a defender’s legs and just barely to the right of Swayman for an improbable goal.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?! pic.twitter.com/LzJSewdUyS

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 18, 2024

ECF Bounnd

All it took were a few clears afterward, and Florida continued the tradition of NOT losing to Boston in the playoffs. They’ll be heading to their second-straight Eastern Conference Final.

It was a very even game across the stat sheet, with a similar number of shots, hits, and penalties between Florida and Boston. Truth be told, it was anyone’s game to win – it just happened to be the Cats that came out on top.

We know Florida’s opponent in the Eastern Conference Final – the New York Rangers. The winners of the President’s trophy, the Rangers swept Washington in the first round. They then silenced a reverse sweep opportunity from Carolina in six games. The dates and times of that series are still to be determined.