Florida Denies Bruins Comeback, Ups Boston With 2-1 Series Lead

BOSTON, MA – The Florida Panthers tend to play some of their best hockey in the TD Garden, and there was no exception tonight as the Cats fended off a late Bruins rally, won by a score of 6-2, and took a 2-1 lead in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

For as physical and penalty-ridden as the second game in the series was, tonight’s game was more reserved with Boston starting sloppy and unenergetic. Florida took advantage of that by scoring the game’s first three goals.

There’s not a whole lot to report in the first period except for the Panthers’ sole goal, batted in by Evan Rodrigues in front of an entire lineup of players in front of Boston’s goalie, Jeremy Swayman. That was all the offense either team could muster, though Florida still dominated with the shots on goal.

The @FlaPanthers break the ice! 🙌 #StanleyCup

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As mentioned earlier, Boston didn’t look to play with the same energy as they did in the series opener, and that was reassured in the second period when a double-minor high-sticking penalty was called on the Bruins, giving Florida four full minutes of man-advantage.

For as good as Boston’s penalty kill is, there wasn’t much they could do as the Cats cashed in not once, but TWICE in a minute when Vladimir Tarasenko sent in a wrister, then Carter Verhaeghe tipped in a rocket for a demanding 3-0 lead. Through all the trash thrown on the ice and the boos rained down from the stands, Boston knew they were in deep trouble.

Two goals 60 seconds apart on the same power play! 💪 #StanleyCup

The @FlaPanthers are clicking tonight.

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— NHL (@NHL) May 11, 2024

The Bruns are a solid team and wouldn’t back down, but Florida made it nearly impossible to cut the deficit. To the dismay of the Boston faithful, a goalie interference call on the Bruins gave another opportunity for the Cats, this time by Brandon Montour with a slapshot sent from the blue line to go up 4-0.

Boston proceeded to score two straight goals to halve the lead, but as the minutes fled and Swayman was taken out of the game, all it took was a wrister by Sam Reinhart on an empty net – and then a slap shot by Rodrigues on a late power play – to deny any chance of a comeback.

Aside from the two goals given up late, this was a near-flawless game by the Cats, outshooting Boston, (33 to 17) and playing clean hockey, only committing two penalties compared to Boston’s five, which messed things up for them in the second period.

Glad to have Benny back! pic.twitter.com/900WPCODiP

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 11, 2024

Despite no goals tonight, Aleksander Barkov still led the way with two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky had another quiet but excellent game, only going against 17 shots but recording 15 saves.

With a series lead, Florida will look to remain road warriors as they have one more date in Boston this Sunday at 6:30 pm.