NHL 2022-23 Playoffs RD 1: Boston (A1) vs. Florida (WC2) - (Florida wins series 4-3)

[NHL HHOF]

 

 

[SaucyJack]

Nice move by “Walt” Tkachuk to get Florida within one.

[Brewin Flames]

Marchand, NHL-best Bruins top Panthers 3-1 in Game 1

 

 

1:36

 

Pastrnak, Marchand help Bruins grab Game 1 victory

David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand each collect a goal as the Bruins defeat the Panthers 3-1 in Game 1 of the East first round.

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ByAP

Updated: 5 hours ago

BOSTON -- — Brad Marchand has had his share of highlight goals in his career. His latest was more of a lowlight for Florida goalie Alex Lyon.

 

Marchand scored his 50th career playoff goal on a relatively easy shot, David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk also scored, and the NHL-best Boston Bruins opened the playoffs by beating the Panthers 3-1 on Monday night.

 

“You never know, come playoff time, you never want to pass up a shot,” Marchand said. “That's just kind of how the playoffs work. Sometimes those shots go in and sometimes they don't.”

 

 

Linus Ullmark, a Vezina Trophy candidate who led the league in wins (40), goals-against average (1.89) and save percentage (.938), stopped 31 shots and Tyler Bertuzzi added two assists for Boston, which controlled the game even with captain Patrice Bergeron sitting out because of illness.

 

Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Panthers and Lyon made 26 saves — many of them splendid — but gave up Marchand’s goal on the soft shot.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Boston.

 

The Bruins captured the Presidents’ Trophy, setting NHL records in points (135) and wins (65). Florida, last season’s No. 1 seed, earned the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot with a late-season push.

It’s the first playoff matchup between a No. 1 seed and the Presidents’ winner from the previous season since the award was introduced in 1985-86.

 

 

With the Bruins leading 1-0, Lyon gave up Marchand's early in the second when the winger fired a seemingly harmless shot from the top of the left circle. Lyon bent down to catch it and it tipped off his glove, caroming into the net after hitting the inside of the right post.

 

Soon after, the TD Garden crowd started serenading him with chants of “Lyon! Lyon!”

 

“He was good. He'll want the second one back,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said of Lyon. “I'm not measuring that as the tell of his game, we'll measure it by the saves that he made.”

 

Pastrnak, a 61-goal scorer this season, was on the opposite side on the right wing from his usual spot on the power play. Bertuzzi collected the rebound of David Krejci’s shot in the slot and sent a quick backhand pass to Pastrnak, who snapped the puck into the net at 5:58 of the opening period, pushing Boston ahead 1-0.

 

Florida cut the lead in half when Boston defenseman Dmitry Orlov sent a blind, backhand pass directly out front, where Tkachuk collected it and flipped the puck past Ullmark at 6:34 of the second.

“I think both teams got better and have more to give, especially us,” Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen said.

 

DeBrusk restored the two-goal lead when he dove into a pile and knocked the puck into the net out of a scramble near the crease late in the second.

 

“I just saw the puck on his pad,” DeBrusk said. “I just tried to dive to get it. But I thought that if I obviously hit his pad, it was goaltender interference. I just tried to go over the top of it. ... As soon I saw the replay, I knew I did what I wanted to do.”

As it did to so many opponents during its record-setting season, Boston bottled up Florida in the third.

 

“Our third period was our best period of the game,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought our first five, six minutes were good. After we scored that power-play goal, maybe we had two, three shifts after that, then we kind of had a lull in our game.”

 

HIGHLIGHT STOPS

 

The 30-year-old Lyon, undrafted and essentially a career minor leaguer, made a pair of splendid stops after Boston took its 1-0 lead, coming across to make a left pad save on Bertuzzi’s redirect from the edge of the crease and sliding across to stop Trent Frederic’s chance. He robbed Frederic again late in the second.

 

AILING CAPTAIN

 

Bergeron left the regular-season finale in Montreal in the first period with an upper-body injury, then missed practice Saturday and Sunday.

 

“We have not only Bergeron, but a couple of guys that have been under the weather,” Montgomery said after the morning skate.

[NHL HHOF]

5 Takeaways From Bruins’ 3-1 Game 1 Win Over Panthers

https://thehockeywriters.com/bruins-takeaways-win-panthers-game-1-2023-stanley-cup-playoffs/

[SaucyJack]

Inexcusable turnover on the Florida power play leads to the tying shortie by Marchand.  The type of play that suggests the Cats cannot get the job done.

[FD19372]

I guess Florida didn't get the memo, that they were supposed to be swept. They're playing very good hockey, and giving the Bruins all they want, though they could be a little tighter in the defensive zone at times.

[SaucyJack]

36 minutes ago, SaucyJack said:

The type of play that suggests the Cats cannot get the job done.

Apologies, Panthers.  You are showing resilience against a Cup Favorite.  Let’s hold the 3-2 lead now.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Panthers get it done.

Post game analyst crew getting on Boston's case for not managing the game properly.
PK Subban, however, saying some stupid things (shocking, right?).... Saying Boston might have 'let up' because Florida isn't as talented as the Bruins, and that Boston shouldn't have taken them lightly.

First off, who the $%#@ would say "Florida isn't as talented".... Panthers have PLENTY of talent in their lineup.
They may not have had the 'dream season' the Bruins just had, and they may have some questions as to how they defend at times, but to say they aren't as talented is just plain stupid.

Bruins are NOT head n shoulders 'more talented' than anyone...they just happen to have played the best TEAM GAME all season.
And if the Panthers somehow manage to boot them in the first round, we will be reminded, once again, that the regular season is NOT the almighty dictator for the postseason.

Instead of saying "Bruins took them lightly", or "the Bruins didn't manage the game properly", how about, "The Panthers showed up...showed up with pride, and just plain beat Boston tonight".

And this is coming from a fan who doesn't really like EITHER team! 

Ok, rant over.  

[mojo1917]

Hooooboy!

That game got UGLY at the end. 

Game 3 period 1 is now must see tv.

 

Florida can play with anyone.  Good mix of skill and toughness,  decent top 4 D, guys that will dig this kind of chippy series. 

 

I hope IT'S ON!

[Brewin Flames]

Gross....

[Brewin Flames]

'Catastrophic' turnovers doom Bruins in Game 2 loss to Panthers

 

• 
  Greg WyshynskiESPN

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins fell to the Florida Panthers 6-3 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series Wednesday night, the defeat the product of uncharacteristic sloppiness with the puck.

 

"Players didn't make the best decisions at moments," said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery after Florida evened the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. "I thought for the majority for the first two periods, we were doing really good things with the puck, but the turnovers we had tonight were catastrophic. Right through the middle of the ice. Not typical of the turnovers [we have]."

 

Throughout their historic regular season, during which Boston set NHL single-season records for wins and points, the Bruins averaged 9.13 turnovers per 60 minutes. On Wednesday night, they turned the puck over 15 times.

 

Forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who scored his first goal of the postseason in the loss, said he felt the team was flat from the start.

 

"I don't think we broke the puck out too well. We were a little sloppy. We gotta get back to our game plan," he said.

 

The Panthers had two goals from defenseman Brandon Montour and 34 saves from goalie Alex Lyon, who posted his first career playoff victory.

 

"You can't get too far behind anybody. Certainly not a team like the Boston Bruins, with the season they've had this year," said Florida coach Paul Maurice. "So you build a little belief in each game. That's what we're trying to do."

 

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead 1:42 into the second period on a goal by forward Sam Bennett, who was playing his first game since March 20. The center finished his chance after a ferocious forecheck by his line. But Florida gave the lead away during a power play. Forward Anthony Duclair made an ill-advised pass in his own zone that was intercepted by Bruins winger Brad Marchand, who scored the short-handed goal at 12:13.

 

Florida retook the lead at 14:18 on a goal by Eric Staal, which interrupted the home crowd's singalong of "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. But the Bruins' prayers were answered moments later on a Bertuzzi goal, as a slashing penalty to Ryan Lomberg was expiring.

The Panthers took the lead again just 22 seconds into the third period, as Montour sailed a long-distance shot past goalie Linus Ullmark with the teams playing 4-on-4. They added another goal from winger Carter Verhaeghe to up their lead to 4-2 at the 7:00 mark. Montour scored on another long-distance shot to make it 5-2. Eetu Luostarinen scored an empty-netter before Taylor Hall potted a late goal for the Bruins for the final score.

 

The game was more physical than the Bruins' Game 1 victory, with Panthers players such as defenseman Radko Gudas getting involved in post-whistle scrums.

 

"They played really hard. They played very desperate and they played a really complete game. So we need to be better," Marchand said.

 

Boston was again without captain Patrice Bergeron, who is out with an injury. He skated before the Bruins' practice on Wednesday.

 

Game 3 is Friday night at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida.

[NHL HHOF]

 

[NHL HHOF]

 

[NHL HHOF]

 

[Buffalo Rick]

On 4/17/2023 at 11:41 AM, JR Ewing said:

Jim Montgomery says a number of the Bruins are ill right now.

 

 

 It good but even if it costs them game 3 I still think they beat these Florida Turkeys 

[Buffalo Rick]

On 4/17/2023 at 11:41 AM, JR Ewing said:

Jim Montgomery says a number of the Bruins are ill right now.

 

 

If those Bruins are sick, that explains game 2.  Boston will win the series. 

[Brewin Flames]

Might be a small part of it, i just think they played like trash in Game # 2

[Brewin Flames]

Bruins reclaim home-ice edge, top Panthers 4-2 in Game 3

 

 

0:53

 

Panthers' short-handed goal pulls them within 2

Sam Reinhart somehow sneaks the puck past the goalie to pull the Panthers within two late in the third period.

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ByAP

6 hours ago

SUNRISE, Fla. -- — The Boston Bruins don't lose often. And losing two in a row, that's been almost unheard of for this team this season.

 

Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist, Linus Ullmark stopped 29 shots and the Bruins topped the Florida Panthers 4-2 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Friday night.

 

Boston took a 2-1 lead in the series — looking nothing like the team that gave up six goals on home ice on Wednesday. They thwarted Florida for two periods, with 19 of the Panthers' 31 shots coming amid a desperate third-period rally try.

“We saw Boston Bruins hockey today,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.

 

The Bruins — who had the best regular season in NHL history — flexed all sorts of muscle in Game 3. They took a 4-0 lead before a pair of late goals only made the scoreboard look better, chased Panthers starter Alex Lyon in the third, and reclaimed the home-ice edge that they'd lost two nights earlier.

 

Charlie Coyle, David Pastrnak and Nick Foligno also had goals for the Bruins, and Dmitry Orlov had a pair of long outlet passes that became assists.

 

“It's all about us ... but it doesn't end with this one,” Ullmark said.

 

Lyon stopped 23 of 26 shots for Florida, the Pastrnak goal with 11:28 remaining chasing him and having Florida send in Sergei Bobrovsky. That might mean the Panthers have a big decision to make regarding a starter before Game 4 in Sunrise on Sunday afternoon — but Florida coach Paul Maurice said it was simply time to get Bobrovsky some work.

 

“He needs a little bit of action. That's all that was,” Maurice said. “It was not a critique of Alex's game.”

 

Gustav Forsling and Sam Reinhart had goals for Florida, which didn't get anything past Ullmark until 5:19 remained. Boston improved to 50-3-0 this season when allowing no more than two goals and 15-2-1 after a loss.

 

The Bruins were again without captain Patrice Bergeron, out with an upper-body injury. He won’t play in Game 4 either, with the Bruins believing he will be ready to play when the series returns to Boston for Game 5 next week.

 

Florida is built to let shots fly. There have been three teams in NHL history to take more than 3,000 shots in a season — the 1970-71 Bruins are one of them, and the other two are the 2021-22 Panthers, and the 2022-23 Panthers.

 

That makes what Boston did even more impressive than it looked on the stat sheet.

 

The Bruins held Florida to four shots in the second period — matching the Panthers’ fourth-lowest total for any of their 254 periods this season to that point.

 

“For the most part, playoff hockey, you forget and move on, maybe learn from it a little bit,” Reinhart said. “Every day's a new challenge. We're going to come back Sunday ready to go.”

 

Hall opened the scoring 2:26 into the game by sending a shot from just a stride or two inside the blue line over Lyon's glove for a 1-0 lead.

 

The 2-0 edge came at 6:00 of the second. Brad Marchand sent a wobbling puck toward the net from the right point, and Coyle — positioned in front of the net — chopped down at it as it sailed toward the goal. The puck bounced off the ice and past Lyon.

 

Pastrnak got the second of the long Orlov assists, getting behind the defense to beat Lyon for a 3-0 lead, and Foligno made it 4-0 by tipping a pass by Bobrovsky with 8:15 left.

[Brewin Flames]

 

[Brewin Flames]

Bruins top Panthers 6-2, take 3-1 lead in 1st-round series

 

 

1:41

 

Jake DeBrusk and Taylor Hall combine for 4 goals to secure Game 4 for the Bruins

Jake DeBrusk and Taylor Hall's combined four goals out of the Bruins' six leads them to a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Panthers.

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ByAP

Updated: 9 hours ago

SUNRISE, Fla. -- — Linus Ullmark left the ice with a few minutes left to play, which ordinarily isn't a great thing for hockey goaltenders.

 

In this case, it only made the Boston Bruins appreciate him more.

 

Ullmark stopped 41 shots before leaving the game with 3:11 remaining after drawing a misconduct penalty — he wanted to fight Florida's Matthew Tkachuk as the highlight of a late-game scrum — and the Bruins beat the Panthers 6-2 on Sunday to move one game away from the second round of the playoffs.

 

“I love it,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of his goalie. “He's all in.”

 

Taylor Hall had two goals and two assists, Jake DeBrusk scored twice, and the Bruins took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series — with a chance to advance coming in Boston on Wednesday.

 

Brad Marchand and Tyler Bertuzzi also had goals for the Bruins, who got a second consecutive win on Florida ice. Hall's goals came in the final 3:36, the second one an empty-netter.

 

But the talk of the locker room was Ullmark, for good reason.

 

“Tkachuk's kind of doing a lot of things to try and get under our skin but for the most part, we’re doing a great job of keeping it between the whistles, and I’m proud of our group for doing so,” Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo said. “But at times, you've got to show a little passion and push back.”

 

Tkachuk and Sam Bennett had goals for Florida, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots for the Panthers.

 

Hall put it away with 3:36 left, getting behind Florida's defense and beating Bobrovsky easily for a 5-2 edge that sent Panthers fans to the exits — possibly for the last time this season.

 

“I liked the way we started. Certainly didn't like the end result,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But we'll go into Boston feeling free.”

 

All Boston needs to do now is avoid a three-game losing streak in order to reach the second round for the fifth time in the past six seasons.

 

The Bruins dropped three in a row only once all season, on their way to having the best regular-season mark in NHL history — 65-12-5. Sunday’s win was Boston’s 68th of the season; only 10 teams, including playoffs, have ever won more in a single season.

 

Both of DeBrusk’s goals put Boston on top by two — the first a power-play score 1:52 into the second for a 2-0 lead, the other when he merely had to swipe a puck that popped out of Bobrovsky’s glove into the net for a 4-2 edge with 11:55 remaining.

 

Boston improved to 39-1-1 this season when leading after the first period, 50-1-2 when leading after two periods, and 52-1-1 in games where it led by two or more goals at any time.

 

“We don't have to think about 3-1 or what's going on,” Bobrovsky said. “We just have to take the approach of one shift at a time, and keep grinding.”

 

The Panthers had two notable lineup changes — Bobrovsky was in, Aaron Ekblad was out.

 

Alex Lyon’s run of 11 consecutive games as Florida’s starting goalie ended, with Bobrovsky getting the call there. Ekblad was listed as a game-time decision after leaving Game 3 early with an undisclosed injury; he wound up sitting out and Casey Fitzgerald played instead.

 

AROUND THE RINK

The Bruins went with their same lineup as Game 3, meaning Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci remained out Sunday.

 

Montgomery said if either or both can play Wednesday, they will, and said he thinks Bergeron has a better chance to return. … Ullmark stopped a shot from Bennett in the first period with the top of his helmet. ... The Panthers had one other lineup change from Game 3 — Anthony Duclair was out, Zac Dalpe was in. ... Boston defenseman Dmitry Orlov (0-5-5) has had an assist in all four games of the series. ... Pavel Zacha had two assists for Boston.

 

CHASING HISTORY

 

Boston is now four wins away from matching the record for most in a season, including playoffs. The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers, 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and last season’s Colorado Avalanche all won 72 games.

[Buffalo Rick]

Boston will win this series.  But the sledding will be much tougher when they see the Leafs

[SaucyJack]

It would be fitting for Boston to be the first team to advance to the second round.

 

But Florida’s Panthers are having much to say, taking their 3rd lead of the night here in the third period.  Can these cats hang on to force game 6 back in Boca?

 

 

[FD19372]

Terrible time for a Panther player/bench brain fart. Too many men on the ice..I guess the refs had to call it, but I wish they didn't. This could be game, set, match here. Update: the Panthers dodged a bullet.

Edited April 27, 2023 by FD19372

[SaucyJack]

Even worse, the Marchand breakaway at the very end.  Had he scored with two seconds left, that place would be bananas now.  
 

OT.  Can Florida take a lead for a fourth time tonite and save their lives?

[FD19372]

2 minutes ago, SaucyJack said:

Even worse, the Marchand breakaway at the very end

There it is.. the first thing that hasn't gone right for the Bruins, all season. I almost guarantee, that he'll get another chance in this hockey game.