BOSTON — The Florida Panthers have done it again. For the second year in a row, they eliminated the Boston Bruins from the Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden.
Last season, it was a shocking first-round upset in game seven. This year it was a 2-1 victory in game six in the second round.
The Bruins led 1-0 at the end of the first period for the fourth time in six games, but as they had done several times in the series, the Panthers dominated for long stretches of the second and third periods.
Panthers center Anton Lundell tied the score at one in the second period, and defenseman Gustav Forsling scored what proved to be the series winner with just 1:33 left in the third period.
The Panthers have been the better team through six games, but the Bruins have had plenty of scoring opportunities in this series and have failed to capitalize too often. In Game 6, for example, the Bruins generated 16 high-danger scoring chances and beat Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky only once. Boston has scored two goals or fewer in each of the last five games.
The Bruins will soon begin a pivotal offseason for the franchise. The Panthers will face the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals.
Here are three takeaways from Bruins-Panthers Game 6 on Friday night.
The Panthers dominate the last two periods again
The Panthers outscored the Bruins 2-0 over the final 40 minutes of the game with a goal in the second period and another in the third period.
They also tilted the ice in their favor for most of that stretch, gaining a 49-37 advantage in shot attempts, a 20-16 advantage in shots and a 20-16 edge in chances to score. The Panthers played with desperation and spent a lot of time in the Bruins zone.
This level of dominance after the first period was a common theme for the Panthers in the series. They have outscored the Bruins 17-3 over the last two periods of the last five games combined.
The Panthers still held off the Bruins’ early onslaughts, settling in and finding their rhythm as the game progressed. Florida had a more complete 60-minute effort than Boston during the series, and that’s why the Atlantic Division winners will advance to the East final.
No advantage on home ice
Playing at home is supposed to be an advantage for teams, but for the Bruins, it has actually been a disadvantage over the last two playoff series.
The Panthers have now won six straight playoff games at TD Garden dating back to last year’s first-round series.
- Match 2, 2023: 6-3 Panthers
- Match 5, 2023: 4-3 Panthers (OT)
- Match 7, 2023: 4-3 Panthers (OT)
- Match 3, 2024: 6-2 Panthers
- Match 4, 2024: 3-2 Panthers
- Match 6, 2024: 2-1 Panthers
The Bruins have not performed well in almost every facet of home play in this series:
- Goals brand: Five
- Goals against: 11
- Power play: 12.5 percent
- Penalty stroke: 66.7 percent
- Blows: 19.3 per game
- Faceoffs: 52.9 percent
Overall, the Bruins have lost eight of their last 11 home games over the last two playoff series. The only wins during this period came against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round a few weeks ago.
The Bruins have been a very good regular season home team for the past few years, but for whatever reason, playing at the Garden hasn’t led to much success in the playoffs.
Bruins’ season a success despite a frustrating ending
The Bruins weren’t expected to make much noise in the regular season or playoffs this year. Most experts predicted the B’s would be a wild card team and unlikely to win a playoff run.
It was hard to be too optimistic about the Bruins in October after losing so many key players in the offseason, including their top six centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, in addition to veterans like Taylor Hall, Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov. , among others. Overall, they lost about a third of their offense — 102 of 301 goals scored last season — due to last summer’s departures.
But general manager Don Sweeney and head coach Jim Montgomery deserve a lot of credit. They managed to get the most out of this team, including a first-round series triumph and taking the reigning Eastern Conference champions to six games. These Bruins’ roster was the worst of the eight teams that played in Round 2, and yet they were still pretty competitive.
David Pastrnak had another 40-goal, 100-point season. Trent Frederic, Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle all set career highs in scoring during the regular season. Jake DeBrusk had another impressive playoff run with a team-leading 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 13 games. Jeremy Swayman has established himself as the franchise’s undisputed No. 1 goalie. He was the league’s best goaltender in the playoffs with a .933 save percentage. Young players like Matthew Poitras, Mason Lohrei and John Beecher have also made a positive impact.
And unlike last summer, the Bruins have plenty of salary cap space — currently around $21 million, per CapFriendly — to improve their roster in the coming months.
The end of this series was frustrating if you’re a Bruins fan, but the season as a whole was absolutely a success.
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News Source : www.nbcsportsboston.com
