*Photo from The Rink Live*
Florida leads series 3-2
We'll get at least 6 games out of this one. Jeremy Swayman starred in net, Charlie McAvoy had a goal and an assist, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers with a 2-1 victory Tuesday night in Sunrise.
Needing to win to stay alive in the playoff race, the Bruins did so, forcing at least a game 6 in the series with their second road win of the series. The Bruins got out to a fast start, outshooting the Panthers 13-4 in the first period to keep their hopes alive.
Boston head coach Jim Montgomery said of the win that "I thought we made really good decisions with the puck in the first period, which led to the most O-zone time in a period, which led to quality scoring chances. Tonight was our best game of the series."
As part of the Bruins fast start in the first period, they did find a goal among the shots they peppered on goal. Morgan Geekie got the scoring started, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead as he scored his 4th goal of the playoffs, with assists going to McAvoy and Jake Debrusk on his goal 4:49 into the must win game. That was the only goal of the first period.
Once the second period got underway, the Panthers found their answer. It came from Sam Reinhart, who scored 6:23 into the period to tie the game 1-1 with his 5th goal of the playoffs. After that, the game winning goal came from McAvoy, scoring at the 10:25 mark of the second to put the Bruins ahead 2-1, assisted by Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic.
McAvoy said after the game "Never say die. We are going home, and this series is wide open. Let’s go home and win a hockey game. You are not promised anything but the day you have. Go win the day. We won the day today and that’s it. Let’s go home."
The starting netminder for the Bruins was none other than Swayman, who came up big with the series on the line for the Bruins. Swayman turned aside all but one of the 29 shots the Panthers sent his way, recording a stellar .966 save percentage.
Getting the start between the pipes for the Panthers was the other usual suspect in Sergei Bobrovsky. Taking his first loss since game one, Bobrovsky made 26 saves on the 28 shots the Bruins tested him with, posting a .929 save percentage.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of the loss that "They were real fast and I thought we were trying to move the puck in a style that does not suit our game. They had a good first period, but the game is there. We had our chances, but I didn’t like our game. But, from where we were in the first, we got it to a much better place."
Game 6 of the series is set for Friday night in Boston. The Panthers will look to win and knock out the Bruins on their own ice, while the Bruins need to win to force this series all the way to a 7th game.
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