Bruins move on to round two against the Florida Panthers

BEDFORD – The Boston Bruins experienced sensations of gratification and relief following Saturday night’s 2-1 overtime victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 at the TD Garden.

The Bruins are happy to be advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with the opportunity to right an old wrong against the Florida Panthers.

The Bruins set NHL regular season records for wins (65) and points (135) last year but were eliminated by the Panthers in the opening round of the playoffs. The Bruins built a 3-1 series lead but were beaten 4-3 in overtime in Game 7 on April 30 at the Garden. The Bruins will begin their payback campaign against the Panthers on Monday night (8) at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.

The Bruins were in a similar situation after building a 3-1 series lead against the Maple Leafs before dropping the next two games. The Bruins narrowly avoided becoming the only team of the four major American sports leagues to build a 3-1 lead and lose a playoff series in consecutive years.

Goaltender Jeremy Swayman recorded 30 saves and sniper David Pastrnak scored the game-winner at 1:54 of overtime.

“I am very proud of the group overall,” said Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, prior to the team’s departure from Hanscom Field on Sunday. “Our series certainly tightened up from a goal-scoring standpoint in all situations. We knew it was going to be about trying to persevere and find that one more play with this group and fortunately we were able to do that.

“To a man, each guy went out and did their job and I thought our start was so much better than in (Games) 5 and 6 which didn’t translate into a lead. We were playing from behind but we found a way. Congratulations to our group, they earned it.”

Sweeney said the turnover of leadership in the locker room and the addition of so many new players to the roster makes last year’s loss to the Panthers marginally a non-issue. The Bruins were 4-0 against the Panthers this season that included two overtime thrillers.

“We know the opponent and we will be prepared for it and we get the opportunity to fly south today,” said Sweeney.

The major decision facing Bruins’ coach Jim Montgomery will be to stay with Swayman in Game 1 or platoon the position with Linus Ullmark, the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner. Swayman made six starts against the Leafs with four wins and leads all remaining goaltenders in save percentage (9.50) and goals against average (1.49). Ullmark has a history of success against the Panthers but he did not fare well against them in last year’s playoffs.

“It’s been a strength of our team,” said Sweeney. “Jeremy got momentum on his side and ran with it. We had spoken about that and we had a plan in place. We will put both players in the best possible situation that we can to help our team win and move forward.”

Selke sensation

The Florida Panthers have a Patrice Bergeron impersonator on their roster and his name in Aleksander Barkov.

The NHL announced on Sunday that Barkov, Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Carolina’s Jordan Staal were the three finalists of the Selke Trophy, an award given annually to league’s best all-around player. Like Bergeron, all three play the center position.

Barkov won the Selke in 2021 and has been a finalist in three of the last four seasons. Bergeron captured the Selke a record six times including the last two seasons before his retirement from the league in 2023.

Barkov posted some very Bergeron type Selke numbers this season. The Panthers captain took 1,100 face offs with a win rate of 57.3% and was fifth among NHL forwards with a plus 33. He scored 23 goals with 57 assists in 73 regular season games with two goals and three assists in the playoffs.

“He is a hell of a player and perhaps had Patrice not been playing he would have won (more),” said Sweeney. “It is a credit to him as a hockey player and he is leader of their hockey club and we have to respect the opponent.”

In a related Panthers’ item, coach Paul Maurice has ruled out center Sam Bennett for Game 1 against the Bruins. Bennett sustained a hand/wrist injury in Game 2 of the Panthers opening round series with Tampa Bay.

Cup runneth over

Veteran right-wing Pat Maroon, 35, was one of Sweeney’s roster additions and he came to Boston with a wealth of Stanley Cup experience. Maroon was with the St. Louis Blues when they knocked off the Bruins in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup final. He moved on to Tampa Bay where he won consecutive championships in 2020 and 2021.

“It is the hardest trophy to win,” said Maroon. “You can’t be too high and you can’t be too low, you have to be even and keep finding ways and keep battling through momentum shifts.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/g1cT2eN