The Florida Panthers are thinking get this over with now, and the Boston Bruins are thinking one hockey game presenting the opportunity to change the complexion of this second-round playoff series.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after Game 3 that he needs to give his players a better plan. That plan will include some shifting of forwards and start the game with Pavel Zacha centering the third line.
The move gets Zacha back into the middle of the ice and off the walls where he’s been caught in mismatches. It also takes him out of the top six, which itself reflects on the desperation in the Bruins coaches’ office.
No, I also never knew that Blades’ mom was Elizabeth C. Dufresne, but there you have it. A-I illustration by Daryl Vautour
Danton Heinen is in for Brad Marchand, and Parker Wotherspoon is in for Derek Forbort.
Jeremy Swayman gets the start.
Despite the last two games, it seems the Bruins’ belief in Swayman is more sustainable than Pittsburgh’s was in Matt Murray eight years ago when he was a young goalie turning the legendary Marc-Andre Fleury into the league’s best backup.
FIRST PERIOD
Waiting on the Bruins banner captain for Game 4 …. the Chief, Johnny Bucyk.
Vladimir Tarasenko breakaway, save Swayman. Two more Grade A chances for Florida, Swayman, Swayman, Swayman.
David Pastrnak takes the first penalty, popping Anton Lundell in response to a post-whistle shoulder. Not much of a punch, but Lundell sold it well.
Trent Frederic put his stick in Sam Bennett’s skates as the Florida center went for a change. Bennett wiggled slightly but caught his balance.
Dangerous popup that Swayman reached for and Mason Lohrei reached first, the puck falling right in front of the gaping Boston cage with Swayman off to the side trying to play the outfield.
Aaron Ekblad went off for interference, and Pastrnak blasted the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky for a 1-0 Boston lead at 8:53. Jake DeBrusk with the feed out of the RW corner.
Post-save scrum at the Boston net, and Pat Maroon gets the only penalty, so Panthers to the powerplay at 11:55.
For the first time in this series, the Bruins have taken advantage of soft play by a Florida defenseman, as Oliver Ekman-Larsson, gaining a possession so tight to the blue line that Brandon Carlo just flung it quickly, the puck sailing past Bobrovsky for a 2-0 lead in the minute following the expiration of Maroon’s high-sticking penalty.
Shots after one period are 16-5 Panthers. File under who’s kidding who: Had it not been for Swayman’s extraordinary play, the Bruins would be chasing the scoreboard.
SECOND PERIOD
Carter Verhaeghe to the box for tripping Zacha at 1:55. Bruins to the powerplay … Florida gets the kill.
Charlie Coyle is isolated alone with Bobrovsky, who sits on the 5-hole attempt.
The TD Garden video board celebrates Bucyk’s 89th birthday. … And to think he carried the Stanley Cup off the ice two of the three times I’ve seen the Bruins win it.
Verhaeghe plays his strongest shift of the game, interfering with Coyle so the Panthers could recover a loose puck. Then Verhaeghe tried to skate out of the RW corner and replicate his Game 7 overtime winner of a year ago, but Swayman made the stop.
Panthers are involving their defensemen more in the attack and pushing to get on the board.
Lotta Panther pressure as the second period wears on and the Bruins cling to their 2-0 lead.
Pastrnak iced the puck, and Florida won the faceoff and Ekblad’s slapper hit Tarasenko in the leg. Tarasenko hobbled to the bench, then Swayman stopped a hard shot from Sam Reinhart.
Bruins have to play more of the rest of this game in Florida’s zone or else.
Coyle alone again, misses the net.
Danton Heinen in front to Coyle, save Bobrovsky. … Boston’s 12th shot against 25 for Florida.
Lundell gets the Panthers on the board with 5:09 left in the second period, from a sharp angle beating Swayman, 2-1 Boston. Rodriguez won the puck and mass the pass to Lundell.
Bruins get a break, DeBrusk alone but slips his underneath backhand wide of the left post.
The Bruins have left some golden opportunities to stretch their lead on the table in this middle period.
Shots after two periods: 28-15 Panthers
The Bruins got those golden opportunities in part because the Panthers defensemen are taking an aggressive stance. But the Bruins are not burying those chances, and Florida’s resultant pressure has led to a depth-line goal to put us in a one-goal situation entering the third period.
THIRD PERIOD
Interference on Lindholm at 1:42 of the third. Florida to the powerplay …
The villain bangs home a rebound to tie the game with a PPG, Bennett at 3:41, and it’s a 2-2 game. Hold the presses, Montgomery is challenging for goalie interference on the basis that Bennett pushed Coyle onto Swayman before knocking the puck into the net.
The goal stands. 2-2.
Panthers back on the powerplay with a chance now to forge ahead. Morgan Geekie is serving the bench minor.
Montgomery has Zacha with Justin Brazeau and Jakub Lauko, and Brazeau’s shot from the high slot deflects upward, off the crossbar and out of play. The Bruins only real chance of the third period.
Sasha Barkov makes an elite move through the middle and beats Swayman to make it 3-2 Florida with 12:29 remaining in regulation.
Lindholm knocks down Tkachuk and gets an interference penalty, and now the Panthers with 12:02 remaining in regulation have a huge chance to put the Bruins in a deep hole.
Swayman with two sparkling stops on the powerplay, off Rodrigues from the slot and then off Tkachuk’s tip of Verhaeghe’s shot-pass from the left point. Add another short-side attempt.
Whatever else is going on in this game, Swayman is not wilting.
Geekie to the box for interference on Bobrovsky, so the Panthers go back to the powerplay with 9:29 left. Geekie just backed into the Florida goalie like he thought he had 10 more feet to reach him. Refs had to call it.
Swayman bails the Bruins out again, the penalty expires, and Frederic gets tripped by Forsling on the zone entry. Bruins to the powerplay with 6:22 remaining in regulation. (The delayed portion was ignited by Lohrei, who retreated for a reset before a series of passes became worrisome with Swayman on the bench for a sixth attacker.)
On to the PP: Not a good one, as there was zone time but no clean looks.
The penalty ends, and the fans in the west-end balcony have something new to chant: “Shoot the puck!”
Swayman to the bench in the game’s penultimate minute, but he has to go back in when the Bruins misconnect and ice the puck with 1:23 remaining.
Swayman back to the back, Bruins go offside … a good offside, as it would have been a 50-50 puck in the neutral zone. Timeout Boston with 1:01 on the game clock.
Ekblad to the box for interfering with McAvoy on the dump chase with 34.8 seconds, so it’ll be 6 on 4 in front of Bobrovsky. The faceoff is huge.
Coyle vs. Barkov: Coyle wins it to Pastrnak, whose shot from the circle is tipped out of play.
Again: Barkov wins it, Florida clears.
Panthers win, 3-2, and take a commanding 3-1 series lead with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday night in Sunrise, FL.
Final shots: 42-18 Panthers.
Rink Rap with Mick Colageo 