Panthers Continue Scoring Onslaught to Take 2-1 Series Lead in Game Three Win Over the Bruins
Following a decisive Game Two 6-1 victory for the Florida Panthers, which saw multiple fights breakout late in the game, the Panthers looked to continue their dominant performance over the Boston Bruins in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at TD Garden on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Bruins entered tonight’s game looking to regain control of the series on their home ice and get a better goaltender performance from Jeremy Swayman, who gave up four goals in Game Two and was pulled early in the third period. Heading into Game Three tied at 1-1, the team that goes up 2-1 in a best-of-seven playoff series goes on to advance 69.1% of the time. In Game Three, the Panthers would continue their scoring onslaught and would score six goals for the second straight game to beat the Bruins 6-2 and take a 2-1 series lead.
The Panthers would carry on with their blistering hot offensive production in the first period, going up 1-0 at 8:04, 16 seconds after the end of their first power play of the contest. After Swayman attempted to collect the puck, Gustav Forsling's slap-shot from the top of the zone was deflected up into the air toward the net, with Evan Rodrigues of the Panthers smacking the puck in mid-air with his stick and into the net. The Panthers ended the first period with a distinct edge in terms of creating scoring opportunities, having mustered 25 shot attempts, 13 of which were on goal. In contrast, the Bruins attempted 10 shots on goal against goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, but only three of those were on target.
The Bruins would start to exert pressure in the attacking zone and earn more good scoring opportunities in the second period. However, Mason Lohrei of the Bruins was punished for a double-minor high-sticking penalty with five minutes remaining in the period, giving the Panthers a four-minute power play. Vladimir Tarasenko extended the Panthers' lead to 2-0 with a wrist shot past Swayman with 3:46 left in the middle period, allowing the Panthers to capitalize on the first half of their man advantage. Just one minute later, the Panthers took advantage of the second half of the four-minute Bruins penalty. Carter Verhaeghe was fed the puck by Matthew Tkachuk from the post, and he tipped it over Swayman's right blocker to increase the Panthers' lead to 3-0 going into the third.
The Bruins' Jakub Lauko was penalized for goalie interference at the start of the third period after storming the net, sliding into Bobrovsky, and pushing the net aside. At 3:09, Brandon Montour slap-shotted the puck from the blue line over Swayman's right shoulder and into the net, increasing the Panthers' advantage to 4-0. At 5:01, Lauko, having received the puck from Jake DeBrusk in the left circle, wrist-shot it over Bobrovsky's shoulder to cut the Panthers' lead to 4-1, ending the Panthers' run of nine straight goals in the series. A three-on-one opportunity for the Bruins would come about with 11:29 left in the third period when Lohrei found DeBrusk on his left side. DeBrusk scored over Bobrovsky's left shoulder to cut the Panthers' lead to 4-2 and infuse much-needed excitement into TD Garden. The Panthers added two more goals late in regulation to complete a 6-2 victory and take a 2-1 series lead into Sunday night's Game Four. Sam Reinhart scored an empty-net goal and Rodrigues scored his second goal of the game on a power play, ending the Bruins' hopes of a comeback.
