In Boston, the Bruins broke out to a 2-0 lead over the Florida Panthers on Sunday, in a critical Game 4 contest for the,
That two-goal evaporated in a Panthers rally for a 3-2 win and 3-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Playoffs second round set
Trailing 2-0 after the opening stanza, the3 Panthers started their rally in the middle frame.
“Mentally, it’s very important that we would stay with it and that we wouldn’t see a change in our game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Either opening it up or — because that would belie a lack of confidence in our game. I thought their best push came in the second period, [Bobrovsky] had to make a few saves, and then pretty strong after that.”
Anton Lundell trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in the second period at 14:48, scoring off a shot form the left circle.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves in the win
In the third period, the Panthers hit for a double in less than four minutes.
Sam Bennett struck at 3:41 of the third to tie the game, 2-2, hitting off a power play on a rebound. The goal was challenged by Boston for goalie interference, but was upheld after video review.
“I wasn’t surprised. I mean, I think they got the right call,” Bennett said. “I think by the time I’m putting that puck in, it’s before Swayman is going to be able to get over there, whether (Bruins forward Charlie) Coyle was on him or not.”
Aleksander Barkov scored at 7:31 to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead they protected for the final count. He scored while falling to the ice.
“This is a tough building to play in, but we just stuck with it,” Barkov said. “We liked how we played in the first period even though they had two goals, but we [liked] our chances. We just kept going, kept pushing and getting better.”
“The first goal was obviously huge for our team,” Lundell said. “We had some good chances early in the game, but it’s hard to score in the playoffs. But we just stuck with it, got some more chances and finally it went in, and we got a head start to our game.”
The Bruins had taken the two0goal lead on a strong first period effort.
David Pastrnak staked the Bruins to a 1-0 lead at 8:53, scoring fromthe right circle on a Boston power play.
“I think we had a good start,” Pastrnak said. “We got [an] early lead, we were physical, we were on the pucks. We just have to make sure we extend the lead. You can’t sit back against, especially in the playoffs, teams like them. You have to extend the lead and keep playing on your toes.”
Brandon Carlo extended the Bruins advantage to 2-0 at 15:12, scoring off a shot form the blue line after a forced turnover by the Bruins.
Jeremy Swayman made 39 saves in the loss.
“Swayman was really good,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Gave us the opportunity, and I think we missed four odd-man rushes in the second that could have really extended our lead.”
The Panthers’ Sam Reinhart left at 4:20 of the third period with an apparent injury,he did not ice the remainder of the game.
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