Bruins surprise Panthers with 5-1 Game 1 win Bruins steal home ice from Panthers with Game 1 win

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Well, that didn’t go as planned. At least not for the Florida Panthers.

In Sunrise, the Boston Bruins scored five unanswered goals after trailing 1-0 in the middle frame, to take a 5-1 win, and a 1-0 lead in their second round Stanley Cup Playoffs series with the Panthers.

“I thought our effort was good,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought we were physical. I do not think our execution was close to where it needs to be.”

After a scoreless opening stanza, the Panthers caught a turnover, created by Alexander Barkov, who passed to Matthew Tkachuk in the right circle for a wrister and a 1-0 lead to the Panthers at 11:45 of the middle frame.

“We weren’t great tonight,” Panther coach Paul Maurice said. “I don’t know that the game was exactly like the score. It doesn’t really matter. They played well. They looked like they were in a little bit of a rhythm. I thought they played a very patient game. So, good for them. Not so good for us.”

From there, it was all Boston.

“We had a pretty solid start, got the first goal which is always big. I don’t know if we took our foot off the gas, but we made some mistakes and weren’t as hard as we needed to be,” Tkachuk said. “They played well. We will just come out here [on Tuesday] ready to go, look at it all over, figure out how we can be better.”

The Bruins replied with three straight goals in the second period for a 3-1 lead headed to the third period.

Morgan Geekie tied the game 67 seconds later off a rebound from the left side of the cage. The goal came off a forecheck by the Bruins with David Pastrnak feeding Pavel Zacha who took the initial shot form the low slot.

At 16:17, the Bruins’ Mason Lohrei  went short side after Boston’s forecheck caused another turnover deep in the zone for a 2-1 lead to the Bruins.

“That’s just our mentality,” Lohrei said. “Such a great group we have, great leaders. Just kind of rebounding and focused on the next shift and the next play. Pretty cool to see.”

With 21 seconds left in the second, Brandon Carlo came down the right wing, and took a pass from Charlie Coyle along the left boards for a snap shot and a 3-1 lead headed to the third.

Jeremy Swayman made 38 saves in the win.

“I thought we had a great start in general, and that got me going,” Swayman said. “My job is to stop the puck regardless of what kind of a save it is.”

In the third period, the Panthers outshot the Bruins, 16-8, but were outscored, 2-0.

“I liked our start, but I thought as we got through it we started to do some unusual things,” Maurice said. “That’s why it is a never-ending learning process for you to continue to cement what it takes to be good. I didn’t care for our game. I think we can fix a big chunk of the things we did wrong.”

Boston’s Justin Brazeau  broke out down the right boards off a pass from James van Riemsdyk. Brazeau  cut left across the slot and sent  a backhand home for a 4-1 advantage to the Bruins at 7:13 of the third.

Game 2 of the series is set for Sunrise on Wednesday.

“I think our confidence has gone to another level after pushing through the first round,” Montgomery said. “I think that confidence makes you believe that you can. It’s a great place to be mentally. But like I said, we made a lot of mistakes, and if it’s not for Jeremy Swayman, that would have been a lot closer game and maybe they come out on top.”

Jake DeBrusk iced the Game 1 win with an empty-net strike for the 5-1 final.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves in the loss. At least two of the goals were on him.