Bruins win 2 without Bergeron and Krejci, push Panthers to brink
For a second straight game, the Bruins were without both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. For a second straight game, they won in convincing fashion anyways, beating the Panthers 6-2 Sunday afternoon in Sunrise, Florida to take a 3-1 series lead.
It has taken a full team effort to replace Boston’s top two centers, but a few guys have really stood out. On Sunday, it was Taylor Hall and Jake DeBrusk who stepped up to lead the way, with Hall recording two goals and two assists and DeBrusk scoring a pair of goals as well.
Hall now has four goals and seven points in the last three games. DeBrusk has four points in the last two games and five points in the series. Tyler Bertuzzi also stepped up again with a goal and an assist, giving him six points in the series.
The Bruins will have a chance to close out the series back in Boston on Wednesday night, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. on NESN and ESPN.
The Panthers had the better start Sunday afternoon, registering the game’s first 10 shots on goal. But the Bruins were able to swing momentum on the first power play of the day, as Colin White went to the box for an ill-advised crosscheck 9:11 into the game.
After a quick regroup on the ensuing man advantage, David Pastrnak entered the zone with speed and fed a charging Bertuzzi at the back post. Sergei Bobrovsky made two great saves to stop that shot as well as a rebound bid from Pavel Zacha, but the puck remained loose in the crease and eventually Brad Marchand poked it home for his third goal of the series.
Aside from the goal, the story of the first period was physical play and chippiness. Charlie McAvoy continued to set the physical tone with a big hit on Matthew Tkachuk and a picture-perfect hip check on Eric Staal.
Things got especially chippy late in the period. After taking several uncalled crosschecks from Ryan Lomberg during a shift, Zacha finally snapped and retaliated with a crosscheck of his own to Lomberg’s jaw/neck area. That one was called, and deservedly so.
Then at the final buzzer, with several Bruins and Panthers engaging in some harmless pushing and shoving, Tkachuk came in late and delivered a hard crosscheck to Garnet Hathaway’s ribs. He would get two minutes for that, and the Bruins power play would once again make the Panthers pay.
Florida nearly survived the second-period-opening penalty kill, but with eight seconds to go, the Bruins struck in transition. Hall carried into the offensive zone before dishing over to Dmitry Orlov on the right wing. Orlov then found DeBrusk right in front for his first goal of the day. Orlov now has points in all four games this series and five assists total, tying him for third in the NHL this postseason.
The Bruins had eight shots on goal on their three power plays. The Panthers had three on their first two before firing away seven times on their third and finally solving Linus Ullmark with a deflected shot that led to a rebound goal, cutting the lead to 3-2 with 13:49 left in the game. It was the Panthers' first power-play goal in 10 tries this series.
That was the second time the Panthers had cut the lead to one. After a Tkachuk goal late in the second period, Bertuzzi answered early in the third when he expertly tipped in a Brandon Carlo shot to make it 3-1.
After Florida cut it to 3-2, DeBrusk struck again. Hall fed Zacha for a shot that was saved, but DeBrusk was set up on top of the crease and ready to bury the rebound.
Hall finished off the win, first poking a loose puck past Radko Gudas and beating Bobrovsky on a breakaway for his first goal and then firing into an empty net for his second.
Just before Hall’s second goal, there was one last bit of roughhousing, with a near-line brawl breaking out after Tkachuk gave Ullmark a jab after the whistle. Ullmark went back at Tkachuk and actually wanted to fight him, dropping his glove and blocker and removing his helmet. Ullmark, Tkachuk, Charlie McAvoy and Sam Bennett all got 10-minute misconducts for their actions, while Derek Forbort and Brandon Montour received five-minute fighting majors.
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