The Bruins Cap A Horrific Two Nights At The Garden With A 4-3 Overtime Loss To The Panthers

 

    This postseason is supposed to be different but tonight's gut punch of a 4-3 overtime loss by the Bruins to the Panthers in Game 5 of the first round felt hauntingly familiar. With a chance to be the first team to advance to the second round of the playoffs in the league, the B's made it harder on themselves as they never led and fell despite outshooting Florida by a huge margin (47-25). The overtime goal came courtesy of a horrific mistake by Boston's goaltender Linus Ullmark (21 saves) who went to play the puck behind his net but instead, fumbled it away then tried to scramble back in time to stop Panthers star left wing Matthew Tkachuk. Ullmark was down and out as Tkachuk patiently waited before lifting a backhander over Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk at 6:05 of overtime. Florida center Carter Verhaeghe (3 assists) had the lone helper on Tkachuk's third goal of the series. Now, instead of getting some extra time to rest before their next series (against a better club), Boston has to schlep back to the Sunshine State for Game 6 on Friday (7:30, NESN). Ugh. 

    Among many things that the B's wasted in this contest was the emotional return of captain Patrice Bergeron who made his first appearance of the series and scored his 50th career playoff goal because of course he did. In a potential close out game, the Panthers picked a good time to score their first goal in a first period during this series. Verhaeghe fed left wing Anthony Duclair who knocked the puck out of the air in traffic to net his first goal of the postseason at 8:26. Florida's much-maligned goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (44 saves) got another start and he had some shaky moments but ultimately he came out on top. B's left wing Brad Marchand continued to play really well as he tallied a power play goal that tied it at one early in the second period. He took a shot that Bobrovsky stopped but like a basketball player that misses a shot, he followed up his own rebound and put it in for his fourth goal of the series. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy registered the lone assist at 2:27. It looked like it would be tied 1-1 heading into the third period but the Panthers scored a crushing goal at 18:52 as center Sam Bennett ripped a wrist shot from the slot into the top corner past Ullmark. Verhaeghe and left wing Nick Cousins notched the assists on Bennett's third goal of the series. 

    Trailing 2-1 to begin the third period, Boston's power play once again clicked to get an early goal to knot it up. Bergeron perfectly tipped a shot by Marchand with McAvoy grabbing the other assist. The Garden's PA announcer had not even talked about Bergeron's goal before Florida answered with another go-ahead tally: right wing Sam Reinhart (much like Sam Bennett) was left wide open in the slot where he cranked a shot past Ullmark. The power play goal was his second goal of the series with assists to Tkachuk and center Aleksander Barkov (who has been noticeably quiet for most of these games) at 5:14. No worries though as the B's had one last mini-comeback left in them: left wing Taylor Hall (who is currently on fire) found a loose puck in front of Bobrovsky, he wheeled away from defenders and fired a rocket that went in the top corner. Defenseman Brandon Carlo and center Charlie Coyle picked up the assists at 9:16 on Hall's team-leading fifth goal of the playoffs. In the final seconds of regulation, Marchand had a breakaway but Bobrovsky stopped what would have been an insane series-clinching strike 

    Going back on the road might actually not be the worst thing for the Bruins at least in this series since they are 1-2 at the Garden (losing their last two) and 2-0 in Florida. There is guaranteed to be tons of Bruins fans in the building which has to help matters. As the hockey cliche goes: the fourth win is the hardest one to get in a playoff series. Much like the Hawks last night, the Panthers proved something by showing up and battling rather than rolling over after they lost the crucial Game 4 at home. Wacky stuff constantly happens in the NHL playoffs but you have to believe that the B's will not let another opportunity to eliminate Florida slip through their hands. Needless to say, they want no part of a Game 7 against an opponent that has absolutely nothing to lose so all the pressure would be solely on them.

Boston Wins Its 5th Straight Game, 5-2 vs. Ottawa On An Otherwise Depressing Night at TD Garden

Hockey is an incredible sport that I will put up there with any other in the world in terms of entertainment value, life lessons that it teaches and team bonding that it naturally produces. With that said, since most of the violence has been rightfully erased from the NHL over the last decade, you almost forget that a game built on such breathtaking speed and agility sometimes can produce horrifying collisions. That's the grim backdrop for what otherwise should have been a very enjoyable night on Causeway Street as the B's (10-1-2) used a 3-0 third period to pick up a 5-2 victory against the Senators (3-8-1). Boston has the second best record in the Eastern Conference and the NHL while Ottawa is the worst team in both cases so the two points were a mere formality since the Bruins have now picked up five wins in a row.

Unfortunately, this game will most likely be remembered for one thing only: the scary scene in the first period after Senators rookie Scott Sabourin ran into David Backes and appeared to be knocked out in midair before he hit the ice face-first. Ugh, what a brutal event. He was down and motionless for what felt like an eternity as all of Ottawa and Boston's medical staff attended to him. The good news is that he gave the thumbs up to the crowd as he got wheeled off the ice on a stretcher and Ottawa's PR staff later reported on Twitter that he was alert and talking to the doctors before going to a hospital in Boston. Backes went to the dressing room for what we assumed was just to compose himself but it turned out that he left with an upper-body injury. He's suffered a sickening amount of concussions already in the league so I really hope that isn't the case once again, he'll be evaluated more tomorrow.

It seems secondary to even mention it at this point but there was a game after all and things did happen in it worth noting. The NHL's second star of the month in October-David Pastrnak-picked up right where he left off with a power-play goal just 1:17 into his first tilt in November. His NHL-best 13th goal of the season was also his seventh in the first period already this season and it extended his point streak to 11 games. It actually came off a set play that him and Torey Krug used last season vs. Calgary. Krug banked it off the end boards behind Senators goaltender Craig Anderson (27 saves, 2-5-0) and Pasta raced to it first before dekeing and jamming the puck over the line. Ottawa tied it at 12:04 of the first period when Anthony Duclair put in a one-timer from Logan Brown (who later left with an upper body injury of his own) and Mark Borowiecki.

With the top ranked power play in the NHL along with a penalty kill that isn't too shabby either (#9), Boston loves when games are decided by special teams and this was one of those routine events in today's whistle-happy league. The Bruins were caught with too many men on the ice early in the second period then Brad Marchand was called for two penalties (minor for hooking and double minor for spearing) on the same play. That meant they had to hold off the Senators for 55 seconds of a 5-on-3 then 5:05 of Marchand's temporary stupidity. Spoiler alert: they were able to do it. Granted, Ottawa has the worst power play in the NHL (#31) but it was still impressive nonetheless. Tuukka Rask (30 saves, 7-0-1) remains unbeaten in regulation for 2019-20.

The B's had taken a 2-1 lead earlier in the frame as Pastrnak chose to dish the puck to Patrice Bergeron (6 goals, 8 assists in his last 12 games) rather than take his own wide open shot. Bergeron's sixth goal of the season came at 1:51 and it was also assisted by Marchand (12-game point streak and 11-game assist streak, both career highs). The Senators might be awful and constantly rebuilding but at least they showed more effort than the Sharks for instance last Tuesday. Connor Brown tied it at 3:04 as he threw the puck in front and it bounced by Rask for his second goal of the season, assisted by Borowiecki and Dylan DeMelo (which sounds like the name of a bully at your local high school).

Riding an eight game point streak, I don't think that many Bruins fans were sweating despite the fact that their favorite team was knotted at two heading into the third period. The few doubters were quickly told to shut up for the evening as Boston scored three unanswered goals to clinch it. Danton Heinen started it off with a great individual effort to win the puck along the wall in the neutral zone and eventually find it again out front for his third goal of the season, unassisted at 5:43. Borowiecki took his third penalty of the contest and Marchand immediately made him pay with a one-timer from Pastrnak and Bergeron (his 500th NHL assist, only the 15th active player to reach that mark) at 6:50 for his eighth goal of the season. For good measure, Jake DeBrusk cranked in his best shot of the young season-a one-timer from Heinen at 16:16 for his second goal of the campaign.

Brett Ritchie and Joakim Nordstrom were both out with similar infections (were they hanging out in the Browns' staph infection riddled locker room from a few years ago?) so Peter Cehlarik was recalled from Providence. As usual, he showed no reason why he should featured regularly in the NHL (at least yet) so hopefully one or both of those guys can play in a few days when things should be much more difficult. Boston hosts Pittsburgh (8-5-1) on Monday (7, NESN)-the rare Monday Night Hockey-followed by their first meeting with Montreal (7-5-2) the following night (7:30, NBCSN) North of the border. I thought that Jaroslav Halak would get the start tonight (WRONG!) so I'll lick my wounds from that and guess that he will play against the Canadiens since Rask has a terrible history at the Bell Centre. Don't listen to me though as Jaro will probably start on Monday and Rask will get the start vs. Claude Julien's pukes. Regardless, it probably doesn't matter at the moment since the Black and Gold are absolutely on fire with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

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