Panthers Drop Both Games At Home, Need Some Magic to Stay Alive
The Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers for the second time on the road to take a 3-1 series. The Bruins won the game by a score of 6-2 behind another sensational performance by future Vezina winning goaltender Linus Ullmark.
It was rumored that the star goalie wasn’t going to be able to play in the first of the two road games, but Ullmark couldn’t be held out.
Ullmark
Ullmark saved 41 of the 43 shots he faced for a .953 save percentage. If Ullmark is able to keep up his level of play on the road like he has against Florida, the Bruins will be near impossible to beat in a best of 7 series.
The Panthers were able to generate some chances early on but the bruins were the ones who jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Brad Marchand found the back of the net on an early Bruins powerplay.
It really had looked like the Panthers had come to play on Sunday afternoon, but the effort just wasn’t enough to beat Ullmark.
Beating Ullmark
Beating Ullmark seems like it’ll be the dominating storyline for the Bruins 2023 playoff run. The Bruins need to stay consistent in their offensive efforts and aggressive forecheck in order to give the team and Ullmark the best chance for success.
Bruins’ Health
The Bruins are also going to need to stay healthy moving forward, as forwards David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron did not play in either road game for the B’s. In their place, Tyler Bertuzzi and Dimitry Orlov have been clutch.
Bertuzzi and Orlov are allowing the injured Bergeron and Krejci to take their time in coming back. Without those two additions the Bruins likely wouldn’t be leading 3-1 in the series.
Panthers Coach Paul Maurice
When Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice was asked about dropping both games at home with Bergeron and Krejci out, he responded “ I dont think a single reporter on the face of the hockey world would call that a missed opportunity.”
I think just about every single one would in fact call that a missed opportunity, Maurice.
Maurice further scolded the reporter stating that the team “won in Tampa Bay with Barkov and Bennet missing” and left it at that, according to Panthers beat reporter Colby Guy.
Maurice is clearly out of touch with the team and the front office will need to make an important decision in the offseason whether they stick with the aging coach or move on.
