BOSTON — The Boston Bruins held on for pricey life on Tuesday evening, saving their season with an unimaginable three-minute stretch to shut out a hard-fought Sport 5 win over the Panthers in Florida.
Trailing 3-1 within the sequence, the Bruins have been clinging to a 2-1 lead late within the third interval. However the Panthers have been on the assault for many of the last interval, and so they added an additional attacker for the ultimate three minutes.
Charlie McAvoy cleared a puck out of the Boston finish, however he was simply over the purple line and was referred to as for an icing. The stoppage in play and subsequent faceoff in Boston’s finish let the Panthers pull Sergei Bobrovsky from web and provides them an additional skater as Florida tried desperately to web the equalizing purpose.
It led to a frantic last three minutes and 5 seconds of the sport, however the Bruins turned again each Panthers try. Whether or not by means of a blocked shot or an unimaginable save by Jeremy Swayman, the Bruins shut out the Panthers for the whole thing of their 6-on-5 assault, and can now Boston will stay to see a Sport 6.
The Panthers received the preliminary faceoff after McAvoy’s icing and Sam Reinhart — who scored Florida’s solely purpose of the evening within the second interval — tried to ship the puck to the online. However McAvoy atoned for his icing and blocked the shot.
Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe tried to do the identical lower than a minute later however was additionally rejected. Not as soon as, not twice, however 3 times, with Jake DeBrusk, Hampus Lindholm, and Charlie Coyle every blocking his makes an attempt. The Bruins blocked six pictures whereas the Panthers had six skaters on the ice.
Florida had one last look with seven seconds left, and it was a terrific one as Reinhart ended up with the puck on the left aspect of the online. However there was no open web for the Panthers heart, as a result of Swayman rapidly slid throughout the crease to make his twenty eighth and most vital save on the evening.
With their backs in opposition to the wall, the Bruins performed their butts off in Sport 5. The protection was much more crisp and did not wrestle clearing pucks, which was a large situation over the earlier three video games. McAvoy had his greatest sport of the sequence with the game-winning purpose (which got here simply 4 minutes after Reinhart tied it at 1-1), an help, three hits and 4 blocked pictures.
The Bruins blocked 21 pictures in Sport 5, with 12 totally different gamers placing themselves in entrance of the puck. And when the puck did get via to the online, Swayman as soon as once more did his greatest impression of a brick wall. He stopped all 10 pictures that the Panthers despatched his approach within the third interval.
“We had an edge,” Swayman mentioned of the Bruins after the win. “And we weren’t taking no for a solution.”
“By no means say die,” McAvoy mentioned. “We’re going dwelling and this sequence is vast open. Let’s go dwelling and win a hockey sport.”
The Bruins nonetheless have their backs in opposition to the wall, trailing 3-2 within the sequence, however all of the strain is now on Florida. And if Boston can flip the script and pull off a 3-1 comeback in opposition to the Panthers, returning the favor from final postseason, the B’s three-minute stretch to shut Sport 5 will likely be seen as a transparent turning level within the sequence.
The Bruins will now get an additional day earlier than Sport 6 in Boston on Friday evening, which can give Swayman some much-needed relaxation and Brad Marchand an opportunity to return to the lineup after he missed the final two video games.
The Bruins confirmed some unimaginable poise to shut out Sport 5 in a hostile setting. Now they’ve some life within the sequence, and are a house win away from establishing a Sport 7 again in Florida on Sunday.