Panthers finally settle Swayman as Game 2 gets rowdy – Sportsnet.ca

Normally, a team wouldn’t worry too much about falling behind its opponent 1-0 in the first half; especially a team as talented as the Florida Panthers.

But the Panthers, already down 1-0 in their series against the Boston Bruins after losing Game 1 at home, had to know that the margin for error when facing Jeremy Swayman is slimmer than some of those Beach bodies in South Florida.

So let’s give the Cats credit, in a game they had to have, for finding a way to get to Swayman at a level no one else has done this postseason. Entering Tuesday night’s game at Sunrise, Swayman had allowed two or fewer goals in each of his seven playoff starts. However, that changed with Florida’s emphatic 6-1 series victory in Game 2.

In fact, Swayman’s night ended early when Florida’s fourth goal came at 1:28 of the third period and Boston coach Jim Montgomery, presumably to give Swayman some rest and himself some time to unload bombs F about his hardworking team, more than anything. – took out the MVP of the playoffs so far to give Linus Ullmark a job.

Swayman will no doubt be in the mix again when the series moves to Boston for Game 3 on Friday night. Before we get there, though, here are some takeaways from Florida’s critical Game 2 win, which marked its first win over Boston this year in six tries.

Cats make it dirty

At their best, the Panthers are tough to play against. And the biggest pain of all Matthew Tkachuk showed early on in Florida would be to cause unpleasantness by punching Swayman after the whistle and sparking a scrum that led to a stiff penalty being called against Boston’s Justin Brazeau just 17 seconds into the game. started the game.

The Panthers knew they might have to make things ugly to get anything past Swayman, who has been stopping everything he can see this spring. After falling behind 1-0 in the opening period, Florida tied the game 1:56 into the middle frame when fourth lineman Steve Lorentz went to the net after a giveaway from Boston and deflected a Brandon Montour shot past Swayman .

Midway through the second, on the goal that gave Florida the lead for good, Kyle Okposo started the play by passing Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy to the boards and forcing a turnover. The puck was passed to Sam Reinhart for a clean look and when Swayman stopped it, Aleksander Barkov battled McAvoy to get to the loose puck and deposit the rebound.

In the second half of the third period, when the game was out of reach, things were boiling over. Serious scrums occurred after stoppages of play, even after Florida’s sixth count. When David Pastrnak (yes) and Tkachuk were fighting, it became very clear to anyone watching this series that it had become the hate fest it was probably always meant to be.

Barkov a beast

In a must-have game for his team, Florida captain Aleksander Barkov was the best skater on the ice. The Finnish great’s score in the second half was one of four points he scored that night as he dominated every aspect of the game and led by example. His second goal of the contest, which put Florida up 5-1 in the third, also broke the power crisis the Panthers had been in. Coming into the night, the Cats had gone 1 for 9 in their last four games on the man advantage and failed to convert their first four chances in Game 2 before Barkov scored a beautiful goal from the slot. (Florida had also gone 0-for-18 on the man advantage against Boston this entire season before Barkov’s attack.)

Florida needed its captain and he delivered.

Speaking of sanctions…

At the end of the second period, still trailing by just one goal, Boston became confused and was criticized by the referees for having too many men on the ice. Somehow, this was the fifth time this postseason that the Bruins were called for having too many bodies on the ice. At the time, the score for too-many fouls in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs was Boston 5, Rest of League 4. However, the Vancouver Canucks evened things up early in their competition with the Edmonton Oilers thanks to a failed line change.

This disconcerting trend is something the B’s must put an end to immediately.

Florida’s best D-men shine

Despite the lopsided final score, this game was setting up for an exciting third with Florida leading 2-1 at the cusp of the second period horn. However, at 19:58 of the frame, Gus Forsling hit a timer from the blue line that beat a blocked Swayman.

Forsling and teammate Aaron Ekblad earned a point that night, as the former led the Cats on ice (24:36) and the latter just behind (24:06). It was a good bounce-back game for everyone in Florida, including a couple of top defenses who didn’t have their best outing in Game 1.