Woof: Boston Bruins Dog Florida Panthers 5-1 in Game 1

SUNRISE — Things were going swimmingly for the Florida Panthers for the first half of Game 1 against the Boston Bruins.

Then, they drowned.

Boston roughed up the Panthers by scoring four unanswered goals, rolling to a 5-1 win and a 1-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Game 2 is Wednesday at 7:30 (ESPN).

Florida was popping to start this game, peppering goalie Jeremy Swayman with a bunch of good shots early as it cornered the Bruins in their zone.

Boston finished the first strong, but it was Matthew Tkachuk giving Florida a 1-0 lead at 11:45 of the second period.

The Panthers, who had made a couple of mistakes to that point, kept making them.

After making some acrobatic saves in the first 30 minutes, Bobrovsky’s rushed clear was picked off and Morgan Geekie tied the score at 12:52.

Boston would keep coming — and keep scoring.

The Bruins took a 3-1 lead in the waning seconds of the second period, and that was all Swayman needed.

Swayman, who won Game 7 on Saturday night against the Maple Leafs in OT, made 38 saves.

Florida certainly needs to clean some things up, and Aaron Ekblad would like to forget about this one.

The Panthers gave home ice advantage back to the Bruins with the loss, but Boston had it last year when Florida lost Game 1 at the Garden.

Florida has now lost five straight games to the Bruins (0-3-2) since Game 7 last year and are 0-14 on the power play against Boston this season.

The Panthers went scoreless on three power play chances on Monday.

GOALS OF GAME 1

• Panthers 1, Bruins 0 (11:45, 2nd): Matthew Tkachuk whips one from the top of the right circle with Carter Verhaeghe in front and Florida is up 1-0. Good start to a bad period.
• Bruins 1, Panthers 1 (12:52, 2nd): Sergei Bobrovsky’s clear was intercepted deep in the zone, David Pastrnak’s shot hits Pavel Zacha who crashes into Bobrovsky allowing Morgan Geekie to pop the loose puck into the net.
• Bruins 2, Panthers 1 (16:17, 2nd): Mason Lohrei snipes a shot that Bobrovsky does not see coming from the left circle for Boston’s first lead of the night.
• Bruins 3, Panthers 1 (19:39, 2nd): Brandon Carlo, who got to the arena around 6 after welcoming a son on Sunday, rips off a wrist shot from the right circle and beats Bobrovsky clean with 20.6 seconds left in the second.
• Bruins 4, Panthers 1 (7:13, 3rd): Justin Brazeau breaks out along the side boards, comes down on Bobrovsky and scores on a forehand-backhand move.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 1

1. Jeremy Swayman, Boston

2. Brandon Carlo, Boston

3. Mason Lohrei, Boston

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

FLORIDA PANTHERS (ATL1) V. BOSTON BRUINS (ATL2)

BEST-OF-7 SERIES

GAME 2

• When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise 
• National TV: ESPN
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Monday at Florida; Game 2: Wednesday at Florida, 7:30 (ESPN); Game 3: Friday at Boston, 7 (TNT); Game 4: Sunday, May 12 at Boston, 6:30 (TBS); Game 5*: Tuesday May 14 at Florida, TBA; Game 6*: Friday May 17 at Boston, TBA; Game 7*: Sunday May 19 at Florida TBA. (*) – If Necessary 
• How They Got Here: Florida d. Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1; Boston d. Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3
• Florida’s First Round — Game 1: Panthers 3, Tampa Bay 2; Game 2: Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2 OT; Game 3: Panthers 5, Tampa Bay 3; Game 4: Tampa Bay 6, Panthers 3; Game 5: Panthers 6, Tampa Bay 1.
• Last Season vs. Boston — Regular Season: Tied 2-2; Playoffs: Florida won 4-3 (first-round)
• This Season (Bruins 4-0) — At Boston: Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Oct.30); Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Ap. 6). At Florida: Bruins 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 22); Bruins 4, Panthers 3 (March 26).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 64-37-7, 6 ties
• All-time Postseason Series: Florida leads 2-0 (1996 1st, 2023 1st)