Fight Night in Sunrise, Florida Panthers Beat Down Bruins

SUNRISE — The physical series we all thought would transpire came to be Wednesday night after the Florida Panthers took complete control of the Boston Bruins in Game 2.

The Panthers trailed in the first period, but scored six unanswered goals and rolled to a 6-1 win over the Bruins to tie the best-of-7 series.

Game 3 is Friday night in Boston.

Sasha Barkov had himself a night, scoring two goals and assisting on two more; Brandon Montour had a goal and two assists before getting tossed for celebrating in Brad Marchand’s face and getting into a donnybrook with the Boston pest.

By the time Florida had a 6-1 lead midway through the third, 12 players — six from each side — were in the room cooling off.

Florida scored three in the second after a switch flipped on, first with Steven Lorentz deflecting a Montour shot.

The Panthers then got two more, including one with 1.3 seconds left in the second from Gus Forsling.

Florida opened it up in the third, scoring three more as it flipped the script on the Bruins.

Boston, in Game 1, went down 1-0 before coming back with five unanswered goals; Florida got six on Wednesday.

GOALS OF GAME 2

• Bruins 1, Panthers 0 (12:17, 1st): A turnover by Brandon Montour deep in the zone led to a 3-on-1 chance for the Bruins; with Niko Mikkola losing his footing, Pavel Zacha was able to slip a pass across the goalmouth to Charlie Coyle and a 1-0 lead.
• Panthers 1, Bruins 1 (1:56, 2nd): Montour fired off a shot from the point with Steven Lorentz, who whiffed on a one-timer in the first, all alone in front. Lorentz deftly dropped a deflection past Jeremy Swayman to tie it.
• Panthers 2, Bruins 1 (9:49, 2nd): Sasha Barkov throws a cross-ice pass to Sam Reinhart who one-times it from the right circle. Swayman makes the initial save, but the rebound squirts free — and Barkov jumps in front of Charlie McAvoy and puts it home.
• Panthers 3, Bruins 1 (19:58, 2nd): A meaningless faceoff to close the period, eh? Boston gets control of the faceoff but Montour saves the puck at the line, swings the puck around the halfwall where Anton Lundell picks it up, gets it to Gus Forsling and he one-times it with 1.3 seconds left.
• Panthers 4, Bruins 1 (1:28, 3rd): Reinhart takes a shot from the side of the net, but it goes off the cage. No matter, he picks it off the wall, feeds Barkov down low — and he feeds Eetu Luostarinen for the backbreaker. Swayman’s night is done with 20 saves.
• Panthers 5, Bruins 1 (10:52, 3rd PP): Barkov plays a little tic-tac-toe with Reinhart and Florida gets its first power-play goal against the Bruins this season.
• Panthers 6, Bruins 1 (11:58, 3rd SH): Montour taps in a shot from Barkov, gets in Brad Marchand’s face and the fun was on.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 2

1. Sasha Barkov, Florida

2. Brandon Montour, Florida

3. Sam Reinhart, Florida

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

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

BEST-OF-7 SERIES TIED 1-1

GAME 3 

• When: Friday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Boston Garden 
• National TV: TNT
• Streaming: HBO Max
• 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: Bruins 5, Panthers 1; Game 2: Panthers 6, Bruins 1; Game 3: Friday at Boston, 7 (TNT); Game 4: Sunday, May 12 at Boston, 6:30 (TBS); Game 5: Tuesday 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)