Bruins' Chance to Advance Falls Short with OT Loss in Game 5

BOSTON - Despite overcoming three separate one-goal deficits, the Bruins failed to close out the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night in a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 5 at TD Garden. Boston now holds a 3-2 series lead as things shift back to Sunrise for Game 6 on Friday.

"We'll regroup, we'll meet [on Thursday] and I'm sure we're going to come back with a real good, determined effort," said coach Jim Montgomery. "I have a lot of confidence in our team. I have a lot of confidence in that group, from the first player through the 23rd, 24th player that's with us right now."
Matthew Tkachuk won it for Florida at 6:05 of overtime when he pounced on a loose puck and buried backhander after Linus Ullmark fumbled a puck behind the Boston net. Ullmark left his crease to retrieve a loose puck along the end wall but had nowhere to go with it as Florida pressured on the forecheck.
Carter Verhaeghe corralled the puck and shot one off Ullmark's skate as the backstop tried to get retreat to his net, leading to a ricochet into the slot where Tkachuk collected it and put it past a sprawling Matt Grzelcyk for the winner.
"I tried to send it out into the corner a little bit and bypass him, and he made a good play cashing in. The rest is history," said Ullmark. "Just [tried] to get back to the net. Then he sends it in. I try not to put myself in a position where he can bank it off me.
"Unfortunately, it hits my skate and then ends up in the wrong hands in front there. It was kind of a situation where I couldn't get back into position. It takes a while, and he puts it in."

Patrice Bergeron, who was making his series debut, said the Bruins as a whole must accept responsibility for the loss.
"He's been a rock for us all year," Bergeron said of Ullmark. "He's given us a chance to win every time he's stepped out there. He can't be too hard on himself. We're a team, it's about what we do together on the ice as a unit of six and go from there. To me, I feel you win and you lose as a team. It is what it is.
"He's a tremendous goalie, he's probably the best goalie in the NHL and probably going to win the Vezina this year. We're all there for each other and we've always said that, so chins up for him."
The game was inches away from ending before overtime when Brad Marchand nearly sealed the series at the buzzer when he broke in all alone on a breakaway with just four seconds to go in regulation. Marchand fired a wrister at Sergei Bobrovsky with about a second left but the Florida netminder denied the chance to send things to extra time.
"Yeah, it was tough," said Marchand. "I was racing against the clock. I was trying to count down, I kind of glanced up to see how much time was left and I was trying to get as close as I could with where I thought the time was. Had to rush the shot but wouldn't mind having that one back."
The chance came moments after the Bruins had another opportunity to close out the Panthers, who were assessed a minor penalty for too many men on the ice with 3:35 to go in the third period. Boston, however, failed to convert after having potted two power-play goals earlier in the contest (Marchand at 2:27 of the second and Bergeron at 4:33 of the third).
"I thought our power play could have sealed the game there, the last power play, but I don't even know if we got a good look on it, to be honest," said Montgomery. "But we got two power play goals in the game, so we've got to get more five-on-five scoring when we're at home. We got a lot in Florida, but we didn't get enough in the three games at home so far."
Overall, the Bruins - who were 34-4-3 on home ice this season - have now dropped two consecutive games at TD Garden, while struggling to find much traction in any of the three contests on Causeway Street during this opening-round series.
"Well, in Boston there has been, that's for sure," Montgomery said when asked about the B's lack of concentration. "For whatever reason, we didn't start on time…we tend to make big mistakes right now, I don't know why, the last two games at home. We don't manage our ice or manage the puck, it's one of the two…when you're chasing the game like we did all night, 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, and then obviously you can't chase the game anymore, you spend a lot of energy.
"I thought the energy that we spent in the second and the third trying to tie the game up … I didn't think we were as sharp in overtime."

Bergeron Returns

After missing the first four games of the series, Bergeron was back in the lineup and did not appear to be hampered by whatever injury had been ailing him. The Boston captain landed six shots on goal to lead all Bruins forwards, while winning 69 percent of his faceoffs in 19:03 of ice time.
"I felt good," said Bergeron. "Obviously, needed a few shifts to get back into the rhythm. Getting back into the playoffs is a different animal than getting back into the regular season. The pace is a lot higher. But that being said, I felt pretty good."
Bergeron tied the game, 2-2, at 4:33 of the second when he tipped home a Marchand shot on the power play. It was Bergeron's 50th career postseason goal, making him the third player in Bruins history reach that mark along with Cam Neely (55) and Marchand (53).
"That was a massive goal in the game," said Charlie McAvoy. "Just having him out there is obviously great. He's our emotional leader, and the way he plays, you can't replace a Bergeron. We're a better team when he's out there."

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