Bruins Hang Tough, Pull Away for Game 4 Victory

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Bruins know exactly the game the Panthers want to play.
With Matthew Tkachuk leading the way, Florida has been aiming to get under the skin of the Black & Gold and throw them off their game. Such was the case again on Sunday afternoon as the tussles and chirping after the whistles continued.
The shenanigans were never more evident than late in the third period when a scrum - which led to 52 minutes in penalties - behind the Boston net ended with Tkachuk in the face of Linus Ullmark, who promptly fired back, while tossing his glove, blocker, and mask to the ice as he readied for battle.

While Ullmark was ready to defend himself, the Bruins mostly stayed out of the fray, a recipe that has served them quite well as they've opened up a commanding 3-1 series lead after a 6-2 thumping of the Panthers in Game 4 at FLA Live Arena.
"[The Panthers] seem to thrive on that. They build a lot of emotion in their game after whistles and creating scrums," said Brad Marchand. "Hasn't really been the way that we've played all year so when we can play hard between the whistles and then skate away, it definitely allows us to stay in the right mindset to play the way we want to play.
"They play a very high emotion game all the way through. They're very physical, they like to hear it after whistles, a lot of guys talk. That's their game. They've had a lot of success doing that. We've had success playing the way we play and we just have to remember to stick to that."
Ullmark ultimately received a 10-minute misconduct and while he was eligible to return to the game, the Bruins opted to remove their ace netminder to avoid any further confrontations.
"Tkachuk's doing a lot of things to try to get under our skin," said Brandon Carlo. "But for the most part we're doing a good job of keeping it between the whistles and I'm proud of our guys for doing so, but sometimes you've got to show a little passion and pushback. Linus did a great job in that situation for sure."

The Vezina Trophy favorite did a great job all game long, standing tall between the pipes once again as he kept Florida off the board until the closing minutes of the second period. Ullmark finished the game 41 saves on 43 shots, while also picking up an assist on Taylor Hall's third-period breakaway tally.
"Same thing all year," said Carlo, who picked up a helper and blocked a game-high six shots. "Hasn't changed throughout the entire time. His poise and his ability to make some key saves at big times…some huge saves. He's the backbone of our team for sure. We all feed off his energy and his confidence.
"Playoff hockey is gonna bring out a lot in all of us, but he's competing hard right now. We all respect it and we're trying to follow his lead."
Normally, the Bruins also follow the lead of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. But for the second straight game, Boston was without both of its top two centers and, once again, buckled down to grind out a pivotal Game 4 victory to head back to Boston with a chance to close out this first-round series on Wednesday night.
"It's incredible," said Carlo. "Throughout the entire year, we've had different guys step up at different times and through the past two games, big games from [Charlie] Coyle and [Taylor Hall] and [Tyler Bertuzzi] and a lot of different guys. I think we're just trying to keep the same mentality as we have the entire year, next man up mentality. It's working well for us and not getting too overexcited or down or buying into those things. Just focusing on the mission.
"I think it speaks a lot for our group and the way we look at the game and the standpoint of continuing to focus on our process regardless of who's in the lineup or not. It's the same thing we've been doing all year. There's been guys like [Nick] Foligno and Marchy taking up the leadership role, too, speaking up in the room and gets us going from there."
That leadership from the existing veteran core no doubt helped the Bruins push through as Florida twice pulled within a goal (Tkachuck at 16:00 of the second and Sam Bennett at 6:11 of the third) before Boston struck for three unanswered in the third on tallies from Jake DeBrusk and Hall.
"On their home ice, they're playing a tough game and fighting back," said Garnet Hathaway, who had an assist and a game-high eight hits. "I thought we stuck to the process for us, which is being smart with the puck and those opportunities are gonna come. We ended up burying it and playing with a lead. They got within a one-goal lead again and we got it back to two. We stuck to the process and didn't fold under pressure."

Speed it Up

The Bruins' offensive outburst was led by Hall and Jake DeBrusk, who chipped in two goals apiece. Hall, meanwhile, registered his first career four-point outing in the postseason, becoming the first Bruin to do so in the postseason since Torey Krug (1-3-4) in Game 3 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
The winger - who Montgomery said played "exceptionally well" - assisted on both of DeBrusk's tallies before burying his third of the series on a with a nifty dangle on a breakaway to give the Bruins a 5-2 lead with 3:36 remaining. Hall then potted an empty-netter with 29 seconds to go.
"Just his speed. That's probably the obvious answer," DeBrusk said of Hall's strengths. "He reads plays very we'll coming through the neutral zone. There's a couple plays even the last couple game where he can make it with high distress. It's nice to see him get rewarded. He's working hard. We need everyone at this time of year…you could see his confidence even on that breakaway goal. It's a little thing but kind of put the nail in the coffin."
Following a tic-tac-toe sequence with Hall and Dmitry Orvlo, DeBrusk scored his first of the game when he buried a beauty of a cross-ice feed from Orlov from the doorstep on the power play to put Boston ahead, 2-0, at 1:52 of the second. DeBrusk potted another from the top of the crease at 8:05 of the third when he batted home a Pavel Zacha rebound to give the B's a 4-2 advantage.
"I didn't; see it coming right away," DeBrusk said of Orlov's feed on his first goal. "I had to adjust a little bit. It was right on my tape. It was a really nice play, obviously a great entry there. Just tried to get to the net and he found me. It was a perfect play."
Orlov now has five points (all assists) in the series, making him just the sixth defenseman since 1997 to register a point in each of his first four playoff games with a franchise, per NHL Stats.
"I think just the swagger he has and the confidence he has and then the compete," said Montgomery. "He digs in."

On the Injury Front

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