Barkov driving force for Panthers in Game 2 win against Bruins

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aleksander Barkov considered the question and answered it in a way that seemed to prove the point coach Paul Maurice made minutes earlier in calling him, “the perfect man to be captain of the Florida Panthers.”

Barkov didn’t view his four-point (two goals, two assists) performance in the Panthers’ 6-1 win against the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Wednesday as him stepping up to lead his team at a moment when it needed him most. To him, he was doing his job like everyone else.

“I can’t say it like that,” Barkov said. “Of course, I want to be as good as possible any game. It doesn’t matter what the situation. Always team wins, team loses. That’s how it is here in Florida. It doesn’t matter who scores the goals.”

Still, Barkov was the driving force in helping Florida even the best-of-7 series after a disappointing 5-1 loss in Game 1 on Monday. The Panthers scored six unanswered goals and chased previously red-hot Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman after he allowed four goal on 23 shots, giving the series a much different look as it heads to TD Garden in Boston for Game 3 on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

“I think overall we did what we wanted to do,” Barkov said. “Obviously, they got the lead in the first period, but we didn’t change a thing. We just wanted to keep playing our game, keep playing hard and getting more to the net and that’s what we did all game.”

Boston took a 1-0 lead on Charlie Coyle’s goal at 12:12 of the first period before Florida pushed back in the second period with Barkov leading the way. After Steven Lorentz’s deflection tied the score at 1:56, Barkov gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with his rebound goal at 9:49.

A dominant shift by Barkov that set up scoring chances for Vladimir Tarasenko and Sam Reinhart led to an offensive-zone face-off with 12 seconds remaining and, eventually, Gustav Forsling’s back-breaking goal on a left-point shot that increased Florida’s lead to 3-1 with two seconds left in the second.

“He’s not bad,” Maurice joked of Barkov. “If he keeps his nose clean, he’s going to have a job in this league.”

Barkov then set up Eetu Luostarinen’s goal 1:28 into the third period that made it 4-1 and ended Swayman’s night after he had not allowed more than two goals in any of his previous seven starts in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Barkov made it 5-1 by scoring from between the circles following a Brad Marchand turnover at 10:52 on the power play before setting up Brandon Montour’s short-handed goal that completed the scoring at 11:58.

“He’s a true captain,” Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said. “He’s great. He leads by his example and it’s great to see him score goals, big goals.”

Barkov’s final stat line also included a game-high nine hits, an 8-for-11 record on face-offs and nearly taking a shift as a defenseman when a host of late-game penalties briefly left the Panthers with three.

“I would have loved to play on defense, but ‘Forsie’ wanted to stay on the ice,” Barkov said of Forsling.

Maurice would prefer that Barkov not have to play defense, but otherwise marveled at how his first-line center has played this season. After getting 80 points (23 goals, 57 assists) in 73 regular-season games, he has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in seven playoff games to share the team lead with Matthew Tkachuk.

“The thing that I heard the most when I came here was, ‘You have no idea how good Barkov is,’ Maurice said. “I’ve got a TV. I’ve got a pretty good idea. It’s not my first game. They were right and he’s better this year than he’s ever been. There’s a bunch of pieces added to his game.

“He had nine hits. I’m not trying to turn him into a hitter. …He’s just faster, stronger, a really impressive guy.”

After Barkov had 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 21 playoff games last season to help the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games, he came back determined to return to the Cup Final this season, and a little lighter.

“Obviously, as an individual I want to be as good as possible and every year I’m trying to find little things that I can change and be better at,” he said. “So, to move better, I needed to lose some weight, obviously, and just work a little harder.”

Barkov didn’t change his unselfish personality, though, or his team-first approach to leading.

“We have an interesting spectrum of personalities in our room, and we need a guy exactly like that,” Maurice said. “They can’t all be like that. You don’t want everybody to be like that.  … Barkov allows Steve Lorentz to be an important part of our team. He treats the 13th forward here the same way he treats -- he views them the same.

“They’re teammates, and he treats everyone like that, whoever’s part of our group.”

Barkov doesn’t view himself differently than any of them. Even if he differentiated himself again with his play Wednesday.