Montour, Panthers even East 1st Round with Game 2 win against Bruins

BOSTON --Brandon Montour scored twice, and the Florida Panthers evened their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Boston Bruins with a 6-3 win in Game 2 at TD Garden on Wednesday.

Sam Bennett scored in his first game since March 20, Matthew Tkachuk and Nick Cousins each had two assists, and Alex Lyon made 34 saves for Florida, the second wild card in the East.
The Panthers will host Game 3 of the best-of-7 series Friday.
"Belief has always been there," Tkachuk said. "We knew it was going to be such a tough task, but to sit there and just give away the series at the beginning of it, that's not how we roll. … We're confident playing against anybody, and I know before the third, we were talking about, 'You gotta win it here, eventually, if we're gonna want to win the series.' So, to come up with that effort in the third was really important for our team."

Brad Marchand and Tyler Bertuzzi scored, and Linus Ullmark made 24 saves for Boston, which won the Presidents' Trophy as the top team during the regular season.
The Bruins had 15 giveaways to the Panthers' five.
"I thought for the majority of the first two periods, we were doing really good things with the puck," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "But the turnovers we had tonight were catastrophic, they were right through the middle of the ice but not typical of the turnovers we usually have]. … I thought our work ethic was there. I didn't think our execution was great."
***[RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs Panthers series coverage]*
The Bruins played without captain Patrice Bergeron for the second straight game. He missed Game 1 because of an illness and Game 2 with an upper-body injury.
Montour put Florida ahead for the third time in the game 22 seconds into the third period. Sam Reinhart sent a pass off the boards to Montour for a wrist shot from the right point during a 4-on-4 to make it 3-2.
"Nice 4-on-4," Montour said. "Obviously, we got two [great] players up front there (Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov) that found me. 'Barky' screened the goalie, I just had to get it through, so it was nice to see that one go in."

Carter Verhaeghe pushed it to 4-2 at 7:00. Bennett hit Charlie McAvoy, knocking the puck loose before Tkachuk found Verhaeghe streaking down the left side.
Montour made it 5-2 with a slap shot at 12:30 off an offensive-zone face-off win, and Eetu Luostarinen extended it to 6-2 with an empty-net goal at 17:35.
Taylor Hall scored five-hole at 18:50 for the 6-3 final.
Bennett gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 1:42 of the second period, scoring five-hole after Brandon Carlo turned the puck over to Tkachuk at Boston's blue line.
"It felt great," Bennett said. "It's always tough when you're out for a while, and it was tough watching Game 1 from the press box, but it definitely felt great to get right back in it."

Bennett missed 13 games with a groin injury. He had 16 goals and a career-high 24 assists in 63 regular-season games.
"Matthew Tkachuk's had a career year, Luostarinen's had a career year, Verhaeghe's had a career year, and all three of those guys have played with Sam Bennett for the better part of the year, and that's his strength," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "He plays so [darn] hard and drives the play."
Marchand tied it 1-1 at 12:13 with a short-handed goal. Tomas Nosek forced Anthony Duclair to turn over the puck to Marchand alone in the high slot.
"We tied it up there and I think we were feeling better about our game," Marchand said. "I think with us, when we're good is when we stick to the process, and we just got away from it a little bit tonight. So, a little bit self-inflicted in some areas, but we need to be better and they're a really good team."

Eric Staal restored Florida's lead to 2-1 at 14:18 with a wrist shot from the high slot.
Bertuzzi tied it 2-2 at 17:01 when a one-timer from the right face-off circle by Pavel Zacha went in off his skate, which was lifted off the ice, as a power play was expiring.
"There's ups and downs in every series, and that's just playoff hockey," McAvoy said. "So, take it for what it is and turn the page. And that's it, just know we have to be better moving forward."
NOTES:Montour did not have a goal in 38 Stanley Cup Playoff games entering Wednesday. His goal 22 seconds into the third set a Panthers record for the fastest goal to open any period in the postseason, surpassing 23 seconds by Jonathan Huberdeau (Game 1 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifying Round against the New York Islanders) and Stephen Weiss (0:23 in Game 2 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils). … Florida went 2-2-0 against Boston in the regular season, with both wins coming after a loss in the previous game. … Marchand has two NHL short-handed playoff goals (Game 3 of 2011 Stanley Cup Final). He ranks first in Bruins history with 33 short-handed goals in the regular season but did not have one in 2022-23, ending a streak of 12 seasons (2010-11 to 2021-22).