BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers are coming off a fireworks-filled Game 2, as the rivalry between the two teams has heated up in the Eastern Conference Second Round.
The series resumes at TD Garden on Friday after the Panthers scored six unanswered goals in a 6-1 victory to even the series at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.
“The series is tied 1-1. They got one early. We got one now,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “I guess we’ve got to try to ride the momentum of winning last game, but in the playoffs it’s almost like whatever happens the game prior, win or lose, crazy, boring, whatever it is, it’s a clean, fresh slate by next game and it really doesn’t matter.
"But I guess now it’s a best-of-5 and they technically have home-ice (advantage) now, so it’s up to us to win tomorrow and get that home ice back.”
Florida anticipates a physical continuation of a series that got each team's blood boiling in Game 3, when the foes combined for 148 minutes in penalties -- 77 for the Bruins, 71 for the Panthers.
“This is what makes hockey great, right?” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “This is the way it’s supposed to be. Everybody’s wired coming to the game, the hits are going to be hard, the crowd’s going to go berserk every time something goes right for the home team. It’s going to be a lot of pressure. It’s going to be great.”
Each team is looking to take control of a series that could easily teeter on a Game 3 win. The Panthers know they need to replicate what they did Wednesday. The Bruins know they need to be better.
“I think they were a little hungrier than we were,” Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm said. “I think we started the game pretty good, but then we got away from our game a little bit. So we just have to get back to our Bruins way of playing.”
Even as the Bruins know they need to clean up their game Friday, they also feel prepared.
“I like our team this morning,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think they’re calm and focused. I think tonight, the juices will get going.”
Teams that lead 2-1 in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series are 384-172 (.691) all-time.
Here are 3 keys for Game 3:
1. Who'll backstop Bruins?
Jeremy Swayman has finally been solved.
The Panthers scored four times on the Bruins goalie, who had been nearly untouchable in his first seven starts this postseason -- six against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round and in Game 1 of this series. After not allowing more than two goals in a game in these playoffs, Swayman was pulled at 1:28 of the third period of Game 2 after allowing four goals on 23 shots and relieved by Linus Ullmark. It got Ullmark some action and Swayman some rest.
Ullmark has not started since allowing three goals on 34 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs in Game 2 of the first round on April 22.
“We have made a decision," Montgomer said, "and I’m not going to disclose who is going to be in the crease.”
2. Return for Bennett?
Not only did the Panthers come out on top in Game 2, but they could be getting a major piece of their offense back for Game 3. Second-line center Sam Bennett has not played since Game 2 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning because of an upper-body injury; he had a goal and an assist in that game before taking a shot off his hand from teammate Brandon Montour.
“Game-time decision,” Maurice said. “He was good this morning. He felt really good. We’ll get him a nap this afternoon and get him through the warmup and make a decision then.”
Maurice said given how well the fourth line has been playing, it will be difficult to make a decision to take someone out of the lineup. At the same time, as he put it, “I’m going to end up taking a player out of the lineup that doesn’t deserve to come out of the lineup. But Sam Bennett’s not watching games. If he’s ready to play, he’s playing.”
Bennett was Florida's fifth-leading scorer during the regular season with 41 points (20 goals, 21 assists) in 69 games, and had two points (one goal, one assists) in two playoff games prior to his injury.
